adieu, avalon…
Ah, yes. Our tour of California is drawing to a close. Here we have the view of the Avalon Harbor, hillside, and mountains.
Taken with the Powershot G12.
1 California photo left. One. As in the name of the Highway that I am wholeheartedly convinced is the best drive in the country.
Stay tuned!
shades of blue…
Oh, how I love this photo! Just let the mesmerizing shades of blue draw you in…and just try to imagine the sounds of the ocean mixing with the steady breeze. Sea & sky. **sigh** And, if you look very closely at the horizon, you can see the California coast (Los Angeles area). Click on the photo for a larger view. Taken from Catalina Island, California…looking across the channel to the mainland.
Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12.
And now, for some very fitting lyrics from a great song:
So keep your eyes set on the horizon
On the line where blue meets blue
And I’d bet that silver lining,
Well I know it’d find you soon‘Cause I have sailed a 1000 ships to you,
But my messages don’t seem to make it through…~Rachel Platten, 1000 Ships
yacht yearning…
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!
something i stumbled a-cross…
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!
atop avalon…
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!
palm perfection…
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.
cruising to catalina…
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!
a different kind of sunset boulevard…
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.
the pacific coast highway…
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.
southbound…
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!
McWay Falls…
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!
big sur…
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.
bixby bridge…
The Bixby Bridge!!! I just loved the way it spans the mountains and overlooks the coastline! Have I mentioned that I love the Pacific Coast Highway (a.k.a. Highway 1)?!?!
I used the Canon Powershot G12 for this one, with a wide-angle lens attached. Enjoy! Stay tuned for more!
crusin’ california…
Goodness! Its been almost a month since I’ve posted!!!! Why does October, my favorite month, always slip by so quickly? Birthdays and residency and crisp sunny weather and residency and warm chai lattes and residency and a trip to NYC (before the storm, luckily!) and residency and much needed vacation week…and residency. Well, today is the last day of my rotation this month and I have the day off! Woohoo!!! Hence, I be postin’. I figure I should seize the opportunity before I start the ICU and a research project in November. Adios, light of day.
Anyhoo, NYC was AMAZING. Awesome Manhattan hotel, got to see the Naked Cowboy in Times Square, found the spot of the last scene (favorite scene ever) of my favorite movie ever (You’ve Got Mail), got to play out the last scene and take a pic (! dream come true!), and got to see ANNE!!!!!!!!!! BEST PART OF THE TRIP!!! Aaaand got to go to Coney Island Beach on the way home just so I could see a beach before retreating back to the ‘burgh (seriously, how did I get so lucky to have a man who not only accepts my beach obsession but wholeheartedly encourages it????). Some photos of NYC/beach will be coming but not too many of the city as the weather was just NOT good for shutterbuggin’.
On that note, NYC, you will pull through this disaster beautifully, just as you’ve conquered every obstacle in the past! You weathered the storm and will shine even brighter than before. And, Anne, so glad you’re safe and sound!
Now. On to the posted photo! Its about time, eh? Took this one from our little red Prius while driving down Highway 1. Lovely coast in the foreground (can you find the rock arch?) with the Bixby Bridge spanning the mountains in the background! :-) Yes, we came around the corner of the mountain, I squeaked about the bridge, subsequently missed the shot, so Jay promptly turned our eco-mobile around, I took the photo, and we then continued on our journey (towards great memories and hundreds of more photos). Oh, Jay. Beaches and photography. A girl should be so lucky.
And, a quick shot of one of the views out of the Prius…
rusty and resting…
So, here we have a very rusty ship resting in the San Francisco Bay. Not much to say about it, except that it had a slightly eerie quality at sunset. You can almost picture it in its hey-day, sailing on the open Pacific, sails billowing and sailors rushing about their on-deck duties…but now it just bobs in the bay, completely abandoned.
Taken with the Canon Powershot G12.
bye bye bridge…
As the sun set on our last day in San Francisco, I snapped a last shot of the Golden Gate Bridge with the Marin Headlands in the backdrop and a wave heading for the Presidio in the foreground. Oh, how I didn’t want to leave San Francisco!!! Such an amazing city with so much more to explore! I truly cannot wait to return!
Although, as we left the Presidio and the bridge behind, we returned to In-n-Out for a delicious wharf-side burger dinner! Yes, in a city with myriad dining possibilities, we had both of our dinners at In-N-Out. It was just so good!!!! Its all about the “hidden menu”. That’s where “animal style” lives. And, all that walking and hill-climbing definitely cancels out a double animal-style burger with a side of animal-style fries and a large lemonade, right? Right?!?!? :-) Oh well. Happy tummy, happy girl.
Top two San Francisco foods: In-N-Out burgers/fries and the delicious beef/scallion/egg dish from Chinatown! OMG…that was sooooo good. I keep trying to find a replica here at home, but so far have been unsuccessful :-( But, my attempt at making was probably the closest to the original that I’ve yet encountered! Huzzah!
Alright. Enough the food talk. Its making me hungry. I’m on my Trauma Surgery rotation right now so food is a precious commodity. I covered 90 patients last night. That leaves no time for grub. But it was fun!
That said, postings might be few and far between for the month of August. I have 14 hour days and average 1 day off for every 7. But, I promise to post when I get a chance!!!
One final note: GO TEAM USA!!!!!!!!!!!! OLYMPICS 2012! I think it is amazing that even with the amount of international turmoil these days, the entire world can come together and play nicely for 2 weeks. And it is an honor to watch it and the level of sportsmanship displayed every day. I love the Olympics and everything they respresent. USA! USA! USA!!
((Yes, it was taken with the G12. And yes, I promised that a previous post contained the last Golden Gate Bridge shot. I lied. Sorry. But this is the last! I think! ))
It’s a blob, it’s a lump…IT’S A SEA LION!!!!
Tons of them!!! Pier 39 near Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco is home to a very happy clan of sea lions that get to while their days away in the California sun (and fog). Apparently, the sea lions had left for several years but recently returned and re-took over the pier. Welcome home, pinniped fishermen, welcome home.
Of course, this photo was taken with the Canon Powershot G12. Stay tuned for more! Fair warning: I’m super busy right now enjoying post-graduation life, so it will probably be a couple of weeks until my next post.
That said, I would like to officially introduce you to “Elizabeth Iannone, M.D.”!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Graduated medical school on May 11th! Finally, after only 22 years of school (hehe). Watch out world, because here comes Dr. Shutterbug.
the rock…
Alcatraz, in Black and White. Captures the haunting aspect of the island prison.
Alcatraz, in color. With a seagull!
Alrighty, folks. If you don’t like this post, I’m going to be forced to send you to Alcatraz and throw away the key! Just kidding, just kidding. These photos are pretty self-explanatory. I unfortunately did not get a chance to visit the prison in my 2-day stay (although I did manage to visit In-n-Out Burger twice…priorities, my friends. ”Animal Style” burger and fries is seriously like crack. Crack that you can’t get on the East Coast). But, hey! I have to leave something to do on my return trip (hmmm…lunch at In-n-Out on the way to Alcatraz? The burger joint is close to from where the tours leave!)
So, which of these photos do you prefer? I think I’m leaning towards the black and white version…kind of a throwback to when the prison was in use and accentuates the eeriness of the place. And if you’re thinking that the photo was taken with the tilt-shift technique…it wasn’t! I know, it looks like it was, but its just a plain ol’ shot from Pier 39 across the bay. Guess I lucked out for the bonus effect. As for the color image, c’mon…that seagull could not have been in a better spot if I could have glued him to the sky! :)
So, please vote in my little poll:
Oh! I almost forgot to state the obvious: all photos taken with the Canon Powershot G12. Forget that newfangled G1X that just came out…I love my G12 (and my lenses/underwater housing won’t fit the new version…a very expensive reason to stick with the G12!). Stay tuned for more of California!
And yes, I mentioned an underwater housing for the G12. A gracious Christmas present from my family for use in my upcoming trip to St. John, USVI!!! Eeeeeek!!!! SO EXCITED!!!! Can’t wait to share those photos…but first, I need to get there 
glowing golden…
Ok, ok. I promise. This is the last shot of the Golden Gate Bridge that I’ll post. However, I’m not going to make any solid promises as I certainly hope to get some more shots in the future since I absolutely loved California and am dying to go back! Not to mention, I am still utterly flabbergasted at how the beach bum in me did not know that on the other side of the Presidio lies a beautiful beach where the bay meets the Pacific with a gorgeous view of the bridge. HOW DID I MISS THIS???????? GAAAHHHH!!!!! Oh well. Live and learn, as they say. To salvage my beach bum rep, I’ll have you know that I mapped out all of the best beaches to stop at on our drive towards Long Beach from San Francisco :-)
So enough of the I-can’t-believe-I-missed-this-beach ranting and back to the photo. This one was fun to take. Jay and I hiked up the hill by the bridge and I used one of the wooden poles along the footpath as a makeshift tripod so that I could get a true HDR shot of the bridge. I set up the exposure bracketing in my G12 and let ‘er rip (or snap, as the case may be). It took a couple of tries since the wind kept rocking the camera, but this one turned out pretty darn clear. I love how the “Golden” in the bridge is really accentuated and there is even a golden cast thrown down onto the bay below. :-)
Stay tuned for more San Francisco shots and photos from my journey down the coast!
And, a little teaser for everyone: I have an upcoming trip to St. John, USVI, so keep your eyes peeled for what I expect to be fabulous shots! I mean, how can one take a bad photo in such an idyllic location? Woohoo!!!!!! BEACH!!!!!
chillin’ at crissy…
Well, here’s another Golden Gate Bridge photo! This time, we are pulling back a bit from the bridge to capture the full bridge span, some of the Marin headlands, San Francisco Bay, and the beach flora at Crissy Field/Park. Wow! That’s a lot of stuff! I love how the beach flora unexpectedly takes center stage in a Bridge shot. :-) Why be ordinary? ;-) Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy the rich beach colors and brilliant blue sky as much as I did in person!
Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12 with a wide-angle lens attached (it seriously was the only way to get that whole darn bridge in a picture!). Contrast touched-up in Photoshop CS5.
Stay tuned for more of California through my eyes and lens!
sailin’ off the dock of the bay…
Ok, folks! It is Match Day, the day in a medical student’s life where the big magic computer in the sky matches us with a residency program and we find out where we will spend the next 3+ years of our lives honing our skills as “real” doctors! And….I MATCHED AT MY TOP CHOICE PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be one of the newest Emergency Medicine residents at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center! I am beyond excited right now and so thrilled to start on this next leg of my journey. :-) WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! And congratulations to all my med school buddies on their respective matches…we’ve all worked so hard for this and we rocked it! Special shout-out to Dr. Dan and Dr. Heather…your programs are lucky to have you guys and the world is lucky that it is going to have such an amazing ER doc and pediatrician!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, with that said, on to the photo. Golden Gate Bridge (mostly silhouetted) at sunset with a sailboat on the Bay (presumably headed out to sea, if I’m judging correctly from the direction of its sail). And that’s about it for the photo! Today is all about Match Day joy (the culmination of 8 years of hard work) with a nifty photo thrown in.
Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12. Enjoy and stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!
golden gate in the golden light…
Sorry it has been so long since my last post! Residency interviews are all over now, just waiting to learn my fate on Match Day! I must say, interviewing for residency is one of the most exhausting experiences ever…a different city every week, sometimes multiple ones in a week…its like a 2-month long business trip! Funny how quickly it was over, though. Just like the licensing exams, it was one of the big med school milestones that you see off in the distance and think, “Gosh, I will never be able to do that!” and before you know it, BOOM!, not only did you make it, but you survived, enjoyed it, and kicked some serious interview butt in the process! So, now that it is smooth-sailing until, well, residency starts, here is a post! Oh, and fingers crossed for Match Day!
Well, a lot of explanation is definitely not needed for this one: The Golden Gate Bridge in all its glory, bathed in the golden light of sunset! This shot was basically the product of Jay and I walking a very long way along the beach to the bridge, trying to get there before sunset and eek out every photo possible (which, incidentally, is particularly difficult when I realize that every 100 ft closer I get to the bridge makes the photos 100% better and I stop 100 times in 100 different spots to take 100 photos). :-)
So, this photo was captured with my glorious Canon Powershot G12, with a wide-angle lens attached. Let me just say…if you go to California, bring a wide-angle lens because you will want to capture every possible inch of the stunning vistas there!
Apparently, WordPress has added a “poll” feature since I last posted, so why not take it for a spin? HAVE AT IT, FOLKS…and stay tuned for more posts!
onward, northward…
So, after leaving sunny Sausalito and a lovely lunch behind, we hopped in our Prius and took the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) all the way up to Santa Rosa. Let me just say, this was one of the best things I have EVER done. The winding road (very, very, very sharply winding road) clinging to the cliffside, wind in my hair, great music blasting on the radio…what more could a girl ask for? A cute guy in the driver’s seat? Check! Suffice it to say that around nearly every curve I would squeak with joy and say how gorgeous the view was! Fortunately, Jay was quite amenable to stopping as soon as I would yell, “I have to take a picture!”…how lucky am I? So, there are lots and lots of photographs heading north on the PCH (and later, lots and lots of photos going south on the PCH). So many wonderful memories created in that 4 hour drive!
This portion of the trip checked several things off of my bucket list: drive Highway 1, see the Pacific, dip toes in the Pacific, and take in a rocky coastline.
This photo was taken somewhere between San Fran and Santa Rosa…and is of the aptly named “Hole Rock.” Beautiful, eh? I would just like to mention how insanely windy it was from atop that cliff and that this was one of the few shots that was not blurred by a blowing camera! Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12.
Stay tuned for more snapshots from my California escapades!
If you’re going to San Francisco…
Well, world…I finally did it! I crossed the USA to the other coast!!! Think of it as East meets West…coast, that is. My friend from med school was getting married in Santa Rosa (shout-out to the happy couple!), so Jay and I figured, heck, if we’re going that far away, we might as well make a vacation out of it!!! Thus ensued a week of fun in the sun!
Our amazing itinerary was as follows:
Land in San Francisco (got to see the Rockies & Yosemite from the plane!)–> eat lunch in Sausalito–> drive up the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) to Santa Rosa–> Wedding!–>Trek to Sonoma Lake in Napa Valley plus some wine tasting in the Napa Valley –>Drive to San Francisco–> Sight-see!!! Take Photos!!! Quality BF-GF time!!!–> Drive to Pillar Point Beach to collect sea glass–> Drive south on Hwy 1 to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur (stay tuned for the amazing views from here)–> Continue on Hwy 1 until encounter massive landslide–> take 4 hour detour through a military base at the top of a mountain range (via a one lane road clinging to the edge of the mountain…without a guardrail)–> finally arrive in Long Beach, CA and stay on the Queen Mary for the night (!)–>Ferry to Avalon, Catalina Island!!–> ZIPLINE 500 feet above ground between mountain summits (!)–> beach–> LAX–> Home (got to see the Grand Canyon from the plane!)
Soooooo much fun!! I’ll try to post photos in the approximate order that I took them so I can slowly tell the story of my travels This one is out of order, though, as I will be posting a photo of the Rockies (so excited to finally see real “rocky” mountains, not the worn (but pretty) tree-covered mountains of the East).
Can’t wait to share my trip and photos with you! I truly believe it is impossible to take a bad photo in California!
Quick story behind this photo: En route to Sausalito, I realized that we were driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. After many squeals of excitement that may have left Jay partially deaf in the right ear, I started snapping photos like a mad woman. Luckily I got a nice skyline shot. The Bay Bridge is at the left-most edge of the photo. Naturally, there was a ton of fog in the Bay, so I adjusted the contrast in Photoshop CS5 to sharpen up the photo. Taken with the Canon Powershot G12!
ENJOY AND STAY TUNED!!!!
