Trip 9 - California Dreamin'

On this trip we set out to immerse ourselves in the culture and the nature of California. To discover its textures and see some of its natural wonders. We discover that California is very big. It is not a state that you can just pass through, it is, more than any other place we have visited, more like another country. It is a land dominated by mountains, the spaces between and like nowhere else, water.
Our start in the heavily populated area to the East of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, is crowded into the lowlands surrounded by magnificent mountains. The feeling is of a cauldron which is trying to boil over the mountains to the fresh air of the rest of the state.
To the South is a band of Desert, which is the buffer to Mexico, which we did not explore on this trip.
We travelled North through the mountains (everywhere in California you can see mountains) to the desert, and on again to the huge Central Valley, mile after mile of intensive agriculture. Culture here is dominated by food, flatness, low income and trying to impact on the 'sameness' of the flat lands through music and festival. It is the communication and administrative corridor that links all other areas of California.
To the East is the huge mountain chain of the Sierra Nevada which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of the natural world, both in its geology and nature, reflected in the pysche and pride of most Californians. It is Eldorado, dominated by Gold!
To the West of the Central Valley are the coastal mountains, San Francisco and the magnificent coast. More isolated cultures, from mixed resources, communities seperated by mountains.
To the North of the Central Valley more mountains and a culture which looks more North towards Oregon than South to Sacremento.
This blog details our journey through California, where we pick and choose, or just scratch the surface, of this diverse and beautiful state.

Monday, November 7, 2011

To See The Sea

One of the reasons for visiting this coast is to see the sea at it's rugged best, well today (Sunday) was the day to do it. Even though there was no more than a gentle breeze the sea was quite rough, blowing on shore. When it stopped raining we wrapped up warm and set out to the local State Park.
We were able to park right on the beach, by the bay. There is a boardwalk which takes up right out onto the headland, where we could appreciate the majesty of the sea.
I tried to get some good shots of the waves/shore with the camera, there were a number of bird species there, best of all are the pelicans, so graceful in flight, but also cormorants, oyster catchers, geese and of course a number of types of gull. We sat and watched from the viewpoint for a good twenty minutes before we saw a seal! We eventually realised that just a few yards away there were loads of Harbor Seals, which were fascinating to watch.
By the time we returned to the car the sun was setting, but I resisted the temptation to wait for a sunset picture. Another great day on our vacation.

Posted by fastrak at 9:27 AM

2 comments:

  1. AMERICAN ADVENTURESNovember 8, 2011 at 12:23 PM

    more superb photos - what camera do you have?

    ReplyDelete
  2. PetalpatchNovember 10, 2011 at 3:28 AM

    Some exceptional shots. Really enjoyed these of an area very familiar to me!

    ReplyDelete

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