Rock climbing and the beach
aka Sam's visit, days 3 and 4.
We took Sam to his first outdoor climbing experience, at good 'ol Stoney Point. Did Mozart again, which actually worked out pretty good because we hadn't been there in a while. Met up with some random climbers there, so we were able to leave Bill's rope packed in the bag and still run two ropes (the other being my new shiny, a Mammut Supersafe).
Did the left, left center, and center routes if memory serves. 5.8 to 5.10a-ish. Skipped the right-center (aka the tree route) and the far-right route due to a lack of energy. Watching Sam scramble over rocks toting a massive 70-200/2.8L IS was a sight in itself; and it was hard to tell what was interesting Sam more at times, climbing, or playing with his new camera!
Lunch was at Versailles in Palms. The standard Americanized-Cuban we expect there, but the beef tongue was pretty tasty. We hit Santa Monica afterwards, wandering 3rd Street Promenade and the beach itself. Helped a few other tourists take pictures during our wandering, saw a one-legged seagull, a low-flying LAPD helicopter, and a massive sandcastle. All that, and a movie/TV stage crew setting up, too.
If Sam wanted a classic LA beach experience, he got one right there-- it couldn't have happened any better!
Dinner that night was at Natalee Thai-- it also celebrated Carley's first day of work-- after some rounds of Wii bowling and rootbeer floats.
The next morning was lunch at Mani's on Fairfax. Very yummy pancakes and smoothies. The plain pancakes at Original Pancake House in Redondo Beach are a more classic pancake, but the multigrain pancakes and turkey bacon were delicious in their difference!
