Malibu morning picture of the day - Monday, May 23,2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

It's time to start a new week afresh. I hope you're ready. Especially since we've got a long holiday weekend looming in front of us.

Clear and cool this morning in So Cal. Expected highs on the coast here are supposed to be in the 60s, 70s inland. Here's a second look.

Apparently it's in the national news that the Los Angeles light rail system opened up seven news stops along the Expo Line which now connects downtown L.A. to Santa Monica, the first time a train has gone to the beach for some 60 years.

I took the Expo home on Friday. It was crowded, but the fare was free. The time it took to go from Santa Monica to Culver City was about 22 minutes. It beat the 534 (which goes on the freeway) by about 15+ minutes--the speed on that stretch of freeway is usually 7-8 MPH at that time of day, first gear for nearly a half hour in standard trannie.

Here's the pano shot, sweeping from the look down Broadway (wavy sidewalk) on the left, over to the Downtown SM Station on the right. The cross street there is 5th Street.

Since the fare was free, there were many non-commuters and the line was long, but the train holds a lot of people. It was like waiting in line for a Disneyland ride.

Most of the "history tourists" went only as far as Culver City. After that, it became the usual passengers consisting of blacks, Latinos, white and Asian USC students, and people on their way to their date nights to be spent at L.A. Live and Staples Center.

The trip from SM to DTLA is really about an hour. The train has to navigate streetlights, so it's not as predictable or fast as the Red Line subway. In fact, I heard on the news this morning that here on its first day of full weekday operation, it suffered the main risk, being obstructed by a stalled car.

I figure I'll get to ride it a few times before getting relocated to Calabasas in July. The SM Expo extension will cut about probably about 20 minutes from my evening public transit commute. Not terribly much, but over time it gives you back some of your life.

That's it for today. Have a wonderful Monday.

Love,
Pops