Arriving in LA from the north brings you in to the city from an interesting direction. You come down the coast and then run in to the city before making a turn towards the west to land (assuming LAX is operating in the usual direction. You can see Van Nuys, come over Culver City south of Beverly Hills with the Hollywood sign off to the north and then pass close over the top of Downtown before making the turn. You are pretty low so have a nice angle on things as you go and, with it being later in the day in the early spring light, things aren’t as harsh as they get later in the year.
A few good views of the city as well as the race track near the airport were on offer so who was I to say no?
Ten years living in the heart of Chicago meant that St Patrick’s Day was treated with a certain level of trepidation. Yes, the dying of the river green was fun and there was a parade. (It was a huge parade that went on forever and could be held in some bitterly cold weather that made you wonder whether you really wanted to know what you still hadn’t seen.) However, the city got taken over by people getting hammered from breakfast to early the next morning so it wasn’t always the best place to be! You can see some of my previous writings on the day here if you wish.
Now we are in California, we live in Dublin! Okay, it isn’t that Dublin and it might not have much real connection with Ireland but it has embraced the name and made St Patrick’s Day a big event. There is a parade the then a fairground and stalls are set up in the area around the public library and the sports fields. I figured I should stroll along to see how the parade went.
While it might not be on the same scale as the Chicago parade, it was still a pretty sizable affair. Plenty of people seemed to be out lining the streets to watch it go through. The participants were a mix of groups. The various local schools had their marching bands, the emergency services participated, local groups would show off their specializations and you had some of the light-hearted elements thrown in for good measure like the Shriners in their little cars. A few horses and dogs were thrown in for good measure.
Bringing up the rear was a vintage bus and a modern bus from Wheels, the local transit agency. I was standing next to a woman who obviously worked for them but showed up after things had started and was worried she had missed them. She needn’t have worried. The weather was great – another difference from Chicago – so everyone in the parade as well as those watching seemed to be having a good time. A variety of groups were throwing goodies out to the crowd but I was on the wrong side of the road to get anything they threw. Just as well really because, while I am enthusiastic for the freebies when they are throwing them around, I always find myself wondering why I wanted the stuff shortly afterwards. However, I did get some free Pocky samples and I didn’t mind eating them at all!
A previous post included some aerial photos of SFO taken as I flew out of Oakland. That departure routing also takes you over Hunters Point and then Candlestick Park. The demolition process appears to be well underway with a section of the stadium gone. I was glad to get a shot of it while it was mostly still intact. Soon it will be gone.
A short drive from Dublin can take you in to the hills and some pretty queit places. There is a reservoir that is just across the county line known as the Los Vaqueros Watershed. We thought it would be a good place for a hike while the temperatures are still cool. When things warm up, I suspect this will be a pretty hot part of the area. As it was, the temperatures were nice and the recent rains meant the hillsides were very green.
The purpose of the visit was to have a hike so I decided not to take my cameras with me. However, the phone is always with me so there is a camera if the view warrants it. The shots here are all from the camera. It was amazingly quiet while we were there. Plenty of people were fishing down at the water’s edge but on the trails we were almost alone for much of the time. As we were heading back to the car, a few more groups showed up but most of the time we were nowhere near anyone. The exception was a bobcat that appeared on the trail below us. Nancy spotted it about the time it spotted us. We stared at each other for a while before it got bored and wandered off. Needless to say, the wide angle lens on the phone was not up to getting a shot so you will have to take my word for it.
This blog has had plenty of pictures that have been taken at SFO. Most of them have been of the planes flying into and out of the airport. Not many have been of the airport itself. If you find yourself on the left side of a plane out of Oakland heading south, you will get a pretty good view of the airport on the other side of the bay as you climb out. That includes a view along the departure runways as you head towards the city and then a turn that takes you close to over the top.
You climb quickly so start to end up a bit high for good shots but it still is a pretty neat view. The aircraft windows provide their usual problems but moving the camera around gets a better chance of a reasonable shot. I also have been experimenting with using a smaller aperture. I used to think shooting wide open would be best to avoid showing the scratches and any other blemishes on the windows. However, since the distortion in the windows is quite variable, shooting with a narrower aperture might restrict the light to a smaller part of the window and increase the chances of getting the clear area for the whole shot. Who knows? Individual aircraft vary so much, it is hard to tell at this point.
It would have been cool to have more traffic at SFO as we flew over but the planes were pretty small anyway so that may not have made any difference in the end.
Before we went to the beach at Point Reyes, we did briefly stop off at Drake’s Bay. This wasn’t a big part of our plan but we needed to drop in to the visitor’s center briefly. While we were there, one of the team was talking about the elephant seals and mentioned that a few were on the beach just outside. We took a look before we went on our way. There were indeed a few seals right up near the center. These were not as large as the seals down at Ano Nuevo but they were still pretty large.
Some volunteers had put some small flags out to guide people away from the seals. Even so, we were still quite close to them. Moreover, they would move when they felt like it so the flags were soon irrelevant. The volunteers just had to remind people not to get too close or in the way if a seal was on the move. Despite this, some needed a slightly stronger hint to keep out of the way. How hard is this to understand I wonder?
With the amount of seal shots I have recently got, you would think I would have been happy to let this time go but I just can’t resist a wildlife shot. I got a few of them as they slept or eyed us cautiously and then we went off to the other beaches for the remainder of our day.
It’s not like we have a ton of bad weather here but, with a forecast for a nice weekend, we decided a trip to Point Reyes would be a good plan. An early start combined with a stop for breakfast in Larkspur and we were on our way. Even the drive to Point Reyes is nice so you really feel like you are having a good day out in the prettiest of countryside. This time of year is a popular one because of the wildlife. A previous trip was one during whale migration season. The lighthouse is a good spot for watching the whales but the parking lot is not up to the task. At times like this, they close off the road and run a bus shuttle from Drake’s Bay.
This was not whale time. However, the shuttle was in operation again. This time it was because the elephant seals were on the beaches and lots of people were coming to see them. We were less bothered about going to the normal places and, instead, wanted to enjoy the shoreline. On previous trips to the lighthouse, I have looked down on the beaches to the north and thought how great they look. Not only are the picturesque but the ocean swell results in some great waves running ashore. This time it was time to see them up close.
The beaches were surprisingly quiet. There were quite a few people there but a combination of the large expanse of beach and the desire of many people to not stray too far from the parking lot meant that a short stroll got you a stretch of beach to yourself. Indeed as we walked up we were creating the first footprints in some areas. (When we left, the trails of prints had multiplied!)
Walking along the water’s edge is the easiest thing to do since the sand is firmest where it is wettest. Of course, that does require paying attention to the larger waves which occasionally run a lot further up the sand than you expect. As long as you don’t mind a little embarrassment, a quick sprint out of the way usually takes care of things!
We found a particularly quiet ridge just above the water line and sat down for a while. The waves were very soothing despite their strength and sitting on the sand, under the sun as the surf rolled in was as close to perfect as you could wish for. I have no idea how long we stayed there. It was quite a long time but I could have stayed forever. We did have to go eventually of course but it was a wonderful way to spend a day. I did shoot a little video of some of the waves just to remind myself. Here is a little of the wave action if you want to have your own beachside moment.
After my visit to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo, I was heading back up the coast towards Half Moon Bay. I was in a bit of a hurry as I needed to get back, get ready and check out with Nancy who had been having a slightly more leisurely start to the day. I had driven south in the dark so hadn’t really been too aware of what I was passing. However, the run back up showed the scenery in the lovely morning light. This included Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
I saw it from a distance as I drove north and thought how good it looked. However, with time ticking, I figured I would not have time to turn around and go back to find a good point off the road. Then, ahead of me appeared a pull off that was perfect. I parked the car, got a couple of shots that were okay, then decided a quick run down towards the cliff would not take more than a couple of minutes. The location was definitely better. The lighthouse looked a lot nicer than last time I had seen it when the weather had been a lot duller.
Aside from the mussels on the rocks at Pescadaro, there were also some anemones. It was slightly surprising to see them so far out of the water. Unlike the mussels that can seal themselves in to stay moist, the anemones were more exposed. They used their own moisture to stay okay during their time out of the water. I imagine they are happy to be back under the surface when the weather is hotter and they are more prone to drying out.
Arriving in LA from the north brings you in to the city from an interesting direction. You come down the coast and then run in to the city before making a turn towards the west to land (assuming LAX is operating in the usual direction. You can see Van Nuys, come over Culver City south of Beverly Hills with the Hollywood sign off to the north and then pass close over the top of Downtown before making the turn. You are pretty low so have a nice angle on things as you go and, with it being later in the day in the early spring light, things aren’t as harsh as they get later in the year.
A few good views of the city as well as the race track near the airport were on offer so who was I to say no?
