Mom (Alice) Visits!

My mom visted Southern California over the July 4th holiday. Alice is one of my most loyal visitors, and she never complains about our various misadventures.

Just about every visit to Long Beach starts with breakfast atRiver's End, a great little cafe on the beach where the San Gabriel river meets the Pacific Ocean.

We went to Laguna Beach on the 4th and did a 10K Volksmarch. My mom travels all over the world doing Volksmarches, non-competitive walks for which members get mileage and event credits. My mom has walked something like 17,000 Kilometers in several countries and all 50 states. She is a real Bad Ass! The above picture is at the Volksmarch checkpoint--where mom has to write down the answer to a provided question to prove that she didn't cheat!

Here are a few pictures of Pat and I overlooking the beach. These are the pictures in which my mom didn't manage to cut our heads off.

There were lots of neat little coves, cliffs and secluded swimming areas.

Here are Pat and Alice walking the last portion of the Volksmarch along the beach. The beach was really crowded. I wasn't able to get a good picture but we also saw a group of four or five dolphins frolicking in the surf.

My main California complaint illustrated! This for those of you considering a Laguna Beach vacation next July 4th. Too many people...

We also went up to the San Gabriel Mountains Saturday and did a portion of the Boy Scout build Silver Mocassin Trail. It was really HOT, and the trail went up, up, up. Alice was a good sport.

There were lots of really cool rocks.