LA – Day 6 (Beachin' and Hikin')

Last Sunday was gorgeous in LA. It was sunny and quite warm, so we decided to go to the beach! Before we left, we made a yummy breakfast of toast, strawberries, and scrambled eggs topped with dollops of yogurt/spinach salad and cucumber/tomato salad.

We packed our beach bags with snacks, water, and sandwiches for lunch. I'm sure the restaurants at the beach are outrageously priced.

I took a quick break to snuggle the kitten.

Then we headed out to fight the traffic. I'm so glad we did - the water was freezing (all of the locals were in wetsuits!), but you can't be at the ocean without going in!

(by the way, I use SPF 70...no joke)

Doesn't Mine look like a movie star?!

Look out Katie and Mine...that wave is going to get you!

I took a long time inching my way in, but I finally made it to the breaking point. A wave "smacking" me in the face helped ease me into the cold water.

After we went home and cleaned up, we went to Colin's dad's house in Topanga Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. This was only 30 minutes away, but if you were dropped here from a helicopter you would never guess you were so near LA! Their property butts up against a State Park AND a National Park. We walked out the back door and had amazing views. We took a hike with Colin's dad and their dogs. It was beautiful!

Back at the house we got to try some homemade moonshine! (They didn't make it, they acquired it.) It tasted like really strong whiskey, which threw me off because it was colorless (no aging in barrels, I suppose).

(Katie double-fisting it like a champ!)

Then we headed to dinner to celebrate Colin's stepbrother's birthday. We went to a little, beachy Thai place at the bottom of the canyon/mountain. It was sooooo good. We ordered a bunch of dishes that were served family style, so we got to try a lot of different things. I had a spring roll, yellow curry with tofu, green curry with vegetables, and a noodle dish with brown sauce, eggs, and tofu (I'll have to look up the name of that one).

After dinner we went back to the house for cake and ice cream. I'm sad that I didn't take a picture of the cake - it was shaped like a T-Rex! This is especially funny because Colin's stepbrother was turning 28.

Next we headed back into the city and met a friend for a beer. (Hi, ML!) We ended up closing down the bar...but only because they close early on Sundays.

That's pretty much it for Day 6. I've only got one more day to recap - I already want to go back!