Southern California . . . .

[Rick C]

Had a week in southern California recently . . . . . some shots below . . .

There's not many places like Venice Beach on a Saturday afternoon . . . and that can be both a good thing or a bad thing but it's mostly interesting for people watching.

Below, Snake Lady and her slithering friends try to draw traffic to the $5 Freak Show on Venice Beach . . . . interestingly, on the flight home, we saw the owners of this particular Freak Show on Dog Whisperer, trying to get help for their ferocious five-legged Terrier. They seemed like nice, normal people.



Below, Bang-A-Gong-Guy grooves with his bongo chums on the sandy Venice Beach, attracting a crowd. This guy had salsa-like rythem but how he's not deaf I'm not sure.



Below, the crowd spontaneously gets into the music . . . . from my observation, very few knew each other.



below, it's a long way down for this kid at the Venice Beach skateboard park.



Below, Carol heads down to the Santa Monica Pier at dusk . . . . we stayed on the beach just down the street.



Below, neon on the pier . . . . a little cheesy, a little run-down lookin' but popular.



Below, along the coast of Malibu . . . . the California coast is a delight in the spring with a blast of blooming wildflowers.



Below, just before the start of the Pacific Half Marathon at Paramount Ranch north of Malibu. It was chilly, about 48 F but warmed quickly into the 70's for this challenging, very hilly, but beautiful course. A fun morning. This old movie/television ranch was host to such shows as The Virginian but is now a park. I'm in the crowd somewhere. I swiped this photo off Facebook.



We stayed some days in San Clemente, a quieter beach town between LA and San Diego . . . . . a nice walk in the evening. Heading the other way, I spent one morning running up the beach to catch a glimpse of Richard Nixon's place but it's hidden by a cliff.



Dozing pelican on the pier at Oceanside.



Below, a California moment . . . . even in mid-summer, the Pacific can be chilly here.



Wildflowers at San Clemente . . .



Below, the pier at San Clemente



Our view at San Clemente at sunset . . .



A nice break . . . .

My main camera is in the shop so I had to rely on a Sony Cybershot for these images.

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[BusterBoo]

No matter what camera you have, the photos are always amazing!

Glad you had a wonderful time!

[hazelrunpack]

Nice story in the skateboard shot, Rick Poor kid looks a tad dismayed! I hope he landed well...

Great pictures--looks like you had a great time! Did you take the coast highway north of LA at all?

[Rick C]

A few years ago we spent a night in San Francisco then ambled down the two lane No. 1 Pacific Coast Highway for a night in Monterrey, a night in Morro Bay and then made it to Santa Monica where we stayed a few days.

A year later, I ran the Big Sur half marathon in Monterrey in November and we visited a friend down in Atascadero via Salinas. We also explored San Francisco more thoroughly and a little north into the Napa area, staying in Yountville but also south of the bay in San Jose.

This time we stayed in Santa Monica five days (running the half-marathon in Agoura Hills) and then had a long roundabout drive to Palm Springs then to San Clemente via Lake Elsinore . . . and we stayed in San Clemente four days, exploring up and down the coast.

We, uh, like California (except Palm Springs).

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[Tundra_Queen]

Rick, that looks like a nice place to be in the spring!

[14+kitties]

Rick - You always tell such amazing stories without saying a word.

[krdahmer]

Oh I looooved California! The coast is just breathtaking in spots...your pics are amzing as usual!