Here we have *yet another* shot from gorgeous and oh-so-photogenic Avalon, Catalina Island.  The yachts in the harbor!!  Don’t you wish you could chase down the Pacific horizon in one of these?  :-)

Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12.  Slight sepia tone added in Photoshop CS5…I love how the filter enhances the vibe of the photo!

Stay tuned for more!

So, its been a month-and-a-half!  Oh my goodness!  Where has the time gone?!?  Here is a much delayed post!  From the same hilltop that the previous photo was taken from, there is a white cross located just on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the Pacific.  What a lovely and serene spot…there was even a little tree swing up there!

Stay tuned for another view from the top of Avalon on Catalina Island!

Short n’ sweet post today!  The view of Avalon on Catalina Island from atop the hillside!  Such a quaint little town.

Sorry for the long delay between posts!  Residency has been keeping me quite busy lately!

Ahhhh…the California sun setting behind a palm tree.   With a lens flare.  Does it get more quintessential than this?

Taken at the Descanso Beach Club on Catalina Island, CA (and yes, for you Bachelor/Bachelorette fans, the show did a date here a few seasons back).

A little relaxation after zip lining between mountains and landing on the beach!!!!!   Click here to see photos of the zip line!

All I have to say is, good Lord, that was the single most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done in my life.  During the longest zip, that spans the two mountains, you are 300 feet above the valley below.  Lets just say, taking the step off of the deck into nothing so that the “zip” could begin was the most difficult step I’ve ever taken in my life.  You literally just walk off the deck into the thin air and…whooosh!…are whisked off over the valley at 45mph!  This photo gives a good representation of that step.

Hehe…and here’s me in my “zip” gear:

Note the expanse of ocean in the background.  Needless to say, the tour gave the best view of the island itself, valley flora & fauna, and the ocean from high above.  Great facts and tidbits about the island and its animals/plants from the tour guides.  Did you know that while the school on the island does not have Snow Days, they do have Bison Days, for when the buffalo randomly venture out of the mountains/island interior and roam the town?  And that they were left there after a 1924 movie and now have a full-on colony on the island?  Note for ladies:  do not zip line in tiny shorts.  Trust me, you’re gonna want full-coverage walking shorts or capris with that harness at those speeds.

Ahhhh…California.  I cannot wait to go back.

Click to see the town better (but please don’t steal the image)!

And now we are approaching the final leg of our California adventure…Catalina Island!  This is the view of the town of Avalon on Catalina Island, as seen from the ferry that hails from Long Beach, California.  And the excitement of exploring a Channel Island starts to build…

Of course taken with the Canon G12!  From atop the ferry!  Crossing the Pacific!  Stay tuned for more Catalina Island!

So, remember that last post?  About the adventuresome trek up and over the mountains on what appeared to be little more than a paved goat path?  And remember how Jay is super great about halting the car whenever I would squeal “photo!!”?  Well, alas.  That goat path winding up and up the mountain afforded beautiful views…like this one!  Its sort of like a different type of Sunset Boulevard, a very abstract interpretation of “a sunset boulevard.”

Picture it:  You’re up on a mountain, overlooking the wild Southern California coast, with the Pacific waves crashing below and not a sole on the road.  You gaze ever-so-slightly northward and your face is gently met with the warm setting rays of the golden sun, dipping below the horizon.  The colors are hues you’ve only ever dreamed of and the mountain-scape is silhouetted against the star of the show that is gracefully bowing out for the night.  As the fading light touches the foggy haze hanging over the ocean, an other-worldly glow fills the foreground of your sight.  Deep blue-purple fades into blazing orange, and you watch as your beacon of the day slips away to give way to a moonlit night.  It is just you, the sky, the mountains, and the sea.

Ok…now look at the photo?  Decent attempt at trying to summarize a photo and all it embodies in less than a thousand words?  Read it again for a brief mental vacation and relaxing “guided imagery” moment!

Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12.

Ahh, yes.  The Pacific Coast Highway.  The PCH.  Highway 1.  Oh, how I love thee.  Except when you get occluded by a landslide forcing  me to backtrack 10 miles and take a detour over a mountain in a PRIUS.   A one-lane, no guardrails sort of road spiraling up the mountainside kind of road.  With the occasional car hurtling around a blind bend at you, forcing the little Prius to carefully navigate between the “road” and falling off the edge of the mountain.  At dusk.  With no GPS.   In a Prius, which just isn’t a mountain-climbing sort of vehicle (thank goodness, though, for the ability to take the sucker out of “eco” mode and put it into full-on power-engine mode…an ability that was quite needed in San Francisco as well).  Through a military base (Fort Hunter Liggett), which greeted us with warnings of “live fire” and two tanks at the entrance. Driving through the base gave us a lovely view of soldiers practicing their “tactics” at night.  Oh…and did I mention that the detour took, oh, 3 HOURS?  And we still had to get to LA/Long Beach that evening to check into the Queen Mary???  Awesome hotel, complete with all of the vintage fixings.  Too bad we got in at 3am, bleary-eyed, and had to leave 3 hours later to catch the 8am ferry to Catalina Island.  Can we say traveling by the seat of our pants?  At least it was a fun adventure!!

Alas, misfortune does bring opportunities!  Holy good view of the Pacific Coast Highway at sunset, clinging to the edge of, well, the country.   Basically, the Prius rounded one corner of the mountain road, I spied this vista, and yelled for Jay to stop the car so I could snap a photo.  That was how much of our vacation went  :-)

To me, this photo just says “classic America”.  I love it.  :-)

Canon G12, of course.

Moving away from Big Sur along Highway 1 South brings us to Lime Kiln State Park near Fort Hunter Liggett.  Majestic, deserted coastline…absolutely stunning.  I love how the almost-sunset light gives an illuminated quality to the water and waves.

And…about 5 miles later, our trip down the coast abruptly stopped due to a landslide that closed down the highway.  Stay tuned for the ensuing adventure and photos from atop the mountains!

EEEEeeeee!!!!!!!!!  Its my favorite photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  McWay Falls at the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur, California!  So gorgeous.  It seriously seemed like a dreamscape.  I mean, really.  A waterfall crashing onto a beach with turquoise waters and crashing waves, with glorious flora all around?  PARADISE!!  It is a very easy place to get to…a short walk (maybe 0.5 mile?)  along a very level trail and…BAM! you are struck with this view.  This is the “other side” of the trail view that I mentioned in my previous post.

And now, I will stop typing.  Because sometimes a picture truly is worth a thousand words, and no matter how much I write, it just won’t say all that this photo has to tell.

Stay tuned for some upcoming close-ups of the features of McWay Falls!

So, from this point forward in our journey down the California coast, we start into some of my favorite photos EVER.  The coastline became just stunning around Monterrey/Big Sur areas on Highway 1.  Especially Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur.  Seriously.  Go there.  Its incredible.  I rather like the view shown in this post’s photo…but wait until the next post.  Its like a dreamscape.  OMIGOSH.  I’m so excited for the next post.  I’ve seriously been just waiting to post it since I started this California series and ITS ALMOST TIME!!!!

So, this photo was taken from the walking trail that takes you out to McWay Falls in the Park.  This is the view from the “other side”.  Not to be taken lightly.  I would have been satisfied with just this view!!!  But just you wait…

And the little specks on the beach is a flock of seagulls.  Oh, and if you’d like to imagine the soundtrack that went along with this wondrous nature view, it went something like this: “CRAZY LOUD OCEAN WAVES.  INSANE WIND NOISE.  SEA LION HOWLING.”  Ah, yes.  Nature.

Taken with the Canon Powershot G12.  Minor exposure fixes in Photoshop CS5.