We headed to the beach over the weekend. We were headed to Malibu, but the traffic was a bit heavy so we stopped off at Santa Monica.
It was a bit chilly and cloudy, as you can see from the photos, so we headed over to a local watering hole in Venice.
The sun finally came out, and life was good. We made some new friends in Venice, and before we knew it, we ended up at a drum circle on Venice Beach, and I thought, this is what a day at the beach is all about.
Yesterday I went took part in a guided hike in the Santa Monica Mountains. The hike was sponsored by the National Park Service, and the goal was to find local wildflowers in bloom. While the guided hike turned out to be more for hardcore botany enthusiasts, it was great to get outdoors, and we learned some things along the way. 
The photo above is one of my new favorite local plants. This is a yucca plant, which comes in many different forms. It is closely related to the agave and the lily, and actually is not a part of the cactus family. These plants grow long flower stalks, and after they bloom, the original plant dies. 
These photos are from the Mishe Mokwa Trail, which is close to Mailbu. The drive alone was beautiful, as we drove all the way through Malibu along the ocean, and then turned inland to the mountains. It was pretty amazing that we were only an hour outside of Los Angeles.
The vistas were incredible. We were about 2,000 feet above sea level. 
