Thursday, December 10, 2015

Sunset at the Santa Monica Pier [USA Road Trip Finale]

A big journey comes to an end in this final part of images from our US Road Trip. After 3200 km/1990 miles of driving across the Southwest of the United States we arrived right back were we started. It was more then welcome to be back at the shores of the Pacific Ocean, after having driven through the desert for the past 7 days. On the last day of our trip we came back to Santa Monica, and back to the Pacific Highway, on the exact same spot where our trip had started 15 days earlier.

I hope you will enjoy this final set of images. I won't be drowning you in details and tips this time, as this was a relaxed evening on the beach. It was October 31st, Halloween and as the streets of LA filled up with people for the annual Halloween Parade, we drove out to catch the last glimpses of the sun.



Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica

There is one spot I have to mention before we arrive at the Santa Monica Pier, and that is the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It's a shopping street, filled with many shops, restaurants and cafes. We parked our car at the parking garage at 2nd Street (which is cheaper then the parking at the pier). I got some frozen yogurt in Pinkberry as the others bought a few last things in the shops there.




As we crossed the pedestrian bridge towards the Santa Monica Pier I caught a glimpse of the Highway 101 / Pacific Coast Highway. I stopped to take a photo and it got me wondering about our journey. This road has led us on a wonderful journey throughout California, Nevada and Arizona and now, others would be following those footsteps, just like we followed the footsteps of those who traveled it before us.




Santa Monica Pier

The pier in Santa Monica has to be the most prominent attractions of the city (next to Venice Beach, which we didn't get to visit, but I didn't mind, after having read about it). The pier contains Pacific Park, a family amusement park with its one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art, solar paneled Ferris wheel. It also has an original carousel hippodrome from the 1920s, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium operated by Heal the Bay, shops, entertainers, a video arcade, a trapeze school, pubs, and restaurants. It also featured the "End of Route 66" sign, which marks the end of the transcontinental mother route, which we briefly crossed on our journey to the Grand Canyon.







On the Beach

We stepped down the wooden steps and onto the beach. For one last time during our trip, we took off our shoes and felt the sandy beach between our toes. This is an iconic beach and it was featured in many movies and TV shows. There were quite a few people there, but the beach never felt crowded. On the contrary, I felt very much at peace here.





The colorful ambiance of the pier was highlighted by the colors of the setting sun. I got a heavy orange glow in the upcoming shots, that really shows what it was like there. It's almost like the sunset on the pacific has different colors.







At the End of a Long Journey

It was getting late, we had a one hour long drive back to Hollywood, where our apartment was, so we had to slowly finish up our business here. It was harder done then said. The beach setting was so inviting and very hard to leave. I thought about the first days of our trip, about the leisurely drive to Santa Barbara, the fascinating sights of Pismo Beach, the calming time spent in Morro Bay, Big Sur and the magnificent Pigeon Point Lighthouse. We saw all of these in the first two days of our road trip. Now those days seemed so far away.







The last shot was taken and we headed back to our car. The rest of the day was spent with a visit to Tagret, dinner and packing up. Our flight back home was next day from LAX. We arrived safely in 24 hours back in Mostar. Home was close again and wonderful memories remained...

The End

49 comments:

  1. Thank you very much Mersad for taking me along with that escapade. Not only are the photos great but you 4 are beautiful models. Now that you're back home, i am sure in a little while something is again brewing inside your heads, and another escapade will be in the not so far horizon. That time we will be joining you again, and we will again be so thankful. For i might not see those places in this lifetime!

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  2. A most enjoyable trip, for us as well as you.

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  3. It was great to follow you virtually on this road-trip buddy...and this a fitting end to the memorable trip. Btw this weekend I am coming close to where you are and really looking forward to some snow :)

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    1. Where are you traveling to? Stay safe bud.

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  4. Wonderful post, very befitting for your last day in the US.
    (I surfed there a few times, back in the dark ages)
    Your entire travel series has been wonderful to follow. You did a great job!

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  5. Ein Urlaub den ihr bestimmt immer in Erinnerung halten werdet. Ganz toll lieber Mersad und ich danke dir dass wir euch so toll bebildert, ausführlich beschrieben und mit sovielen wertvollen Tipps begleiten durften.

    Herzliche Grüsse

    N☼va

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    1. Danke Dir für deinen Besuch und es freut mich das dir die Blogposts gefallen haben.

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  6. The amount of activity on the pier is amazing Mersad! Wonderfully pictures here and over the duration of your trip. Is this the beach Baywatch was filmed on? Here's looking forward to your next trip.

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  7. The amount of activity on the pier is amazing Mersad! Wonderfully pictures here and over the duration of your trip. Is this the beach Baywatch was filmed on? Here's looking forward to your next trip.

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  8. This has been a wonderful series, Mersad. You covered a lot of territory in a short period of time. I'm so glad you all had such a good time and hope you'll come back again to visit another part of our country.

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    1. I hope so too. We already made some plans for a future visit :)

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  9. Sehr coole Fotos, wieder diese Stimmungen mit dem Licht, gefallen mir sehr gut.
    Liebe Grüße

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  10. Great shots. I felt like I was there with you!

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  11. Beautiful sunset shots! A great way to end a great trip. Enjoyed traveling virtually with you and your friends.

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  12. You'll be a surfer dude before you know it. Great series, my friend.

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  13. I love the warm,rich colors of sunset.

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  14. This was quite a journey! You all covered a lot of ground in 15 days! The golden orange sunset was a fitting end to your trip. Thanks so much for sharing your adventure. :)

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    1. Thanks for visiting and joining in Rita.

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  15. Great pictures, looks like you had a wonderful trip

    Mollyxxx

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  16. Glad to hear you all enjoyed this trip. I have enjoyed tagging along.

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  17. Truly enjoyed this grand tour with you and family. Never would have gotten to see this otherwise.

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  18. great people-watching place.

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  19. Hach Mersad, was für ne tolle Reise! Und ich bin beeindruckt, dass du schon alles für den Blog durchgeschrieben hast! Ich hab das bei unserer Sommerreise immer noch nicht geschafft! 2 Wochen und 3200 km sind schon echt ein weiter Weg, das beeindruckt mich auch! Ach und dieses Pinkberry macht die besten frozen Joghurts ever find ich ja! Hjamjamjam! GlG Anne

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    1. Ich kann Dir nur sagen das es sehr Anstrengend war. Ich habe cca 2200 Bilder bearbeitet, dafür um die 320 für den Blog. War schon ein rieseger Aufwand, aber habe ich gerne gemacht. Und einen Dokufilm schneide ich auch nebenbei :)

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  20. I agree. It's hard to be torn away from a beautiful place.

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  21. A great wrap to a wonderful trip. Thanks for taking us along.

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  22. I've been on part of route 66 in Arizona but I would love to do the whole road down to Santa Monica like you.

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    1. We didn't drive down the whole route 66 either, just parts of it in Arizona and California. We mainly focused our trip on the Southwest USA and California.

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  23. I feel like I went to the beach with you. I loved seeing all the people being that I am a real people watcher. The one with the couple making the heart is sweet and the ferris wheel is really cool. Thanks for sharing this colorful series. Whatever you did with the coloration is wonderful.

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    1. It's all the last few minutes of the sunset really. I just boosted the contrast and warmed them up a tad. The light there was out of this world.

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  24. Santa Monica looks so great in your photos! Sometimes, it is hard to believe you actually live close to all these wonderful places. Loved all your posts about the West Coast road trip.

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    1. I don't live here, this was a travel series. I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thousands of miles away :)

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  25. Wow ! You certainly had a great weather and a great time !

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  26. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous photos! My trip to Santa Monica didn't come with such beautiful photo ops. Thank you for sharing with us at Photo Friday!

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    1. I had the luck of being there at sunset. Can't beat that light, no matter what you are taking photos of :)

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  27. Absolutely amazing shots! The perfect end to the trip...gorgeous beach with some great memories, I know! I still have to catch up with the rest of you trip! I'm so looking forward to it!

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    1. I hope you will enjoy this 15 part travel series. It's immersive I know, but I tried to make it as interesting as possible.

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  28. Amazing images of an amazing trip!

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  29. Hello Mersad, what a lovely end to your trip! The beach and sunset shots are awesome. I love the RT 66 photos too. Thanks for sharing your trip! Happy Sunday, enjoy your new week!

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    1. Thanks Eileen. It truly was the icing on the cake of what was an amazign experience.

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  30. Wow! Santa Monica looks fabulous! I love all the colours and the weather looks perfect! What a great holiday you had.

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  31. These wer so pretty and pleasant to look at. You really made me want to visit Santa Monica someday.

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  32. Such a CA icon! I can't tell you how many TV shows and movies I've seen this in! Glad you could see it in person. Looks so fun.

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  33. Mersad... I always enjoy all the information and tips that come with your wonderful photos..I would like to get out to the west coast to visit myself...Michelle

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  34. Lovely lighting round the beach scenes. Especially loved the photos with a touch of distant mist.

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  35. A most enjoyable and fair summary of places to visit in California, Nevada and Arizona. Photographs are beautiful and tips and tricks very helpful. Cheers from someone who is from California :).

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  36. Woow!What a wonderful road trip and amazing photos!Thank you !

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