Carnival Pier

It's the one and only, Santa Monica Pier. We went on a walk to dinner one night and went on the pier but I didn't get any pictures. Then on a late afternoon walk, I snapped this picture through the palm trees. It's been there for more than 100 years, built in 1909. It's been there through the storms of '83 and even the collapse of the deck.

White Rose

The sunset in the back lighted these twin roses from the front. The back of the roses faded into a dark white and even into a light black. I didn't remember the sunset being this yellow but I guess my memory isn't as sharp as the picture.

Swaying Trees

These palm tree had a lean into them, they were leaning into the ocean. It might have been from a hurricane offshore or it could have been me tilting my camera. I think it was a hurricane. These trees were also on a cliff, the cliff might be to blame too. Another cool thing about this picture is at the end. The sky goes from a dark blue into a lighter blue and even into a white color.

Trunk to Leaves


The trees grow from the bottom to the top and the tree goes from the trunk to the leaves. The tree goes from the trunk into the palm leaves. While we were in California, the sky's were almost always blue. The tree trunk and the palm tree leaves are completely different from the light blue sky. This tree looks like it is dying, I probably should have cause a tree that wasn't as dead.

Hollywood

After a long and curvy forty-five minute drive up a mountain, we made it to a park. From the park was a perfect shot of the Hollywood sign. It has been up for 87 years and the first sixteen of those years it read, Hollywood Land. The H, O, and Y have been restored two times while the others have been restored one time. The first time was because they wanted to resize the letters.

Full Moon

The full moon provided for some new pictures that I have never had before. Not only that but the California palm trees raise the picture to a whole new level. I couldn't focus on the moon but I could focus on the palm tree semi-covering the moon. The brightness of the moon cuts through the dark night and it brightens up the picture.

Down to the Beach

This packed street led me right down to the beach. The packed street and palm trees take your attention everywhere. The left and right of the picture and the cars draw you to the end of the picture where the real surprise is.  The ocean and cliff that is a picture on its own. This is a great picture as we come to my final two days in Southern California.

Final Stage Sunset

This was one of the last pictures of the sunset before it faded away. Luckily the clouds hid the sun. The clouds also gave way to yet again the sun streak. It also helped to show the orange from the sunset. The small openings in the clouds give out amazing bursts of orange and yellow specs in the sky.

Bursting Sunset

The sunset was still bursting through the clouds. In this picture, you can see the sun streaks even better. This time I was able to cut most of the building out and still have the palm trees. This picture of the sunset was more developed than the last picture and you can see more orange and darker sunset pictures. Wait one more day and find out the final stage of this beachside sunset.

Seaside Sunset

This might be the end of the San Diego Zoo, but this is the beginning of a fabulous sunset on the third level of a restaurant. The sun is shining through the thick clouds and you can even see the sun streaks. The sun then bursts through the clouds and reflects right off of the Pacific Ocean. The building could go, but the palm trees just add to the picture.

Little Power

This is a drawf animal. He is the same as his big relatives, but he is just in a smaller package. I don't remember what animal this is, but he sure is cute. I was looking for him and couldn't find him then I moved to the other viewing window and found him. Here he is, all 6 inches of him.

Looking Back

This is a meerkat. He is scared of many things, including airplanes. They are found in Africa. They use their long, sharp claws to dig burrows in the ground to escape the African heat. Since I live in Texas, we escape the heat by venturing into placing with air conditioning.  Meerkats are very smart and rotate protecting the pups from rival meerkat tribes. They rotate and even have special people that spend their whole life protecting the young. I wonder how much they get paid.

Hungry Mammal

This multi-ton beast is the largest land animal on Earth. The largest weighed 24,000 pounds, the heart alone weighed about 27 to 46 pounds. The heart of an elephant beats at only 27 beats per minute while the Canary's beats at 1000. The elephant weighs so much that it can't jump. At birth, the elephant weighs 230 pounds. An elephants trunk has more than 40,000 muscles in it. While an elephant doesn't look like a cat but it purrs like it. The large ears of an elephant are to regulate the blood flow, if it is hot the ears cool them down.

Goosing Around

While this might not be a goose, I can still tell you about the goose. There are different names for the goose in the air and in the land and water. In the land or water they are called a gaggle in the air they are called a skein. If a goose is kept well, it can live for 20 years. Goose are highly social and can get along with just about any animal. The first golf ball was filled with goose feathers they were highly valued and very expensive.

Santa's Reindeer

While these fuzzy horns and reindeer face might look like Santa's reindeer, they don't fly. Early mail in Alaska was delivered by reindeer. Reindeer herding covers a staggering 1/4 of the Earth. While Alaska has temperatures reaching 35 degrees below zero, reindeer eat moss to keep warm. Like the snowflakes, all of the reindeer's horns are different no two are the same. Especially in Alaska, when snow piles up reindeer need to find food. They have a 2-foot sensing system built into them. They can feel food up to two feet below the snow.

Looking at You

Going along with the panda picture theme, I think I will tell you about the polar bear and other animals coming soon. Polar bears live on ice normally found in the 88 north latitude, in the Northern Arctic Sea. Polar bears can travel up to 19 miles a day and can keep that up for several days. This means the average bear travels 695 miles a year. The 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears are growing smaller every day as sea ice is lost.

Sleepy Head

Some people wake up tired, this panda is sleeping and he is still looked tired. Finding a panda is rare in everywhere besides China where they are naturally found. A panda is actually a bear, just a smaller nicer bear. Each panda lives for about 40 years, this panda was born in 1991 in China. While pandas are only about 175 pounds, they spend 55% of their life with Bambo. Selling panda fur is illegal in America but if you do (which you should not), they fur is worth between $60,000 and $100,000.

Reaching Out

This Monkey or Ape like creature was in the zoo and looking good for a picture. He had his hair spiked out and he posed facing 90 degrees away from me. His half face is looking good. I like his white side burn. I wonder what that is for, is it like the cheetah where her black stripes are to improve vision? Or is it just to look cool and show off.

Black Bear Black Bear

This is the closest that I have ever been to a bear and the closest I hope to ever be. I thought of the kid's book, Brown Bear Brown Bear, What do You See? This black bear saw the bone he is gnawing on and the rock wall in front of him. He seems very interested in the bone. His keeper hid it and he then found it and gnawed on it until pushed it in the water and gnawed on it in the water.

Peeking Out

This otter stuck his head out after a slumber. You might be thinking why are some of the animals a sleep? It is because I went early in the morning and they probably just woke up from sleeping overnight. I like this picture because I can see only the head poking out from the rock.