Saturday morning Monaka, Cash, Connie and I caught the 8:45 ferry from San Pedro to Catalina.
The weather was absolutely perfect.
I found some ice plant in full bloom.
We took the back stage tour of the Casino which is not a gambling casino but a theater and ball room. It was built by William Wrigley Jr. in 1929. It’s an amazing place.
We took a golf cart on a driving tour.
One more thing scratched off of our bucket list.
Wednesday night while we were still in Ventura, Dan and Jan came to the trailer for dinner at our beautiful beach campsite. We had a good time catching up with our friends.
Thursday Connie went to breakfast with Jan, Glory, Joy and Suzie. That bunch of ladies always have to much fun together.
Thursday afternoon we headed down the coast a little further to an RV park on the beach near Los Angeles were we will be staying while we visit with my niece and her husband. This is where the drama begins.
We checked in right at 3:00 found our spot and started to get set up when we heard lots of sirens coming from all directions. Then the police converged on the park in great numbers. Within moments they had a suspect under arrest not more 100 feet from us.
Over the next half hour there where police motorcycles, mark cars, unmarked cars and helicopters everywhere. Four hours later we still couldn’t drive in or out until police dogs finished a search for a weapon. There is a beach parking lot very near the RV park and there had been a shooting there at 3:00 just as we were checking in.
Here is a link if you want to see the news account of what happened:
http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/shots-fired-at-dockweiler-beach-20100506
Just another day at beach.
The day ended on a much more pleasant note as we had a nice dinner out with Monaka and Cash.
Here we are at Rincon State Beach. We spent 2 nights here while visiting with the Schallers.
There’s nothing quite like being right on the ocean.
It’s very relaxing, as you can see.
Not much for site seeing here other than watching the waves and the wildlife that come your way.
Later today we will head for Redondo Beach.
I spent some time yesterday trying to capture interesting waves. It was amazing to see all of the intricate detail and personality of the water when you freeze a moment in time. Imagine how this goes on endlessly around the world for thousands of years yet no 2 waves are ever exactly alike. Wow!
There goes the Pelican drill team.
Monday morning we drove down into Kings Canyon. We weren’t sure what to expect so we were excite to see how beautiful it is. Incredible scenery around every turn but much of it is hard to capture in a photo. You had to be there!
Also, the weather was perfect! Blue skies and almost 70 degrees. All the wild flowers are blooming an all of the waterfalls were rushing.
Most all of these photos are like a convex mirror. Objects are larger than they appear (except for Connie and me).
I think I could spend days there and keep finding great stuff to photography. You know what, make that weeks. This really is a great time to see it and there is hardly anybody there.
This was a rock wall just above the road. Pretty crazy, huh.
It’s amazing where wild flowers will grow, isn’t it?
In the afternoon we drove into Sequoia National park to see the largest tree in the world. It was about 30 miles one way and pretty but nothing like Kings Canyon. Well here he is, General Sherman.
General Sherman is not the tallest, not the oldest and doesn’t have the larges trunk but for sheer volume it is the largest tree in the world.
Yes, I know we just got back from a trip but life’s to short to sit at home. We are headed to Redondo Beach for a visit with my niece, Monaka and her husband, Cash. I always figure when your going anyway you might as well see all you can and here is the good part of living in California. After spending the first night in Sacramento next to Steve and Bernice’s house with all the roses in bloom…..
…we just drive a few hours and here is where we will be spending the next night or two before heading over to the southern California coast. This is Kings Canyon National Park, home of the giant sequoia trees. Just about a week ago we were in the redwoods and here we are in the even bigger sequoias.
It was hard to image trees larger than the redwoods but here they are. This is not at all the biggest one but it is the only one I got with people in the photo to give you a size perspective.
This is General Grant. Yes that’s it’s name. Here are some facts:
The world’s largest tree by volume, General Sherman, is just 27 miles from here, so hopefully we’ll get some pictures of that before we leave the area. Mean while here is a double tree that was partially burned out in the past but both sides are still alive.
This is a fallen tree that is hollow and you can walk through it like a tunnel.
Not sure about posting while here, internet connections are iffy at best.
