Day 2-Cali Here We Come

After leaving Vegas, we drove until we reached Barstow. While we drove, we listened to a Goosebumps book on tape,  then we stopped for some lunch at In-n-Out and some outlet shopping. We got to the Embassy Suites hotel in just enough time to unpack and make it down for managers hour. We knew daylight was running out and we didn't have a lot of time to do anything, but we wanted to go check out the Venice beach area...

   So, this is not the California we are used to...Of course we do a little bit of a different trip each time we come, but this is a side of California we had never seen before. It really felt a lot like Mexico; crowded and dirty with tons of little shops, all selling the same stuff. Of course, we love Mexico, so we had fun. I have never seen a beach like this...the beach itself was really clean with great sand, but it has everything, volleyball, biking trails, a weight lifting area, basketball courts, racquetball courts, playgrounds, a gymnastics area, a roller skating area, a skate boarding area, massage shops, and tons of food shops and retail shops, it even has several medical marijuana shops, where you can be seen by a "doctor" for an evaluation. It is really crowded and there are tons of street performers; painters, piano players, bands, drummers, psychics, balloon artists etc. The first thing we watched when we got there was the guy below, running and doing a flip, over 10 people. Him and his partner where pretty comical. It was cool.

 This guy was a pretty skilled, roller skater, he was fun to watch. 

 The skating was one of the coolest things to watch. There were some seriously talented skaters.

 This little kid was so insanely good. We were in awe of him.

 This guy was crazy good on the piano. It was kind of funny cause the piano looked so broke down and all around the piano looked like his belongings. I can't imagine he packed the piano and his stuff in everyday so I think he lived there on that sidewalk, but I can't imagine he would be allowed to do that either??? There were an insane amount of homeless in the park not to mention some seriously nefarious looking individuals. Definitely the place to go if you are a people watcher.

 

 We all founds some really cute jewelry pieces.

Showing off our finds.

 This guy gave Brooklynn a free bracelet. He was really cool, so I bought a bag from him. :) 

 Ryker's, shark tooth find.

 After leaving the beach, we found a really cool taco place for dinner.