Central California Coast Mini Vacation - 2

I just could not stop taking pictures at Spooners Cove--so full of unusual geologic formations and crashing waves.

Can you see the five birds just above the water's horizon?

We were able to stay in the home at Morro Bay courtesy of our friends, the Lees.  Here is Kent standing on the uneven, rutted, rock surface.  He had no problems negotiating rocks, and even climbed up on one of them and thought of jumping.

Jump, Kent, jump!

North of Morro Bay and north of Cambria, a lovely town where we ate at the Black Cat Bistro and shopped, and just north of San Simeon, is a beach known as the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse Rookery.  It is the birthing place, rest stop, mating area, and molting place of literally thousands of elephant seals.  These seals are not adorable ones; in fact, they are the largest, and arguably the ugliest seals of the species, and the males are known by their long snouts--thus the name.  The lower picture shows a female cooling herself off by tossing sand on herself.  They were on the beach this day resting and molting.

Near the town of San Simeon is the spectacular set of buildings known as Hearst Castle.  The publsihing magnate of the early 20th century called this his "ranch", and called the hill on which it sits the Cuesta Encantada, or Enchanted Hill.  Politicians and movie stars frequented this amazing place. We took a tour in the evening (highly recommended) and were delighted by the many, many volunteers who sat or stood, inside and out, in 1920s or 1930s clothing, to give us a flavor of what it must have been like.

There are two wonderful swimming pools, one inside, and the outside one below.  It was drained for repairs.  The last of the three pictures was one of the numerous, elegant meeting rooms. Supposedly Mr. Randolph would lay out all of his publications on the floor of this room and read and make corrections.

This was a wonderful trip to an unknown area.  I loved its natural and man-made beauties and hope to come back again and again.  The Central Coast is just delightful.

Central California Coast Mini Vacation - 1

I recently went on a mini vacation to the Central Coast of California.  Going north from Los Angeles, along Highway 101, you encounter the towns of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Leaving Highway 101 and taking Highway 1, you find the town of Morro Bay.  Our friends, Kent and Kathie Lee invited us to spend time with them at a home in Morro Bay that belongs to a member of our Stake Presidency.

Using Morro Bay as a base of operations, so to speak, we spent time in Morro Bay, walking, kayaking, eating, and having a pleasant time, but also visited nearby towns.  We went south to Los Osos where we came upon Spooners Cove, a lovely and interesting geologic place.  We also traveled north to the town of Cambria where we ate a wonderful meal and did some shopping.

Still north of Cambria, we visited a stretch of beach where thousands of elephant seals congregate (I believe they are the largest in the seal family).  Not far from the seals is the famous Hearst Castle, built in the early twentieth century by Randolph Hearst, a publishing magnate, and we went on an evening tour there.  Besides seeing the wonders of this castle which Hearst called a "ranch," there were people both inside and outside of the buildings in period costume (1920s-1930s), giving it a sense of how it must have been.

Because this blog not only serves as a showcase for pictures I take, but also as an historical document, I wanted to share my trip.

Morro Rock in Morro Bay in the Morning

Another view of the Rock

Look closely at the seals on the dock on the right in the above picture and on the left of the picture below.  What a racket they made!

Yet another view with a slightly different hue

It was very interesting to me how "soft" the Rock looked early in the morning, and that as the day wore on and the sun got higher in the sky, it seemed to me that it became "hard."  You can see the slightly different hues of the Rock in the three pictures.  I just was mesmorized by this monolith and kept taking pictures on different days.

A little bit closer to the noisy seals!

The day after we arrived at Morro Bay, we found Spooners Cove, and after doing a little hiking nearby, we explored this fascinating place.

Looking down at part of Spooners Cove

Another part of Spooners Cove

Part of the wonder of the Cove is the geologic formations

See what I mean?

As I explored the geologic aspects of the Cove, I was continually fascinated.  I want to learn more about its geologic history and obtain greater understanding as to why these formations occurred as they did.  For me, it was pure wonder!

Wow!

More wow!

Still more wow!

So much texture

Not only were there such interesting formations on many of the walls and ground, but there were so many rocks that had washed ashore.  They were usually worn flat (great for rock skimming!) and varied in their compostion and color.  I took a few pictures of them because they fascinated me.

Skimmer rocks to last a lifetime!

Late Fall at Huntington Gardens

Close to Pasadena where we both work, there is a breathtakingly beautiful place called Huntington Gardens.  We went there recently to enjoy natural beauty and to give me a chance to satisfy my artistic photographic yearnings.  We hope to return multiple times--we barely scratched the surface of what is available in this Edenic place. I thought I would share this first installment with you.  Hope you enjoy these!

Overlooking the Splendor of the Japanese Garden

The Beauty of the Arched Bridge of the Japanese Garden

Looking Up at the Tea House in the Japanese Garden.  Breathtaking!

A Tea House Room with Tatami (Rice Mat Floor).  What We Slept on in Japan.

Beautiful Irises

Fun Blooms I've Never Seen Before

Beautiful Golden Fall Ginkgo Leaves

Bonsai Look of a Planted Bush

Be Still My Heart!  A Japanese Rock Garden!

Wonderful Bonsai

Another Aesthetic Bonsai

One More Bonsai.  Can't Get Enough of Them

A Bamboo Shrouded Path

Love Bamboo!

Garden of Eden Beautiful

More Lush Beauty

Just Gorgeous!

A Breathtaking Pond

Seen From the Other Side

Barrel Cactus in Desert Garden

The Beauty of the Desert Garden

More Desert Beauty

Even the Rocks Were Beautiful

Beautiful Landscapes

              I have always loved photography.  From my high school days as the newspaper photographer to my college days when I took group pictures of coeds in their residence halls to our most recent trip to Utah, Nevada and California, I love the beauty, creativity and challenge that photography affords me and the people places and things that I wish to remember beyond the moment. 

            In recent years, I have found myself drawn even more to landscapes.  It doesn’t matter whether they be in deserts, mountains, woods, forests, or any other environment, I look for beauty and always find it.  And usually, I like to have a camera to help me retain the memory.  I’ve even enjoyed taking pictures with my cell phone although that instrument lends itself more to objects which are closer.

            Some of my older posts are of some lists of the music I like (I will be doing another one soon), I thought that I would share some of the landscapes that I enjoy.  Some of the more “mundane” are pictures that I have taken, while the more “exotic” pictures are ones that I’ve come upon.  If I took it, I will give myself credit.  

            Just a note from a photography novice about a whole new way of taking pictures.  It's called HDR, or High Dynamic Range photography.  To quote Wikipedia, "HDR is a range of methods to provide higher dynamic range from the imaging process.  Non-HDR cameras take pictures at one exposure level with a limited contrast range.  This results in the loss of detail in bright and dark areas of a picture, depending on whether the camera had a low or high exposure setting.  HDR compensates for this loss of detail by taking multiple pictures at different exposure levels and intelligently stitching them together to produce a picture that is representative in both dark and bright areas."  Some of the landscapes I have chosen, such as the first one below, uses this technology, and are notably different in the amount of contrast range.  The pictures that I have taken will be noticeably "duller" that those HDR pictures.  If you don't notice it, I will note HDR pictures in the descriptions below the pictures.  Enjoy!!!

An HDR picture! Doesn't it look and feel cold?

From our big trip, on a trail overlooking a riverbed 

My picture, hiking in nearby mountains with glorious foilage  

Another HDR picture by National Geographic.  See how the colors pop!

From our big trip, desolate Utah beauty to me

Also from our big trip, majesty and beauty in Yosemite

A sepia tone landscape picture in Missouri. The shot is of a place called Adam-Ondi-Ahman

From our Alaska trip, a calm pond in verdant green

Yes, it's another HDR pic of a volcanic eruption with lightning

Swiss mountain landscape

From our Alaska trip, part of the town of Juneau with a cruise ship in the foreground

Just a beautiful lush landscape

An HDR pic, this of some Andes mountains in Argentina's Patagonia

A shot from our cruise ship of an unnamed glacier carving a valley to the cold sea

Isn't this simply breathtaking?

Mt. Fuji splendor

Would you dare walk on that?

My picture on a hike in nearby mountains

Canadian beauty with an oh-so-green lake

Guess where this landscape is?