California: Day two

For day two of our adventure, we had decided to rent a car and head up the coast on the famous Rt. 1. The last time I was out in Cali. this was the main thing that I did- the only difference being that I was alone. This time I had someone who knew the landscape a little better. After acquiring the car, a newer-model red Chevrolet Capri, our goal was to make it up to Pismo Beach by lunchtime to eat some Clam Chowder at Splash Cafe. The day was beautiful, except for the fact that it was raining lightly off and on. We made it up to Pismo Beach around 1pm, where we stood out in the rain and waited in line to order our chowder. This place was busy! When we finally sat down, I was able to experience some of the best food to ever come from the sea and to be served in a bread bowl . . . . Ever.


The rain had broken a little by the time we finished eating and we strolled the beaches at Pismo. Most of the people had left when the rain came so we had most of the beach to ourselves. There wasn’t much to do so we didn’t stay long, but I was able to find some small objects to photograph while we were there. This particular rock stood out because of its odd placement in the whole landscape. Carefully placed with no foot prints around to give away who left it there.

From Pismo we headed farther north for a couple of hours until it was starting to get darker. At this point we pulled off the highway and started to look for a place to eat dinner. That’s when we noticed a small dirt road leading up a steep hill off the main road we were on. We decided to give it a chance. It lead us to a small parking lot with walking trails leading off in various directions. We stuck close to the coast, which was a steep drop off to the ocean, and walked along the edge. We found a few large mounds of rock that had been carved away over time to climb.

While I was sitting on a mound of rock, the sun started to set behind Andy, who was sitting on another mound across from me. I took this quick shot of him enjoying the sunset- it’s one of my favorites from the whole trip.


After the sun had sunk below the horizon line we made a mad dash down to the ocean to enjoy this wonderful place a little longer (before we had to head back home for the night). In a cove by the ocean we found these strange anemones that seemed to have a slight glow to them in the last light of the day.


By the time this last photograph was taken, we were remembering our stomachs and feeling the need to grab some food before heading back home for the night. And that’s exactly what we did. On the way back to Glendale, Andy and I listened to some great music and had a major “life” discussion- the kind that we often have when we’re together.

The next day we planned on heading out to see the Redwoods, something I’ve always wanted to see but haven’t had the chance to. This trip would be no different. I would miss them yet again, except this time it was completely out of my hands. At the time of my visit, the latest bouts of wildfires were demolishing Southern California. All of the forests were shut down in case the fire was spread in their direction. The rangers and park service employees were also pulled to those areas in need of the help…in short- no Redwoods. After discussing what to do we decided on the desert- Joshua Tree National Park. I wasn’t all that thrilled to be heading to the desert. I’d never been there and thought it’d be a bit boring with all the sand and rocks and lack of wildlife. I was obviously about to be proven wrong.