the trip back

After more than two years in California, it's time to make the trip back. This time we're heading straight for Las Vegas, and driving through the Rockies.

pelicans

Here's a  pelican grooming--possibly trying to attract--

the attention of this handsome devil.

bad birdie

We have Snowy Egrets on the East Coast, but you'd really have to go to a wildlife sanctuary, or to some other out-of-the-way place to see one.

So I was surprised to see this fellow just strolling around the Oceanside Pier, trying to look nonchalant. I wondered if I missed noticing a female bird he was considering trying to get to know.

  

Until a fisherman walked away from his bait, and the egret quickly moved in and snatched a fish. He must do this regularly, as he seemed to have it down to a routine.

 

Here he is looking more like a wild thing.

oh thank heaven for 7 eleven?

I saw a rainbow the other day--one that actually went across the sky in an arc, the way a child's drawing does. I have taken a few other pictures of rainbows, but I only saw this one other time, and didn't have a camera. I took quite a few shots, trying to make the most of the rainbow's setting--a busy highway here in Oceanside.

No matter how many pictures I took , or where I stood, I seemed to get this 7 Eleven sign in the photo.

I nearly laughed out loud when I crossed the street to see what I could get from there--and the rainbow seemed to be making the proverbial crock of gold out of the 7 Eleven sign.

squirrels

Look very closely.

Here's our neighbor squirrel, out of his hole in the rocks.  I missed seeing the squirrels, so common in the east. In the west, a squirrel is uncommon--something that usually lives in the woods, like a chipmunk.

the sunsets are nice, but...

Sunset over the Pacific. It's still the wrong ocean, facing the wrong way.

Another December sunset.

Sunsets are nice, but I still miss the weather. All of it. I missed it the first morning we were here, on the first day of November, when it's supposed to be cold, or cold and rainy. California doesn't have weather. Most citizens of this state probably can't name the weather person on their local TV news program. It feels like an April morning every day. 84 April mornings in a row. Not the place for someone who has always enjoyed weather, of any kind or description. But the sunsets are pretty.

La Jolla

La Jolla is famous for its seals and sea lions. This fellow came out of the water and struck a pose, which he held for several minutes

A pile of seals.

Pelicans. I don't know if they nest here.

Sea lions and cormorants.

Seals and cormorants.

Where pigeons roost when they move to California.

I'd rather worry about something else

These signs are posted on the street that runs along the side of our house.

This is in the sidewalk near the Children's Pool at La Jolla.

Oceanside

This is the Oceanside Pier at sunset. Odd to think that the East Coast is covered in snow. My neighbor told me that it flurried here today, in Southern California, but I missed it. It hasn't snowed in Oceanside since 1967.

Looking north from the pier, you can see Christmas lights.

Christmas at the beach

This is part of a Christmas parade of boats, a very pretty and extremely mellow parade--nearly silent except for one woman bellowing "Merry Christmas!" every few minutes, South Philly--Mummers parade style--oh, and a few of the same cheap plastic horns.

Yes, you can decorate a palm tree for Christmas. A row of these on one block was quite festive.

I'd drive 3,000 miles for a Wawa hoagie

We drove to Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Los Angeles over the weekend. I couldn't get the driver ( you know who you are ) to stop and let me take a picture of this, but I found one on Google maps. This was in Santa Monica, on Lincoln Boulevard. It was closed, unfortunately.

fall in California

Another leaf fell.  That makes 3 or 4 in the last month. 

hates California, it's cold and it's damp...

This is the view from the top of the street, a block or two from our house--always dramatic-looking.

The sunset over the Pacific. There are only a few people on the beach.  It's quite chilly, more so as soon as the sun isn't shining.

seals and pelicans

These pelicans show up to eat leftover bait, or so it seems.

The lump on the pier, just behind the blue/green boat, is a seal. There were several seals trying to nap, then another seal came along and an argument began, with a lot of barking or honking noises.

More pelicans, watching for some bait.

This pelican strutted up and down before jumping into the water and swimming away.

local sights/sites

This is a local highway, looking dramatic before sunset.

This church is only a couple of blocks away,. Its bells ring every hour, something we haven't heard on the East Coast in decades.

plants and animals

Here's one lonely tree, losing its leaves, just like the trees on the East Coast.I haven't seen another.

 There are no pigeons, but the town fountain is visited by seagulls, who use it for a lounge and birdbath.

 A Bird-of-Paradise in a local garden, if not in the wild. It seems to thrive here, and grows to be a large shrub when planted outdoors. It looks much better planted naturally than stuck in a vase as a one-flower arrangement.

truck lag

 I was 12 years old the first time I went on a long trip in a car. We drove from our home near Philadelphia to Nova Scotia, Canada, stopping at what might have been every "Howard Johnson's" diner along US Route 1 and Interstate 95. The time is one hour later than Philadelphia in Nova Scotia--Atlantic Time--but I don't remember having a problem with it.  Here in California, we're on Pacific Time. Whatever time we're on, I can't seem to stop getting up at 5 am. I didn't know this would happen after a car trip. I don't have a name for it--we've all heard of jet lag, but Budget Rental lag? It's been more than 2 weeks, and I still feel time disoriented. It gets dark before 5, which seems out of place to an easterner, since it's warm. But not because there's more daylight. It seems very late by about 9 ( midnight Eastern Time ) and by 5 am, when it's still quite dark, it seems time to get up.

California sun

California looks balmy most of the time, and it's famous for its warm sun--but I find it damp and chilly, with no central heating. The days are sometimes still warm, but only if you're actually in the sun. Everywhere else, including indoors, is chilly, with a breeze that may come right through a closed window. There's a heater in our living room and hall, but nothing in the bedrooms. Restaurants with decks have heaters or fires, and a bonfire on the beach is a popular local activity. The east would be cold now, but the heat would be on.

sea gulls

The gull at the top is a west coast sea gull. The gull at the bottom is an east coast sea gull. I don't really see any difference. The west coast sea gulls pretty much live only at the beach. We don't see them even a block or two inland. The east coast sea gulls move farther inland all the time. They can now be seen at suburban parking lots 60 miles from the Atlantic--this became fairly common about 20 years ago.
East coast sea gulls will walk right up to people and steal food. In densely populated areas, like Atlantic City, they have learned how to dive at people--to make them drop their food--and then eat their pizza. 

trees

Nov. 2nd, 12 pm. Here's the view from our front walk. It looks like a brontosaurus should be munching on the palm tree in the back. I wonder how long it takes to get used to this.