It’s Labor Day in America, and that means it’s also the last day of our time in Southern California, but that doesn’t imply that we’re just taking off for a quick drive back across the deserts of California and Arizona so we can get home early. Nope, we had things to do, such as head down Wilshire Blvd to the Santa Monica Pier as who doesn’t enjoy a walk out over the ocean?

I think these plump specimens of pigeonhood have become accustomed to the feeding hands of people. The closer we got, the closer we got, meaning they didn’t scatter. Nope, they focused those evil beady red eyes on us as if questioning us, “Whatchya got in the way of snackies to offer, so we don’t need to poop on you?”

Meanwhile, the pelican looks on from above, thinking, “I already know you, sorry skin-sacks got no fish, so I may as well poo on you, be careful where you walk.”

In my opinion, pelicans are right behind the albatross in cool factor with regards to birds that soar over the water. Look at its form, wing tips seemingly just millimeters off the surface; head pulled back as if resting it on the body, looking for all the world as if it were in cruising mode and when pelicans are going to go in for something to eat, they rear up and divebomb with that long beak piercing the water’s surface as if to open a portal into the sea for it to grab its meal.

In the first years, Caroline and I would travel from Phoenix to the Los Angeles area it wasn’t uncommon for headaches to creep up on us as we entered the smog vector somewhere near Palm Springs. Through the mountains, a brown cloud not made of fog wafted to the east, and we had to drive right into it. That was common for us in the mid to late 90s, but over time, it’s been improving gradually. Now, if only better mass transportation and more affordable housing for the underclass could be facilitated to remove the traffic gridlock and scale of the homeless problem, Los Angeles would only become a better and better place to live.

Then again, with a greater quality of life, a greater density of residents competing for resources would only grow dire. If the pier here in Santa Monica were round-the-clock mayhem as it is on a Friday or Saturday night, maybe things wouldn’t be quite as enchanting as they are here on a quiet early morning while a calm sea laps at the pylons of the pier and gently rolls onshore.

With nearly two hours ahead of us before our next “date,” all we can do is wander around enjoying the beautiful day.

And though we love the evening vibe here on the promenade, we thoroughly enjoy the morning solitude.

Our “date” is a documentary we are taking in this morning here on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Side by Side, produced and narrated by Keanu Reeves, is a comparative look at the differences between film and digital workflows in the making of movies.

We had one more stop in Los Angeles before hitting the road back east and that was at Yoma Myanmar in Monterey Park, a little Burmese joint of a restaurant. By the time we are in the desert, dark clouds on the horizon portend some inclement weather in our future, that and rainbows.

Rainbows and hints of double rainbows.

Even a full rainbow that had us get off the freeway for a better photo.

How about some more double rainbow? Yep, this is how we travel: blue skies, great food, awesome experiences, and rainbows everywhere we go.