(Written from Sky and Brian's apartment in Ocean Beach, San Diego)
Miles biked: 0 (1,794.8 overall)
During my final day in Los Angeles, the local buses drove me crazy -- and, of course, forced me into a lot of walking.
It's safe to say that by the end of the night, I was ready to get back on the bike. I was sick and tired of the L.A. buses.
My game plan in the morning was to catch a bus to Venice Boulevard, where I'd transfer to another bus to get down to Venice Beach. Once there, I planned to walk around and explore the scene.
But, somehow, I rode right past my stop, which I swear was never announced. And after about 12 minutes, I realized I'd gone too far and was well on my way to LAX.
I quickly got off to cut down on the damage, but it had been done. I was miles from my desired location.
After about a mile of walking, I saw a little, hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint and got a tasty burrito. That helped better my mood a bit, but I had a long walk ahead of me to reach Venice Beach -- yes, I could have tried to find another bus, but I had no idea which one to catch from where I was and I didn't have a bus map on me.
So I walked along barren streets, which featured no scenery. The thing about walking in L.A. is that you might be 5 miles, or even closer, from downtown and all the activity, but have no idea. I felt like I could have been in some random, run-down city.
After a while of walking, I reached Ballona Creek, which runs out to the ocean. I noticed a bike/walking path along the water, which looked more appetizing than the sidewalks I had been following.
In truth, it really wasn't. The creek, like the Los Angeles River, was narrow and had concrete walls on both sides. The water wasn't deep and was extremely dirty, and I felt bad for the ducks stuck in it.
Anyway, I walked along the creek for a couple miles before finally reaching Marina del Ray. Once there, I had to slide my way along busy Lincoln Boulevard and its lack of sidewalks before reaching Admirality Way, which slowly took me around the marina toward Venice Beach. I had to stop and sit down on a bench for a break -- I'd been walking for 2 hours.
But finally I reached Venice, my legs fatigued, and I actually found an interesting part of the city to explore: The Venice Beach boardwalk.
It was a nice afternoon, and droves of people were out walking the strip. Here's a sampling of what/whom I passed by:
-- A handful of "doctors" who could provide marijuana for medicinal purposes. Each place had a list of reasons why you could see the doctor for weed. Among them: arthritis, AIDS and many other medical problems.
-- Several street performers, who sang, sculpted, did tattoos, etc... One guy had sculpted an alligator out of sand. It was impressive.
-- Several sidewalk stands selling everything from beads and necklaces to T-shirts, pipes and ice cream.
-- Muscle Beach, a large, outdoor weight room. It's a great idea, really. L.A. hardly gets any rain, so it makes sense to pump iron outside in a happening place. It would sure beat working out inside a hot, indoor gym.
-- Also in athletic circles, there were paddle ball courts and basketball courts. Paddle ball is a fun sports to watch and, I presume, play. It's played on a miniature tennis court with tennis balls, but with paddles. Players hit the ball with tennis-like strokes.
Overall, Venice Beach was a one-of-a-kind experience. All kinds of activity and things to look at just a couple hundred yards from the water.
Then, of course, it was back to the bus life. After a relatively short walk, I caught the 733 bus on Venice Boulevard heading toward downtown. And then I took a nap, because I had a long, long ride ahead of me.
I ended up riding the bus for a full hour until, finally, I arrived downtown. Then I had to catch another bus, the No. 4, to get to Dodger Stadium for the main attraction of the day -- a baseball game at the oldest MLB stadium I hadn't been to.
After about half an hour, I arrived at my stop -- and Dodger Stadium was nowhere in sight.
Luckily, a sign pointed me in the direction of the stadium, which was up a large hill about half a mile from the bus stop. The perimeter of the stadium was a setup different from anything I'd ever seen. Toll-booth like stalls were set up, where cars had to go through to pay for parking in several large lots surrounding the stadium.
It seemed different, but also more simple than most parking situations outside sports stadiums -- but it wasn't beautiful. After walking a few more hundred yards, I finally reached the stadium, which doesn't exactly stand out. It's kind of tucked into the ground like Michigan Stadium, only to a lesser extent.
Still, it provides a good baseball-watching experience, and that's all that matters. I bought a $30 bleacher ticket, which included unlimited food -- hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and peanuts -- and non-alcoholic drinks (soda and water). I'd never heard of such a deal at a ballpark, but it was enticing.
And the ticket wasn't bad. I sat in the second row of the right-field bleachers, which was prime home-run territory. The Dodgers jacked four of them during their 6-4 win, including a blast that landed about 10 feet to my left. That sent my section into chaos, as fans jived back and forth about who missed the ball.
The bleachers were packed, and the crowd was extremely ethnically diverse -- an experience I'd never witnessed at a baseball game. The fans were boisterous, and they got even more excited and gregarious as the Lakers' NBA Finals game wound down in Orlando during the middle innings.
One guy about 20 seats to my right had a portable TV, and he kept updating everyone around me. It was craziness. Somebody would ask for a score and get a response. Then the kid next to him, who hadn't heard the score, would ask. It resulted in shouting back and forth that I had to chuckle at.
The excitement over the basketball game was as great as that about what we were there for until, finally, it was announced -- and confirmed -- that the Lakers had lost by two.
That did nothing to dampen the fans' moods. It was an enjoyable, entertaining experience throughout the 3-hour game, filled by fans doing the wave, fans batting beach balls, lots of eating and, of course, watching the best team in baseball win another game.
Then it was back to the buses...
Before leaving that morning, I had used mta.net, the L.A. public transportation system, to map out a plan. It had me taking two buses, the No. 2 and the No. 7, back to Tim and Sherry's house off Pico Boulevard. When I caught the No. 2, however, around 10:30 p.m., the driver told me that it didn't connect to the No. 7.
Still, she said it was my best option, so I sat down and waited. After about 40 minutes, she told me to get off at Fairfax Street and take the No. 217 down to Pico, where, finally, I could take the No. 7 back to Tim and Sherry's. Not only would i have to take three buses, but transfers weren't given at that time, so I had to pay $1.25 for each ride.
Well, the driver had said nothing about the 37 minutes I waited outside of a drug store for the 217. I considered, at one point, running down to Pico, but I knew how huge L.A. is. It'd be a long, long run in my Tevas. And, at long last, the packed bus pulled up a little after 11:40.
I got to Pico a bit after 12 -- it was a good thing I hadn't tried running, because it must have been several miles -- and had a decision to make: Should I sit at a bus stop and hope that the 7 showed up, or should I run for it?
Thankfully, the signs on Pico listed the schedule for the No. 7 -- and there would be one more bus for the night headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, even if it was on schedule, it was more than 15 minutes away. So I decided to jog up Pico and stop, temporarily, at each bus sign to see if the bus was coming.
After about 15 minutes, I was winded and decided to camp out at an abandoned bus stop. A couple minutes later, an abandoned bus pulled up. The nice driver took me within a block of Tim and Sherry's.
It was 12:30.
My L.A. experience on buses was over.
And I was ready to get back on the bike, a form of transportation I knew I could count on.
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