traffic

I've been pretty smug about traffic since we moved to Los Angeles. Traffic is one of the first reasons people cite for not liking LA, and I've been claiming it's not as bad as everyone says. Sure, we get slowed down from time to time when we are heading downtown on a weekend. But on a daily basis, I generally avoid any traffic as I don't have to take any freeways to get to work. Instead, I cruise up the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway at a pretty consistent 45-50mph.

However, the week before last, I made mistakes while driving twice, and they cost me an hour each. In both cases, I was crawling in the wrong direction, and knew it, but couldn't turn around. It was far more frustrating than I expected, and a little humbling. :) I am apparently not immune to LA traffic.

Yet, the next day, I walked out of my apartment mid-afternoon, and within ten minutes I was sitting on the beach. I think I am willing to put up with a little traffic for this...

Photo courtesy of Flickr user DRB62, some rights reserved