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.

This is only a part of our big travel series to the USA

For the other parts click here

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

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