PCH...

PCH...

I've been in the LA area for the last couple of days. Today I had three customer visits - one of which took me 3 hours of driving to get to - and it was just 75 miles north. Ah the LA freeway.

At the end of my last appointment, I asked my host about traffic heading back to LAX. He advised me avoid traffic by dropping South on Kanan Rd to the Pacific Coast Highway. The route took me over a beautiful, rugged hills down to Malibu, and then back East along the PCH. I stopped a couple of times for the view. The smells were so refreshing - sage up in the mountains and then the ocean. I had forgot all of those smells. It was such a wonderful surprise. An antidote to the freeway drive. Of course all of that ended when I got down to Santa Monica and back on I10. But for maybe an hour the landscape nourished my soul.

I ended up at a Panera (free wifi does it again). While I waited in line a father was playing 'Tommy says' with his very cute 4 yr old daughter. 'Tommy says take a step forward.' 'Tommy says rub your stomach.' 'Tommy says rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time.' They were fun to watch.

One thing that I enjoy about LA - and I suppose about most places - is the diversity of the people. So many colors and languages. All kinds of interesting dress and decorations.

Driving the freeway listening to NPR talking about Cheney in the news today: refusing to discuss Gitmo, and refusing to turn over records about secret investigations. The Gitmo stuff: lies - lies - lies. I don't have time to get into it now, but that guy is awful!

I gotta get moving now: drop off my rental car, check in for my flight. I take off at 11:40, arriving in Chicago at 5:30am. I get back to SBN at maybe 8:30. I'm not looking forward to this one, but it will pass.