Travelogue - California

Early Thursday morning I left our crazy cold snap and flew off first to Vancouver.  From there we made our way through customs and then go on a plane to take us to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana!

The weather was lovely when we arrived and we eventually caught a bus that took us down the highway to Long Beach.  I was intent on doing some vintage shopping and more than anything exploring what there was to see.  It was a long trip but we made our way to our hotel and saw all the coast on the PCH on the way!  On our travels we met a man from Seattle who couldn't get home because the airport was closed and who was staying in Laguna Beach.  He had all sorts of tips and advice and it was definitely a nice start to our vacation.

First thing Friday, we went walking about and found our way to the bus information place just north of the Pike on Pine and we bought all day passes and after a fine breakfast set about exploring.  We made good use of the shopping map I had printed from http://www.shoppersmap.com/

Unfortunately what we didn't realize was that things were more laid back than we had allowed for and all the shops on 4th Street weren't open until noon.  So we toured  the area for a bit I bought a cute purse at the AIDS Assistance Store for $3 and then we caught the bus up around the Signal Hill area where the antique malls are and thing were open.  I found most prices were commesuate with the internet but it was thrilling so see some things I've never seen in person here like all the Heywake furniture and cornicopia of signage.  I was looking for a thermometer for my new house and after reviewing the prices and thinking about how important it is to have the temperature in Celsius in Canada I went for a really cute reproduction piece along with some awesome deco stove S&P and some great 1940s postcards that I'm intent on framing.  One of my other finds was some vacation slides which I want to maybe turn into a cool lamp like Erica did http://www.ericamulherin.com/blog/2010/01/07/the-most-awesomest-lampshade-ever/ my slides aren't as cool and I only have 80 for now but it is a start and I'm hoping to collect some other older ones as I go along.

After having a snack we caught the bus back to 4th Street (seen here the corner of 4th and Cherry) and had a great time shopping I looked long and hard a vintage Mexican circle skirt but in the end decided I'd never be bold enough to wear it and instead picked up some great soveniers (robot ice cube tray! guitar spatula!) and swooned over more furniture pieces.

We had supper on our way back to the hotel at a place called Creme de la Crepe where we hit the end of happy hour and got to order off the lunch menu at or maybe after 4 PM.  It was delicious after a long day shopping and was not far from Downtown Darling which we checked out along the way.  After all that it was nice to get back to our room and put on some warmer clothes.  We went out and checked out the ferris wheel and pier and then came back to our room for some well deserved sleep.  Saturday we journeyed back to closer to the Airport in Orange County.