I Scream, You Scream

Day 16: July 12, 2009 – Los Angeles, CA to a beach campsite, CA
We all Scream for: ICE CREAM!

Today, we ate ice cream. Twice.

But first, we woke up and showered and made a plan. Plan: go down-town, eat something…and…we ended up going to a farmer’s market, watching Sponge Bob Square Pant’s and eating our first serving of ice cream. Walking down town, we talked about the amazing vegetation of California as Garrett directed our attention to a Cactus which grew like a tree; had bark like a tree, many branches, was tall, yet was definitely a cactus. Once downtown, we made our way into a bagel shop and enjoyed our morning treat before discovering the farmer’s market. Once at the market, we realized we could have enjoyed fresh fruits and pastries for breakfast rather than the bagels. Instead, we enjoyed the free samples and atmosphere.

From the Farmer’s Market we made our way back to Garrett’s place where we updated the blog, made a couple CouchRequests and watched a years worth of Sponge Bob Square Pant’s (we had to wait for the “best ice cream joint in town” to open. So, at two in the afternoon we made our way to Scoops, home of the greatest ice cream/gelato EVER! Flavors included: Strawberry Rhubarb, Orange-Lychee, Pistachio-Cardamom-Honey, Guinness Chocolate, Brown Bread and Maple Oreo. We enjoyed our day’s first serving of ice cream, said our good-byes and made our way toward Pasadena where we were to meet up with Melissa’s wonderful room-mate from her time in Granada, Spain.

After only half an hour on the road we were at the front door of Melissa’s cherished amiga, Lauren. We hugged and squealed as we shed the four years which has separated us and our time in Granada. Hardly after making our way into the door Lauren was wondering if we would like to take a walk and go get some ice cream..? Of course! Why not? So, we walked again, soaking in the heat and earning our next bowl of ice cream as if it were our first. After much time in the sun we arrived at Serve & Scoop where we entered a space age sort of locale with flashing lights and a dozen choices of soft serve ice cream followed by a couple dozen choices of toppings and add-ins. Flavors here included: Vanilla, Chocolate, Cheesecake, Pomegranate-Raspberry Sorbet, Green Tea, Blueberry Tart, Mango Tart, Pineapple Tart and many more. We made our ice cream choices, threw on some toppings and paid for our ice cream, by the ounce! Sitting in front of the store we enjoyed our bowls of ice cream then made our way back to Lauren’s apartment. In her home, we filled our waters, checked email quick and said yet another good-bye.

Having made all the appropriate stops in this area of California we were on the road, ready to get on the Coastal Highway and begin enjoying the view of the ocean. Soon as we were able, we exited the car and placed our feet in the Pacific Ocean. Having been unsuccessful in our last minute search for a couch, we made our way toward a roadside turnout where we contorted our bodies and had a fitfull for Melissa, slightly restful for Mike, night's sleep.

FYI: Today was our Sabbath in a sense and also, the Sabbath of our camera.