Saturday on Venice Beach

Our day in Marina del Rey began with a walk. A marathon walk all around the marina, we basked in the bright sunlight that has eluded us so long in our New England home. We walked and walked, and talked about our idea to come out here in February and stay a whole month....now that we've got Skype, and our laptops, and reliable staff, hey, why not escape for the whole month next year? It's an idea still in its infancy, but because Cindy and I are both self-employed, it's doable and tempting.

Venice Beach has lost the sleaze factor that we both remember from the last time we visited. This time it was just a wide stretch of beach, populated by locals and visitors, and we didn't see the bizarre bodybuilders, rastas, and weird pierced guys that I recall from my last visit in 1995.

Our feet ached from all the walking, and as luck would have it, just as we commented about how we needed a sneaker store, we passed by one. We both suited up with new sneaks, fitted by experts at the The Starting Line, who really knew about sneaker fitting, and now we're happy to be going to New Zealand prepared to do some walking.

The wait is terribly bearable here at the Business class lounge, overlooking the tarmac. We have WiFi, brews, snacks and plenty of excitement for the journey ahead.