After another long trip on the Greyhound we finally arrived back in Los Angeles. We had missed our connecting bus to Long Beach and with the next one not leaving for another two hours we headed out to use the public transit system grumpy yet glad to be done with Greyhound.
So we caught the number 60 bus (the same one we had caught from Venice Beach to the Greyhound about 3 weeks earlier) to the Metro Line. At this point we purchased tickets, with the help of a security guard, and headed downstairs where the train sat waiting. Soon we were on our way feeling slightly concerned as the stations began to look dodgier and dodgier. And rightly so, when we disembarked the area was grim. We headed across the road to a petrol station where we spotted a taxi. This taxi driver and another assured us another taxi would come. The petrol station attendant wouldn't call us one (said we should ask one of the dodge characters outside to borrow their phone) - incidentally this was the only person across the entirety of the states that wouldn't help us. In the end a police car showed up and the officers approached us as we stood out like a pair of sore thumbs. They called us a taxi and waited till we were safely collected. It was probably the first time we've felt helpless and worried all trip.
The next day we jumped on a bus into downtown Long Beach for a bit of sight-seeing but predominantly sorting ourselves in preparation for the next leg of the trip. The major task in hand was the hairdressers - after much ado and a trip to the more exclusive Belmont Shore area we were both slightly more presentable. We stayed there for tea and drinks before heading back to the motel.
The next day was an early start with a trip to the launderette before catching the bus onto Redondo Beach. Long Beach served it's main purpose that is, preparation for the next stage but there wasn't much there and the outskirts are the pits. Next came Redondo.
Kelly and Mike