Saturday July 14, 2007, in West Hollywood

Hi everyone! Well we are here in California, Los Angeles to be exact.  Just thought I would post a quick "We are Here message".  We flew in from Ohio on Thursday evening.  We will be here until Monday morning then we will head up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) on our way to Monterey Bay.

We are staying in West Hollywood about a block from the Pacific Design Center which was featured on the recent Bravo series Top Design

.

We had a busy time in LA but did make it out a couple of times to shot some city scenes.  If you drive up Mulholland Drive to near the summit in north Beverly Hills you can get some pretty good panoramic shots of the LA area.

Monday July 16, 2007 - Heading up the Pacific Coast Highway 

Our first stop up the PCW was in Ventura Beach.  The surf was up and although the sky was not great, we saw some pretty good surfing and got a few pics. 

Here is a shot of the harbor at Ventura Beach. Pretty big, lots of boats and activities.  You can rent paddle boats, kayaks, etc.

Our next stop was Pismo Beach.  There are two main attractions in Pismo, the sand dunes at Oceania and the pelicans, hundreds of thousands of pelicans. 

The sand dunes are more like the dunes you might find inland.  They stretch for miles with amazing patterns and drifts.  If you are into dune buggy riding, this is the place.  A big part of the park is set aside for motor vehicles.  Be prepared, the trek is though and sand gets everywhere.

The dunes right along the ocean look more like the traditional dunes we are used to along beaches.

Pismo Beach has pelicans, lots of pelicans.  We stayed the night at the Shelter Cove Lodge which was right on the flyway for the pelicans.  If you want to see lots of birds including gulls and terns, then I highly recommend the lodge, great accommodations (every room overlooks the Pacific Ocean) and an excellent location. 

There were dozens of roosting rocks just like this in the bay, all covered with thousands of pelicans.

The pelicans fly really close.  The best shooting location is the gazebo on the point at Shell Beach.  They come in right overhead and turn to land on the rock that is just off shore.

You can also get great shots of seagulls.  They are tougher to shoot flying because they are faster than pelicans.  They are really used to humans and seem to almost pose for you.

Tuesday July 17, 2007 - Continuing up the PCH toward Big Sur 

Our next stop was at Morro Rock in Morro Bay.  It is north of Pismo Beach and near San Luis Obispo.  The Rock stands over 500 feet tall and is a plug from and extinct volcano.  The Rock is home to thousands of birds and has an excellent beach just off the north side for swimming and surfing.

Here is a very dramatic shot of the Rock.  To the right in this picture was surfing and a great looking beach.

Our next stop was an Elephant Seal gathering place just before we entered the Big Sur region.  These guys are really big, some looked like they would weigh over a thousand pounds.

Tuesday July 17, 2007 - in Big Sur 

The trip has been great, but the best is just ahead, Big Sur. This is as beautiful and dramatic as a coastline gets.  I had always wanted to see Big Sur, but now I put on one my top 10 must see locations.  It is fantastic.

The Bixby Bridge is at the northern end of the Big Sur region.