The early bird gets there easier

I was enjoying my time in Orange County and thought I would spend a couple more days there. But as I considered my plans for continuing northward, I realized a huge roadblock — figuratively and literally — loomed ahead: getting through Los Angeles. Oh. Yeah. That.

Traffic in the LA area is always terrible, with miles and miles of stop-n-go all day. Except… maybe… early Sunday morning when Los Angelinos tend to sleep late or go to church, and when surfers are in the water at first light.

So I was on the nearly deserted road at 6:18 AM. Up the 405 to the 10 to Pacific Coast Highway. Extremely light traffic flowed like a river of goodness.

My next destination was only a couple of hours away, and I had all day to get there, so I stopped at Zuma Beach, at the west end of Malibu. The last time I was here there were a couple dozen trust fund bros cruising in their Lamborghinis. When I pulled in today there were just two other vehicles (ordinary ones) in the lot.

As I mentioned the other day, it has been cloudy. It’s typical for late May and continues into June. They call it May Gray and June Gloom.

‘May Gray’ results from a combination of local climate and geography. On a typical ‘May Gray’ day, a low-pressure system generates steady southeast or northeast winds that carry a dense, moist marine layer, fueled by cold ocean temperatures, to the California coast.

As the marine layer approaches land, it slows and turns east toward the coast. This cool, moist ocean flow leads to the formation of low clouds as temperatures drop in the evening. By early morning, thick clouds have moved several miles inland. If there is enough cooling and upslope lift, light to moderate drizzle may occur. The clouds often remain through the morning and dissipate as temperatures rise in the afternoon.

I knew this before I chose this time to be here. I also knew about LA traffic. Those are indicators of how I really wanted/needed to be here. The conditions aren’t ideal but I still love watching and listening to the waves. And traffic won’t be an issue again until Silicon Valley and San Francisco — but I can skirt a lot of that mess by keeping to Highway 1.

So it’s time to mellow out, maybe take a nap to compensate for the early rising time. What a life.