Long Beach!

February. 17 Friday
We have been in Long Beach now for a few days. We booked the place we are staying at for one week so we will be here until Monday morning. We decided to come here, not really knowing what kind of place Long Beach was, because it seemed like an appealing place to be, after all it is called Long Beach so that sounded alright to us. Being close to L.A. was another reason, Steve had wanted to go and see some of the shows associated with Pacific Standard Time—a retrospective of L.A. art between 1945 and 1980. We found an apartment to rent on “airbnb”. The ad had a picture of a studio apartment with two beds and a kitchen. The ad said it was 3 blocks from the beach, had parking and laundry, so we reserved it. It was a better deal to book for a week than for the minimum of three days so we crossed our fingers and signed ourselves up. We were just looking for somewhere to stay for a little while to get a bit of a break from loading and un-loading the car every other day. We could make some day trips to L.A. for the art shows, cook some food in a real kitchen, and maybe lay on the beach a bit. We got to the apartment late on Monday and the woman who was renting it to us was in a hurry to get somewhere so she didn’t say much other than “you will be happy here” and “call me if you need anything”. On Tuesday we called her to ask for a plunger and she sent someone over promptly. He was a really nice guy but he kept talking about how Emma (the landlady) was “crazy”. I laughed thinking he was joking but he kept saying it and never cracked a smile. Well, we haven’t experienced her crazy side, but she is definitely annoying. The suite we got has only one bed. She said the other suite was having the t.v. fixed and so she would show it to us the next day if we wanted to change rooms, she never showed up. We called to ask where the laundry room was and she never returned our call. I guess when she listed “laundry” as an amenity she was referring to the Laundromat down the street. There is a kitchen and although it does have a number of plates and pots, there are no bowls or knifes, and the oven is always on—It is turned to off but it’s emitting a low heat all the time. There is no broom so the floor is covered in a fine layer of sand (from the beach). Yes there is a beach! The one that is three blocks from our apartment is covered in garbage, but the one 10 miles down is beautiful. We have spent some lovely times there. The weather has been around 20 degrees the last two days, so, I guess we have nothing to complain about? Still no word from Emma.

First day in Long Beach

The second day was very rainy so we escaped to a Mall. There was a carousel!!

You might be wondering, how’s Freddie? From these pictures she looks like she's doing great, however, in the last couple of days she has turned into a little monster. I can’t tell if it’s the new setting? We have her sleeping in the large closet. It fits her playpen and suitcase so I think we are still suitable parents. We thought it would give us a bit of space in the evenings since up to this point in the hotel rooms Freddie’s bedtime is followed by an hour of quite time for Steve and I. We sit in the dark reading our books with tiny book lights whispering occasionally to each other--Steve:“I need the cork screw”, Me: “you should have thought of that earlier.” Steve rummages through his bag and bangs his knee on the t.v. stand. Freddie: “I need to wake up!” Me: “#$%@”. Seriously though, she actually was going to bed quite well in the hotels. Unfortunately, since we arrived here she has become a defiant little boss. If you’ve ever tried to reason with an almost three year old when they’re screaming at you from their bed yelling their demands you will sympathize with our situation. “Wipe my nose!”, “Kiss me.”, “I have to pee.”, “Make me happy.” Where is the day time?”, “I need a night snack.”, “I need my Mommy.”, “I need Daddy.”, “I have an owie.”, “I need different pants.” Etc. She has been doing this for the hour and a half after we put her to bed and then usually around 12am she starts waking up every 20-30 minutes until 4am doing it again and again getting less and less coherent. This was the pattern for the first three nights and Steve and I became less patient and more exhausted as we slept less and dealt with a miserable little twerp through our “awake” part of the day. Anyway, kids are funny like all the seasoned parents will tell you, “just when you think you’ve got a system they change and throw a wrench in it”.

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Like most of you have experienced, usually the first time you do something it’s the wrong way, and that’s how you learn to do it the right way next time. That truth rings true especially when you are traveling and experiencing new things and firsts every day. As kids, we go through this frustration on a regular basis—as you grow up you have to do a lot of things for the first time. In adulthood most of us avoid new experiences so we don’t have to go through that same agony of making mistakes and starting over. We all hate being uncomfortable, but being comfortable is boring. Do you have any good stories to tell about the time when nothing bad happened and you were sooo comfortable? Well maybe you do, but that’s not the point. The point is that the story about when you booked seven nights at a not very comfortable suite in Long Beach is funnier and more memorable than the story about when you ate a really good chocolate ice cream on your patio and you didn’t drip it on your new white shirt.

We went to a new beach today. Steve needed reading done for school and I wanted to spend some time by the water. We were driving to Huntington Beach which is an 8 mile strip of sand along the Orange County Coast. We drove to a crowded area by the town pier and decided to go back to a little access where we would have to maneuver down a rocky slope to a more secluded stretch. It was close to a bathroom and it looked like there were more waves and surfers to watch there too. We parked and paid and then we wobbled down the rocks to a nice spot. There were seashells everywhere and Freddie was running around in circles of excitement. I put down the blanket and Steve and I lounged. We both noticed that there were a lot of dogs around, but we didn’t care and just hung out and watched the people walking by. Freddie is a bit nervous around dogs but we try not to shelter her so she can get used to them. I can understand her anxiety; I think I would scream too if a big hairy, sharp toothed slobbering animal three times my size came charging toward me. Well it kept happening and for some reason the stupid dogs were relentless. Their owners were no better, some just ignored what was happening and others just yelled from 50 feet away for their dog to come. After beating off a dozen or so, we decided to leave and try a different beach. Most dog owners would probably say it was our own fault for going to a dog beach, but how were we supposed to know that the best beach was reserved for them and their mutts.

We went to the beach by the pier. It had a big sign that said no dogs allowed so that seemed like a good enough reason to stay. Unfortunately Freddie was getting tired so she started to misbehave and I ended up spending the majority of the beach time standing beside the car while she had a time out in her car seat. I wasn’t on the beach for long but at least Steve had some time to do that reading he wanted to get done and we both got a bit of a face tan. Obviously going to the wrong beach can facilitate some real character building; aren’t we lucky to have such hardships in our lives.

We didn't have a chance to take any pictures at the dog beach or the the one by the pier. But here are some from yesterday.

Two other uncomfortable yet possibly funny stories that came out of our beach trip:

#1. We saw a man fall down the rocky slope at the dog beach, and it looked like it really hurt but he was o.k. in the end.

#2. We also saw a guy who was trying to show off on his motorbike at an intersection take off and immediately wipe out. This one was not funny, but maybe it will be a good story for the guy in a year from now? His bike got really smashed but I think he may have only broken his leg or arm.

Feb. 18 Saturday

Today we went to L.A. to visit the L.A. County Museum of Art. We also walked around the grounds at the La Brea Tar Pits. 

In the entry to the Museum there was an installation of yellow plastic string/ropes. I forgot to check who the artist was while we were there but regardless, Freddie and all the other kids really enjoyed it.

 Steve was on a mission so Freddie and I hung out in the kid’s room/gallery and she got to do some painting.

There was another great installation called “Metropolis II” by Chris Burden.  

 

There was a Robert Therrien room that Freddie liked.

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And we could see the Jeff Koons show from a blocked off area but they were un installing it so we could only look in from afar. 

There was so much great work to see in the retrospective and I wish I would have been able to look a little closer and longer. Steve was lucky enough to spend a whole 3 hours looking around.

Here were a few of my favorites.

February. 19^th Sunday

Steve had some work to do for the majority of the day today so Freddie and I spent our time walking around our neighborhood, and at the park. I didn’t know it was frowned upon to let your child climb up the slide instead of only sliding down it, I've never run into opposition in Vancouver. It's not acceptable in Long Beach. I was reprimanded indirectly through other parents children who when trying to copy Freddie were scolded loudly and told that “that is NOT the right way to use the slide”. I wouldn't have paid much attention except for that it happened a few times with different parents. I didn’t do anything about it. Freddie was having fun, and I have no reputation to uphold here. We will be gone tomorrow with no plans to come back anytime soon. 

We leave for Calipatria tomorrow where we will visit Salvation Mountain.  Then we will slowly make our way back up the coast to be in San Francisco again by the 29^th.