21.3 RV miles today, 5046.4 total

We awoke to the sound of the crashing waves literally ~ 10 to 15 yards from our RV.  Check out the picture through our front windshield. We relaxed today, read, and did some shopping for Will’s friends. We rented a surf board and wet suits and went surfing this afternoon. It was a bucket list completion!. We watched the sun set, rode our bicycyles over to Sonic on base for milkshakes and set up camp. Surfs up, dude, m, w & t

“The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun” –Duke Kahanamoku

“The joy of surfing is so many things combined, from the physical exertion of it, to the challenge of it, to the mental side of the sport” –Kelly Slater

Not to sound too deep or weird, but I think that the times when you really appreciate surfing are the times you’re really sort of becoming one with nature. Surfing’s as raw of a sport as it gets.” –Kelly Slater

“So many worlds, so much to do, So little done, such things to be.” –Alfred, Lord Tennyson

“In retirement, I look for days off from my days off.” –Mason Cooley

97 RV miles today, 5025.1 total

Beth caught the red-eye flight back to Fayetteville last night. She will be up to Chapel Hill to move Shelby out of her dorm having completed her freshman year! I drove up to Chatsworth, CA to visit Steven @ West Coast Cosmetics. I toured his facilities and got to meet his family. It was a nice visit & hopefully we will establish a lasting relationshipy with them. After turning in our Hertz Rental Car at LAX, we drove to Gardena to visit Philippe @ O.T.S. Astrocon. He will be air & boat freight shipping our Dermasensa US products to China from LA & Miami. Will & I had a nice Mexican lunch at the traveling van & then headed down to San Onofree near San Clemente. It is a gorgeous RV campground inside the Marine base of Camp Pendleton. We walked the beach down to the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, nicknamed “Dolly Parton By The Sea” for the two large domed, bosom-like structures that you can see in the background of our picture. We had roasted chicken for dinner and then retired. m, w & t

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy (American novelist/author)

The nuclear plant’s two large containment structures are briefly shown in the 1988 movie “The Naked Gun” when detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) talks about how everything reminds him of his ex-wife’s bosoms (quote: “Everywhere I look something reminds me of her”). –“The Naked Gun”

0 RV miles today, 4928.1 total

We biked 14 miles today up around Marina Del Rey to Venice Beach…literally over a half-marathon (13.1 miles). Met Michelle & her husband, Dean, at the Siamese Garden Thai Cafe on Washington Blvd for an excellent Thai dinner. Took Beth to the airport to fly home for 4 days to move Shelby out of her dorm for the summer. Beth caught the red-eye overnight flight to Atlanta then Fayetteville, m, w & t

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

All my life I used to wonder what I would become when I grew up. Then, about seven years ago, I realized that I was never going to grow up–that growing is an ever ongoing process.” –M. Scott Peck

0 RV miles today, 4928.1 total

We spent the day in Hollywood with Hannah Briers walking the streets of Hollywood/Larchmont having an outdoor cafe lunch at the Bungalow. Will headed off to go surfing with friends & we got the nickel tour of Hollywood including Grauman’s Chinese Theater with the star’s handprints/footprints & sidewalk “walk of stars.” Even saw Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Spiderman, Darth Vader, Shrek & numerous other celebrities perusing the sidewalks offering photo ops. We relaxed at HB’s apartment before walking to the Grove. Had French crepes for dinner reminding us of one of our favorite restaurants, “Crepe Nanou,” when we lived along St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Back to Dockweiller State Beach for an evening stroll on the beach. b, m, w, h & t (the NewMillermans)

“Let’s put it this way, if all the people in Hollywood who have had plastic surgery, if they went on vacation, there wouldn’t be a person left in town.” –Michael Jackson (I’d still be here!?!…m2)

“Once we truly know that life is difficult — once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” -‘The Road Less Traveled” –M. Scott Peck

19.3 miles today, 4,928.1 miles total

Gorgeous Friday…sunny 80 degrees! We drove 9 miles up to the Santa Monica pier then rode our bikes almost 8 miles up the coastal bike path to Will Rogers State Park Beach with friends, Hannah  & Rachel. After a leisurely lunch, we experienced the amazing LA snail’s pace traffic to Sony Pictures Entertainment to get a personal tour from our gracious hostess, Michelle Mignon. “Awesome” kudos to Michelle, she knows what that means!?! “Celebrating Indomitable Spirit.” Who knows, I might apply for one of the medical consultant positions at Sony!?!? We took some more pictures of the amazing sunset from the effects of the huge wildfire just up the coast. Back at our beachside Dockweiller State Park campground site, it’s incredible to see the huge jets going out over or coming  in from the Pacific Ocean on their flight path to & from LAX International Airport.  And then under that technology, to walk among the many firepits on the beach. It’s a physical juxtaposition of pre-dawn man with 21st century technology man.  From LA, m, b, w & t

“If we know exactly where we’re going, exactly how to get there, and exactly what we’ll see along the way, we won’t learn anything. ” –M. Scott Peck

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” –Albert Einstein (1879-1195

“Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” –Charles M. Schulz (“Peanuts” Snoopy American cartoonist, 1922-2000)

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.” ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn’t it be? —it is the same the angels breathe.” –Mark Twain (“Roughing It,” Chapter XXII, 1886)

“Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race.” –H.G. Wells

149.3 miles today, 4,908.8 miles total

We ventured down the coast to Santa Barbara today going up and down State Street from the pier up to the Apple Store. We had lunch at Kahuna Grill, an eclectic surfing establishment. Beth’s 5 year old Apple MacBook Pro went on the blink so we got her another one. This Apple a day has kept this doctor at bay! Will purchased a cool wood carving made from magnifying glass burning. A huge wind swept California wildfire from Santa Ana winds covered Pacific Coast Highway 1 about 50 miles north of LA covering 8000 acres just after we passed by that area late today. We stopped and took a few pictures after we had passed the part of the road about to be closed. You can even see the glow of the fire from our campsite south of Santa Monica. We are also near the end of the LAX runway and can watch & hear the planes take off over the ocean! Our site is literally on the beach at the Dockweiller State Park Beach. Tomorrow beach biking, Sony tour, taking in southern California weather…From LA, m, b, w & t

 “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” 
― Apple Inc.

“An Apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Benjamin Franklin (Inventor, scientist, writer, political  leader; 1706-1790)

0 miles today, 4,759.5 miles total

Took the bus  to Solvang to explore the town. Ate Dannish pastries, had a smorgasbord meal at The Red Viking Restaurant on Copenhagen Drive and enjoyed the town’s farmer’s market. Relaxed by the pool, m, b, w & t

“Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.”–Hans Christian Anderson (Danish Author whose fairy tales are famous throughout the world, 1805-1875) 

77.8 miles today, 4,759.5 miles total

After a nice walk along the Moro beach bay, we headed inland. Will is standing at our campsite with the Pacific Rock of Gibraltar & beach literally out our RV side door. Arriving in Buellton, the “Gateway to the Santa Ynez Valley,” we’re staying at the beautiful Flying Flags RV Resort.  We headed over to Andersens Restaurant for lunch, known world-wide for it’s split pea soup since 1924. Outside, you can still pose a couple of traveling pals in the head holes of Andersen’s trademark “Hap-pea” and “Pea-Wee,”  where the cartoon chef splits peas with his mighty mallet. Will went bike-riding while Beth & I did our run/walk to explore the town. We ate Dannish pancakes for dinner in celebration of Solvang, the Dannish settlement here, m, b, w & t

“Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever…” –Isak Dinesen (Danish Writer, 1885-1962)

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”  “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” –Soren Kiekegaard (Danish Philosopher/Theologian, recognized as the 1st existentialist philosopher, 1813-1855)

“Worries go down better with soup than without.” Jewish & Yiddish Proverb

99.1 miles today, 4,681.7 miles total

Perhaps the best known stretch of highway in America, California’s Highway 1 between  San Francisco and Los Angeles is 400 miles of coastal beauty. Scenic Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, hugs the coastline from northern California to its southern border. It offers magnificent views of the ocean. We spent the day traveling ~ 90 miles along the breathtaking Pacific Coast Highway from Big Sur to Moro Bay. We stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to see McWay Falls & the California condors hiking amid the southernmost region of the famed coastal redwoods. We also stopped along one of the overlooks for lunch and again for a long hike among the hundreds of elephant seals on the beaches. On land Elephant Seals huddle together and sleep much of the time, eating nothing while on the beach. At sea it is a different matter entirely. They dive constantly for 20 to 30 minutes at a time searching for food with only a few minutes on the surface to catch another breath.  After a brief visit to Hearst Castle Visitor Center, we went on to Morro Dunes RV Park at Morro Bay, called the “Gibraltar of the Pacific” because of the 576-foot-high volcanic peak looming over town and bay, the westernmost of nine extinct volcanoes named “the sisters.” Morro Rock could have served as inspiration for that 1960s Simon and Garfunkel tune with the “I am a rock, I am an island” refrain. After a Tognazzini’s Dockside Restaurant fresh seafood dinner and walk around the piers, we ended up watching the James Bond movie, “Skyfall,” partially based in Shanghai, before bed.

“The aim of life is some way of living, as flexible and gentle as human nature; so that ambition may stoop to kindness, and philosophy to condor and humor. Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper.” –George Santayana (Spanish/American philosopher/poet/humanist, 1863-1952)