"go to the beat of your own drum" - Harley

The four of us ventured off to explore

First stop: muscle beach. Where jacked people hang out and lift a few weights, but mostly pose for pictures

the classic ..

Venice boardwalk was just as the described: a hippie heyday with an incense-scented whiff of Venice, er, pot; artists and performers-good and bad, and alive with all kids of kinds. It is a must see. 

Strolling around the boardwalk we worked up an appetite so ate on the beach.

Prior to our trip, Harley had looked into the top things to do in LA, and on the list was the Mosaic tile house. Harley emailed the couple and requested a private tour during the week, as their normal schedule is during the weekend. Gps took us to the home which was in a clean, quant residential area by Venice Beach. Cheri and Gonzalo the homeowners , and artists gave us the grandee tour. Cheri had bought the home in 1994 with plans to make an 'ugly house' pretty. Cheri makes most of the tiles and creates the stained glass inserts while Gonzalo creates and applies the mosaic tile as well as does the welding. The couple met in 1994 when Cheri hired Gonzalo to help her redesign the home. They fell in love and the  rest is 'seen all over the home' (literally. Cheri only paints portraits of Gonzalo)

They began designing the home in the bathroom then decided it looked so cool that they should do the whole house.

We thought it was absolutely breathtaking. We spent about an hour ooing and awing and taking pictures. 

Cheri's studio

Cheri showing off her kitchen. Even her kettle and stove are unique!

Gonzalo and Jordan talking about welding.

Gonzalo and Ashton chatting in the back alley.

What a place!! defiantly worth the tour! incredible!

Next stop: Santa Monica which is much classier than Venice. It smells better ;), there are less homeless people, and the beach has a pier which is the pier Ashton and I walked on at the beginning of our trip!

From the tile house, we went to Santa Monica to rent tandem bikes.$14 per hour per bike.

We pedaled from Santa Monica to Venice and around, enjoying every minute. Biking was even funner then it looked.

While biking around we overheard a black man yelling comments out loud. He hollered at the people doing yoga on the beach "'big booty white girls tryin' to be black' , Followed by 'America is number one.... (winey voice-)I wanna be number one'

.. He continued with obscene comments while we pedalled by taking videos.

Jordan was washing his hands in the port-a-potty area when a transvestite randomly exclaimed "whats a boy like you doing in a place like this?.. ye tryin to get yo phone stole? ya cheezyd*MF
ha ha ha ha ha

The pier was happening with live music, rides, fisherman, surfers underneath.. stores, restaurants, people

A man was painting magnets with his pink finger and fingernails which turned out beautifully. So we had to purchase a couple.

A spin on the Ferris wheel to get good views was a nice way to finish off the day.

we left the beach and headed to the promenade full of restaurants.
Harley got her sushi fix in. mmm California roll ;)

We figured we would go on a little drive and check out the Hollywood sign, so after driving up to the Griffith observatory we were a little disappointed to realize the sign isn't lit up at night? so technically we saw it but it was pretty dark. up the hill was a nice view of the city lights and a big green park below (larger than city park in New York) had a free concert going on.

(this Hollywood Sign is actually just a picture in our hotel).. in real life the sign does not light up at night

Another fun day in LA. Lots of laughs and memories made with Jordan and Harley.