Stick Huts & Sea Lions

Finishing up in California, we were on the beaches near Hearst Castle and Big Sur. The campsites at Big Sur were beautiful. It was extremely fun. After these few days, my mom caught her flight home in San Jose, but not before the clutch in the car completely failed on us! Awesome. 

Who would have thought this well-maintained vehicle (which had been tuned up prior to the trip) would be a failboat? Ah well. It was fixed within 24 hours, so nbd.

a thing

more things

fuzzier things

stick huts!

Lizard of the dayyyyy!

City of Angels and 9 Million People

We just came from Los Angeles, California. There are a ton of people there. Traffic is so bad that it's not uncommon for a drive to take three times as long as expected. However, LA is overpopulated for a reason. The beaches were beautiful, and the weather was lovely. We went to Venice Beach and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Skateboarders at Venice Beach

Richard Serra sculpture- made of two inch thick steel

Miniature elevators

forever a painting

Oh My Beach Cats

So I've been sitting in a hotel room with wifi for a good part of the last 3 days and have yet to update le blog. Shame on me. But in that time I have compiled a list of my favorite things about California:

1. Whole Foods.

2. The ocean.

3. EVERYTHING grows here. 

Hope that was enlightening. 

Anyway, two days ago we made it down to the tide pools at White Point in Palos Verde, California. It was really neat. The ocean truly is teeming with life; everywhere you looked there were all kinds of critters. 

Beach Cats 

Speaking of critters, there were also scads of beach cats everywhere. It was kind of creepy. They were mangy and likely full of rabies. And there were a bunch of cat ladies feeding these feral cats. Which is literally feeding a  problem. Oh well.

Quab!

Just for you, Kayleigh Cox. (The post, not the starfish.)

Caaaaaaalifornia

Yesterday we were at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and today we're in California. Again, the landscape has changed drastically. We stayed at Malibu Creek State Park, which is not far from Los Angeles. It was gorgeous. As a result, the area has been used for many movies and TV shows, including M*A*S*H, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Mr. Blandings Builds his Dreamhouse. It is also about two miles from the Reagan Ranch. 

Deers. They were all over the place. 

There were also really fat ground squirrels.

And rabbits with long ears. 

A helpful graph.

A silent sentinel over the land. 

Unfortunately, this specific resource was not utilized as often as it should have been.

While the park was beautiful, it was not litter-free.

Rock Pool. In the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, this was the location of the scene where Paul Newman and Robert Redford jump into the gorge.

Sorry kids, no LOTD.