Life in California

I have been meaning to describe where we are in Long Beach, California. It’s a very pleasant place. The RV spaces are a little close together, but considering we’re right on the edge of downtown in a big city, it’s very nice. Downtown is not old and shabby like it used to be when we were kids. It has been rebuilt with pedestrian malls and sidewalk cafes. The climate is mild; warm days, cool nights, but not cold. There is a pedestrian/bike trail that goes in both directions from here. The trail markers indicate that it goes fifty miles upstream along the Los Angeles River. We don’t really want to go fifty miles up the Los Angeles River though. The other direction, it goes past ports and marinas and ends up as a clean-swept cement path right on the beach. It’s an easy twenty minute bicycle ride to Cherry Beach from here, and only thirty minutes to Belmont Pier. Sister Sue’s house is just a few blocks past that on Roycroft, just off Second Street.

But before I got to describing how nice and quiet it is here: major bust. Right here in the park. They descended in a swarm. Six police vehicles. A dozen officers. Guns drawn. Suspect apprehended while he was still trying to park his rig in the space opposite us. No shots fired. He went into cuffs immediately. High risk sex offender. Parole violation. She wasn’t in any trouble at all until they found the heroin and meth in her purse in the coach; then she went in cuffs too. I had a great view of the whole thing out the windshield.

It took awhile to get the motorhome searched and the suspects removed. It didn’t take Judy long to get a conversation going with the police as they were wrapping up; offering them food and drink. One guy admired our motorhome from the outside, so he had to end up on the inside for a tour with a bottle of water to drink.

Life in California.