It’s been almost three years since we took a ride on the Alaskan Railway to Denali and then to Fairbanks. All along the way there are scenes like this one of the Talkeetna River as the dome car in which we rode passed northbound from Anchorage.
Leisure
Rainbow Harbor
While I lived in Long Beach as a child, my parents would often take us kids to the shoreline. At the time, there was a semicircular pier called ‘Rainbow Pier’ in the harbor. Today, the pier is gone and the harbor there is now ‘Rainbow Harbor.’ This is a panoramic view of the harbor taken from Pierpoint Landing where Dad used to take us fishing. Click for a full-sized panoramic view.
Iceplant, Sand, Rocks and Water
I took this photo of this beautiful bed of magenta iceplant flowers growing in the sand next to the rocky shore at Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach Harbor. Click to enlarge the picture.
Seashore
We hoped that after last week’s rainfall, that it would be clear enough for some good photo ops at the seashore. Unfortunately, we had one of those mostly overcast weekends with suboptimal visibility. So, I dug into the archives and found this nice seascape taken at Point Vicente several weeks ago. Verna takes most of the pretty pictures for the blog, but every once in a while I get lucky and get a good shot with my canon A710IS digital camera. This is a wallpaper-sized photo. Click on it to see it full-sized and feel free to put it on your desktop.
Hike to the Fishing Access
Last weekend, we visited the L.A. County Fishing Access at Point Vicente. We found that the hike down from the parking lot to the beach was not as daunting as it looks from above. We’ve been there many times to enjoy the view and to take pictures from this scenic overlook. It wasn’t until this last weekend that we ventured down the path to the rocky beach below. We should have done it long ago.
On the way down and back up, we were treated to many close up views of wildflowers and unusual shrubs and succulents. Most of this is unseen from the cliffs at the top of the pathway. The rocky beach waiting below is somewhat difficult to walk on, but with good non-skid shoes it can be done after a little practice. Once at the bottom, you can feel the pounding of the surf, even though it was mild on this day. There is a constant roar as the breaking waves echo throughout the curved bay.
We’ll definitely be making this hike again. You can click on either image for a larger view.
Los Angeles Breakwater
This is the view looking east from Land’s End at the southernmost end of Pacific Avenue in San Pedro. In the distance, tall thunderclouds can be seen over the Santa Ana Mountains. Verna snapped this and I cropped it into a panoramic view of the scene. Click on the picture for the full-sized panorama.
