Paul

What a great tool this gadget is! It brings out the creative spirit in everyone who has it. Way to go Apple!

Wandering up the coast we stop at every beach along the Pacific Coast. There are lots of them and each with it’s own collection of treasures to find. Marla has found her inner artist, making still lifes of her finds. I think they are incredible!

Santa Barbara is lined with awesome Palm trees everywhere. I guess the lack of hurricanes promotes growth! 🙂 These monoliths make for excellent silhouettes in the sunrise.

This was our hotel in Santa Barbara for the night, thanks to the generosity of a good friend with a spare yacht. It was a cool night and we were gently rocked by the incoming tide. The sunrise was a treat in the harbor. We'll be back when we have time to stop and paint!

What great guys! Any chance to meet up again will be highly anticipated. We stayed rather late, so not driving into the sunset tonight. The Pacific Coast Highway by the light of the full moon was pretty awesome though!

In a spectacular house above the Getty Villa in Malibu we had dinner with some dear old friends, Shawn Scott, Anthony Hitt, and a sweet Newfoundland named Kiko. The sunset was a pineapple and the company a peach. We had such a great evening and hated to push on, but there’s a lot of Pacific…

The folks on Venice Beach are the most colorful collection ofcharacters anywhere! Their “street performances” are unusual, original and sometimes dowright strange. I love to watch the freaks at the beach do their thing. They are excellent character studies for doing portraits, and in no way camera shy. I think I should do a portrait…

The drive from Tucson to LA was great, up to the LA part. After three hours of fighting traffic, we reached the Pacific Ocean and landed on Venice Beach. The graffiti here is great, but we came for the people watching!

Just outside of Tucson we stopped in to visit the greatest collection of Saguaro cacti. These giants don't sprout their first arm until they are almost 75 yrs old. Marla wanted to give one a hug, but he was prickly so she decided to mock him instead. 🙂

In Tuscon we had lunch with my Grandparents, Paul & Norma Niemann. Grandad is 94 and acting 70 still! Norma can’t be over 65, but she’s not telling. 🙂 What a fantastic opportunity to have lunch with the greatest man on planet earth. I can’t wait to do it again!