California

Location Description

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322 photos

Catherine and Dad at Duke's in Malibu
Looking out the window at Duke's onto the Pacific Ocean.
Happy seagull overlooking the ocean.
Catherine borrowing Dad's UT hat to protect against the sun.
Sad flat tire south of Oxnard, California, on the...
Damage to the tire.
Dad and Catherine before dinner in San Luis Obispo (SLO).
Mom and Catherine at dinner.
Splash Cafe in SLO, site of a delicious breakfast Monday morning.
The Mission in SLO
Looking down a colonnade at the Mission.
Painted "tiles" within the Mission.
Dad wandering in the garden outside the Mission.
Mom and Dad by a well outside the Mission.
Mmmm, fruit tree. I wish we had a citrus tree here in Austin.
The three Mission Bells.
"The Mission Bells". Description in next photo.
"The Mission's first two bronze bells were transferred...
Pathway to a side door into a church building.
Catherine and Dad outside the Mission.
Statue of some bears outside the Mission in SLO.
Mama bear going after a salmon.
One of the gigantic beautiful trees that lined the...
Several great trees.
Awesome warning sign near the door to a fancy home...
Final view of the Mission before we headed out of town.
Bridge over the creek in SLO, with buildings on the side...
As Mom put it, it's no Riverwalk in San Antonio...
Wait, no, this is the final view of the Mission.
Looking out on the Pacific Ocean. Man, I miss the ocean.
Catherine and Dad taking a break from driving to watch...
Catherine and Mom in the same place.
Looking out on the beach.
A surfer finishes a ride in.
We're pretty sure those little black bobs in the water...
Love love love and miss the ocean.
Sardines at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The photos of the penguins now just make me think of the...
Terrible photo of a blacktip reef shark. Included just...
In front of the rose garden at the RM Nixon Presidential...
This Presidential library was started with private funds...
Pretty fountain in front of library
Peter looking like a school boy on a field trip.
The small house at the far end of the reflecting pond is...
A picture of a picture. Nixon addressing a group of...
An interesting collection of world leaders. L to R:...
The 1967 Lincoln Continental limousine used by...
Paul Messer's new living arrangements in Irvine.
Fountain made from farm implements (mainly shovels) in...
Paul with his fountain
Giving the top bird a smooch.
Peter and the fountain
Paul and the garden he planted in the area between...
Pool and common area at Paul's place.
Peter and Paul after lunch.
Just had to include this. Please note her purse, his...
Back to Yorba Linda for dinner at the Kearns'. Jim...
Caught by the photographer
And being put to work turning the corn which is roasting...
Dad is also looking hungry.
Some fresh fruit over acai. Note the flag.
Fortified from breakfast we head for Natural Bridges,...
Still at Natural Bridges with the Pacific in the background
Driving towards Pt Lobos we come across a gigantic fruit...
Wish I had a begonia store like this near me.
I believe that is the name of the whole place.
These were not the 10 for $1 bunch. But we did buy some...
Posing in front of those great begonias.
We arrive a Pt Lobos where the sea lions are enjoying...
Fascinated by this rock formation.An
And a creature peering out from behind the rocks.
This sea lion has a Room of His Own.
Looks bigger as you get closer.
This is not a prop. Strange little ground squirrel...
Strange look in his eye.
Couple cormorants ... wish those were sea otters in the...
The AZ tourists enjoying the fog and the ocean air.
The CA natives doing the same.
Love the new lens. This squirrel is not four feet tall.
But definitely cute.A
A different fellow. I think they all work for potato chips.
Walking along the South Trail in Pt Lobos State Park.
Put this in here to identify it. Anyone know?
Some serious wave action over the years.
According to John, these circles are made by stones...
Close up of a cormorant. That is the Pacific behind...
Peter looking off to sea. Seems we've seen this before.
And what are they looking at?
Have pulled in another observer.
It's wierd water action. The wave crests over the rock...
Bubble bubble, toil and trouble. We watched for about...
Dad and Monica use the railroad tracks as a convenient...
Cutting under the log flume ride. We actually got soaked...
Dad, wearing a backpack that made him very easy not to...
Deep fried Twinkies!
Maybe that was the sky tram thing?
Monica at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with her...
Deep fried cheesecake!
One of these desserts is called "The Experience". Is...
Deep fried doughnuts the size of Monica's head! Look!...
We took dad to a sunglass merchant and got him some new...
I can't believe so many people are at the beach,...
Walking out on the wharf.
Ambling along.
California Sea Lions.
This was so awesomely gross I just had to photograph it....
Free food!
Yummy!
Delicious!
Apparently Santa Cruz used to have enormous indoor...
I really wish swimsuits like this were still in vogue....
Walking back across the bridge to get lunch with Mom.
It's like a real-life version of don't step on (in?) the cracks!
Walking across the bridge.
Monica hanging out in the BMW during Mom's tour of UC...
Santa Cruz had a surprising number of beautifully...
The windy back seat.
John riding in the convertible.
U.C. Santa Cruz. Like a university for Ewoks!
With a decent view of the ocean, but in the middle of nowhere.
Unusual rock sculpture on one of the side streets in Santa Cruz.
.. and another forming the end of a stone fence. Assume...
Driving the 10 mile dirt road to Bodie: a former mining...
Kind of a surreal cityscape and weather.
Mining equipment in the middle of nowhere. There are no...
Protestant church.
Part of an old GMC car or truck.
In its heyday, Bodie had 10,000 residents, a gridded...
Bodie is now a California State Park and is kept in a...
They don't build them like they used to. Now it would...
Mom, a chaise for your living room!
Kitchen in need of spring cleaning.
An old saw mill in Bodie. Keeping enough wood cut to...
Very surreal. These buildings represent about 5% of the...
Monica checking out an "arrested decay" house. Guess it...
Piles of junk in the mechanic's shop.
Apparently the sight of Bodie's once-thriving red light district.
The old distillery cellar.
Stable where the horses were kept.
Monica wandering around Chinatown.
The Standard Mine and Mill.
Apparently you can drive this road another 20 miles to...
The jail and horse stable.
Blacksmithing shop.
Something fell apart.
The bank vault.
Monica photographing the ruins of the bank.
Old saloon. Hard to imagine some of this wasn't staged,...
Barber shop!
Some neat shingling over the saloon.
Gas station.
Calendars from 1934 and 1937 in the office of the general store.
Cool sign. Without the bullet holes this would probably...
General store, remarkably well preserved.
Old cans for sale at the general store.
Monica trying to figure out which outhouse was actually...
Not this one.
I think Monica's looking in the window of the house...
Cool looking truck, with the International Order of Odd...
The flattest house I saw.
Monica in Bodie.
Cool looking truck.
Hotel and IOOF, which was later used as an athletic center.
They had their own newspaper and everything!
Is this the way things used to be done?
One of the hotels was eventually repurposed as a morgue.
A cistern I guess.
Cool old car.
What a sweet ride. They don't make cars this neat...
The cemetary was the last stop on our tour. I found it...
We got back to the car and it started raining again....
On the way back to Mono Lake.
The desert makes dramatic colors when it is wet.
And Monica's very dirty car got a free car wash. It...
On Saturday July 21, Jasper, Elaine, Monica and I...
Home of the rugged Sawtooth Range, and premier Sierra...
The approach from the fishing and RV hamlet of Twin...
Crossing hot meadows and scrub-brush choked valleys on...
Jasper, taking the lead.
Views of the Incredible Hulk and Little Slide Canyon...
Passing by Barney Lake on our passage to the High Sierra.
Crown Point towering above Barney Lake
Monica, next to Barney Lake.
Cliffs falling straight into the lake.
Monica and meadows above Barney Lake.
Crew hiking toward Crown Point.
Crown Point was the dominating figure on the landscape...
The Hoover Wilderness is known for treacherous stream...
Garter snake on the trail, slithering away as soon as he saw me.
The Hoover Wilderness rock formations looked solid,...
100+ feet of vertical, diamond hard granite.
Other interesting formations along the way.
Jasper and Elaine, goofing around on the trail.
As well as craggy alpine peaks there were also familiar...
Monica, rounding a set of switchbacks.
Getting closer to level ground.
Hiking between cliffs.
Taking a breather.
Looks like fun climbing.
The group hiking along.
Jasper manages to salt-stain his shirt on every hike we...
Group photo next to a small pond.
Green lakes that Hoover Wilderness (and specifically...
Green alpine lakes. It looked so inviting for swimming....
Crown Point lakes.
Monica and John.
Jasper.
Crown Lakes, larger but not as inviting for swimming.
Starting to think about finding a place to camp.
Monica crossing the small inlet to Crown Lakes.
View to the northeast, after passing Crown Lakes.
Trail leading to the next set of lakes.
Almost at Crown Lake.
Hikers starting to get a bit weary, with Slide Mountain...
Monica on the shore of the lake we decided to camp near.
Jasper's found the best camping spot: some flat ledges...
Jasper goes swimming at 9,500 ft.
Looks like fun?
Watching from the opposite shore. I had gone around to...
Monica washing her swollen feet by the lake.
Clean toes.
Steep, cracked cliffs looming above the lake.
Deploying the counter-measures.
Elaine, Jasper, and the campsite they found.
Looks of celebration.
Time to cook dinner. Styrofoam box contains at least 4...
Post hike yoga-stretches.
Slide Mountain. Looks like quite a climb.
And Slide stays in the sun right up until sunset.
Monica is always attracting strange alien-looking insects.
Getting ready for an early bedtime.
Not a bad place to spend a night.
Getting ready for bed.
We slept like rocks. Gentle winds and a temperature that...
Packed up after breakfast and ready to hit the trail,...
Mandatory stream-jumping to get from our semi-island...
Elaine jumping the stream.
Jasper and Elaine and Monica headed up the next set of...
Hiking toward Snow Lake with the new dominating feature...
Slide Mountain.
Hiking toward Rock Island Pass.
Admiring the view.
Finally getting another view of the Sawtooths (from the...
Very rugged ridge, not hard to guess how it got its...
Slide Mountain.
Headed toward Snow Lake and the pass.
Strange berries or parasites that seemed to grow inside...
Tower on the side of Slide Mountain.
Monica nearing Snow Lake and the Sawtooths in the background.
Into alpine meadow territory. My favorite.
Not a bad place to spent a morning outdoors.
Leaving Slide behind us.
Matterhorn Peak somewhere in there. Maybe on the right.
Heading down to Snow Lake.
Sure enough, still a little bit of snow up here, even in...
Monica and John at Snow Lake, Hoover Wilderness.
Snow Lake. Slide Mountain at right.
Looking back to the east. Lots of cloud activity today.
Following the gentle grade up to Rock Island Pass.
At the pass, and entrance into Yosemite National Park.
Monica demonstrates the inefficacy of her altimeter....
Leaving the Hoover Wilderness behind.
Jasper tries to be the one who got to the highest point...
Try one.
And lift-off. Apparently there was some jumping theme on...
Headed into a wildflower-filled canyon in a remote...
Wildflowers were everywhere and smelled incredibly...
Monica strikes a pose.
Purple flowers.
Rows of reddish purple grass-like flowers with an...
Stopping to smell the flowers.
Easy hiking through Yosemite high country. The mountain...
Stopping to tie a shoe.
Yawning vertical cracks on Lego Mountain.
Boulder hopping in Kerrick Meadows in Yosemite.
This area on my map was marked as a swamp, so I was...
Peaceful Kerrick Meadows.
Look! Only 35 miles to Tuolumne Meadows.
Hiking northeast out of Kerrick Meadow towards Peeler Lake.
Walking through the tail end of Kerrick Meadows. Group...
Fat marmot frolicking in Kerrick Meadow.
Looking well-fed.
Jasper photographing the milepost.
Monica and John at the junction between the trails to...
Clouds starting to look like they might be serious.
Approaching Peeler Lake around lunchtime.
Underwater photo of the blue waters of Peeler Lake.
Jasper getting ready to swim in cobalt Peeler Lake. The...
Getting ready.
Pretty much committed at this point.
Jasper and Elaine at Peeler Lake.
Jasper going back for more. Elaine braces herself.
Peeler Lake with the Sawtooths in the distance.
Climbing back ashore.
Jasper and Elaine.
John, jumping into Peeler Lake while Elaine watches,...
Jasper, jump number 3.
Monica, trying the hard way to get into cold water.
Brrr....
Peeler Lake from the trail after lunch.
John, Monica, Jasper and Elaine with Peeler Lake / Crown...
Hiking along the shore.
Path blasted into the steep rocky shoreline of Peeler Lake.
Sandy cove along the lake.
Crown Point, above Peeler Lake.
An unusual passage through a cliff band.
At this point we had completed the sucker of our...
And this is when the mercifully dry weather started to...
Our view disappeared and granite quickly became...
Big log across the trail.
River crossing, with a tiny bit more flow than yesterday.
Crown Point which had been vibrant against a blue sky...
Monica passing the meadows above Barney Lake.
Jasper, gallivanting down the trail.
Weather starts to clear for a bit around Barney Lake.
Barney Lake. Stopping for a snack break.
Incredible Hulk on the walk out.
Stopping at the junction with the trail to Little Slide Canyon.
Hiking out through a forest of quaking aspen.
Getting some Indian Food in Livermore on our way to...
Later, we went to Santa Cruz and walked the boardwalk. ...
And now, after.