California

Old Spanish Days Santa Barbara – Fiesta!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We had an incredibly wonderful time in Santa Barbara celebrating the Old Spanish Days Fiesta!! There was never a dull moment throughout the weekend!! It was fantastic for Charlene and I to enjoy the time together with Elizabeth, Dennis, and Rachel!!

We started out the weekend by enjoying flamenco dancers of all ages! These girls were excited to show me their festive dresses when I asked them if I could take their photo!

On the stage were all kinds of colorful dresses spinning and turning to the music!! It was so much fun to watch!

Ladies getting ready to dance were excited to showcase their dresses!

I really loved all the colors in these dresses. Flamenco dancing is serious business!!

These colorfully dressed young girls were getting ready to go onstage and dance!!

The Spanish colors were flying everywhere around Santa Barbara!!

Charlene met a good friend she wanted to bring him home!!

When you go to Santa Barbara, it is a requirement to taste their spectacular wines!! Here Rachel and I were enjoying a glass at our favorite wine tasting location!!

Charlene and Elizabeth found this great dolphin as we were tasting wine for this special photo!!

As we were enjoying our wine, this wonderful mariachi band stopped and played some great songs!! I simply love listening to their music and watching them play. There were a number of mariachi bands playing around the city!!

I especially love this photo of Charlene and Elizabeth as we were enjoying our wine!!

People celebrate Old Spanish Days by sprinkling confetti on each other!! We had such a wonderful time!!

The following day, as we were waiting for the fiesta at Loquita restaurant to begin, these horses walked by to get ready to be in the parade.

Loquita had an unbelievable fiesta!! There was unlimited sangria and all kinds of tapas plates of foods to enjoy! They gave us these festive flowers as we entered the restaurant!!

This gentleman was carving a jamon (ham) to serve on the tapas plates. It was cooked to perfection!

An especially wonderful treat for me was to see Rachel!! She is quite the impressive professional!!

It was fun to learn about mezcal and try a number of shots! This is a great product and very smooth!!

We especially enjoyed eating the paella!! It required quite a while for it to be prepared, but it was well worth the wait!! We received a ticket for the paella as we entered the fiesta and enjoying it was one of the highlights of the fiesta!!

This couple was at the table next to us and I told the woman that I especially loved her hat!!

In addition to the unlimited sangria, their bar was in operation for making various cocktails. It was such a fun fiesta!!

While we were at the bar ordering drinks, I enjoyed talking with this woman. I especially liked both the confetti and the beautiful white flower in her hair!!

These are the special negroni cocktails that Elizabeth ordered! They were a delight to drink!!

Everyone was enjoying the fiesta celebration!!

A special highlight of the fiesta at Loquita were the flamenco dancers!! It was incredibly fun to enjoy the music and watch the dancers!!

It was amazing to watch the moves and grace of these two dancers!!

Mother and daughter were impressively moving to the music too!!

Brother and sister also had a wonderful time dancing together!! The Loquita fiesta was so much fun!!

These wonderful ladies were dancing near us and it was wonderful to take their photo! Everyone had a great time Old Spanish Days!!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway!!

/ Ed Armstrong
John and I had a wonderful trip to ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway!! The tramway base (Valley Station) is at elevation 2,643 feet and the tram quickly rises to 8,516 feet. This photo was taken at the top of the mountain and we had beautiful views all around the area.

The terrain is quite rugged and the tram glides “smoothly” above the rocks.

I was surprised at the large size of the tram and how many people fit inside. It was interesting to be within the tram as the floor of the tram slowly circled around as it moved along the cables. You could not hold onto the inside edge within the tram because the sides kept moving. It was fun to ride. One guy next to us was quite nervous with the swaying of the tram as it moved along the route. It was quite full and can hold 80 people!!

This photo was taken within the tram as we looked back to the station where we started. I has able to hang my camera out the window to get a clear view!

This bird greeted us at the top of the ride. He was especially loud as he watched everyone!!

We had a beautiful view of Palm Springs from the top of the mountain!!

In he middle of the photo are the wind farms seen in the distance.

We had a beautiful view of the clouds moving into the mountains. It was spectacular to watch the expansion of the clouds rapidly shifting as they enveloped the trees!!

As seen from the outside, the tram swings at quite an angle as it moves up the cables. While inside, it was fun to ride in it!!

This is the original tram car that was used in Palm Springs!!

Indio Hills Badlands Trail!!

/ Ed Armstrong
John and I went on a great hike on the Badlands trail near Indio! Sections were rigorous, but all the rock formations were quite interesting!

The rock formations were fascinating and it was a gorgeous day for a hike!!

Every direction held unique rock structures as we walked along the trail!!

We discovered quite a few arches in among the rocks!!

Some of these formations made me think about Zion National Park!!

John and I had fun walking along the narrow paths. We had to be cautious to not slip on the uneven slopes on the trail!!

We saw so many strange rocks. Here, the rock appeared to be “dripping” down the hill!!

This “stairway to heaven” sign was posted by someone to highlight a steep cascade of steps and rocks up a hill!!

I enjoyed seeing so many odd rocks!!

I liked this arch we noticed in the midst of these small caves!!

We saw these people ahead of us on the trail and knew we needed to climb up the hill and then would walk along a narrow ridge!!

Once we got to the top of the hill we had quite a ways to walk along a fairly narrow ridge!!

Looking back it was interesting to see such rugged rock formations with Indio in the distance!!

I am glad it was not windy as we walked along the ridge!!

These hikers with walking sticks had a great view from the trail to see Indio down below!!

This friendly lady was walking along the ridge we just passed. She provided a great perspective!

I loved seeing the softness of the gorgeous clouds along with the roughness of the rock formations!!

It was fun to walk along such a fun trail and see so many beautiful scenes!! It was a great hike, but I was tired after we finished the hike!!

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

/ Ed Armstrong
Here is an absolutely wonderful group of people to travel with!!

This is the base of the “Big Tree!!” It is absolutely huge!!

This is the upper portion of the “Big Tree.” I cannot see the top of the tree while standing near the tree base. It is absolutely huge!!

It is 286 feet high!!

It is so peaceful to walk in a redwood forest. It is especially soothing!!

The size of these redwood trees is amazing!!

The trees are massive compared to the size of an adult!!

Walks among the trees are peaceful and relaxing!!

Everywhere you look there are massively huge trees!!

Moss grows everywhere on the trees!!

The bright green color of the ferns is refreshing!!

Humboldt Redwoods State Park!!

/ Ed Armstrong

These redwoods are huge!! Standing in front of a large burned section show that the remainder of the tree is alive!!

We drove down into northern California (near Eureka) and visited Humboldt Redwoods State Park!! This is a beautiful forest of coastal redwoods!!

The coastal redwoods are taller than the redwoods near Yosemite!

Our tour director (Susan) and I could barely reach the diameter of these trees!!

The deep texture of the wood and bark is amazing!!

The trees as so tall, I had trouble capturing their height with my camera’s wide angle lens!!

I enjoyed looking at the deep bark with moss growing all over the trees!!

This is more of a close-up photo of the mass growing on the trees!!

This amazing root system looked like a roaring fire to me!!

The texture of the trees was so interesting!!

The ferns grew everywhere along with the redwoods!!

Susan was dwarfed by the size of the root system!!

The depth of the ridges in the bark was impressive!!

The texture of the cracks and ridges in the bark was interesting!!

The light making it through the redwood canopy created a spotlight on these leaves growing on a fallen redwood!!

Ferns and moss grew everywhere at the base of the redwoods!!

The root systems of the fallen redwoods were so interesting to examine!!

The bright green moss growing on this fallen tree was interesting!!

After leaving Humboldt Redwoods State Park, we went to the zoo in Eureka. This curious black bear was fun to watch as he played in his enclosure!!

He seemed to be giving us a curious stare!!

The javelina were active in their enclosure too!!

The zoo had a walkway that was high in their redwoods. Walking across provided a top-down view of a tree!! This was the most interesting perspective of a tree!!

This “knob” of the redwood was interesting. That can be used to make beautiful bowls and furniture!!

This owl was a treasure of the zoo!! He only had one eye. He seemed content to let a group of people study him!!

San Diego!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We had a wonderful time in San Diego visiting with John, Michelle, David, and James!! It has been at least 15 years since I have been to Sea World.

Sea World is an amazing place!!

It was a beautiful day to enjoy watching the animals!!

Dolphins are incredible creatures!!

They are so graceful!!

I was amazed how fast they swim!!

The dolphins work well with their trainers!!

The orcas were huge and amazing to watch!!

Compare the massive size of the orca to the size of the people!!

The orca colors are truly amazing!!

It was truly amazing to watch this massive orca jump all the way out of the water!!

Orcas are massive, talented creatures!!

Orcas are incredible!!

I loved watching the orcas swim!!

Farmer’s Market!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Today we went to the farmer’s market in Santa Barbara, California. I loved all the colors and shapes of the flowers, fruits, and vegetables!

I enjoyed seeing all the colors!!

The strawberries were wonderful!!

Gorgeous flowers!!

I loved the light and textures with these flowers in the morning!!

The sunflowers were bursting with color!!

The vibrant colors were explosions of beauty!!

Many sunflowers were available with different vendors!!

Sundial Bridge!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Redding has an awesome Sundial Bridge right in the middle of town. It crosses over the Sacramento River.

I enjoyed the sundial structure with its shapes and clear glass over the bridge.

The sundial shape actually worked along the ground. The shape of the dial and cables was interesting.

It is quite tall rising into the sky!

The size of the people at the base of the sundial show how tall the bridge is!!

The bridge is also quite wide!!

Mount Shasta is Spectacular!!

/ Ed Armstrong
John and I drove 45 miles north of Redding and found this wonderful view of Mount Shasta!! It is a spectacular mountain and reminded me of the mountain north of Flagstaff.

I love the contrasting colors of the blue sky, white snow on the mountain, and the green trees in the forest.

Beautiful Monterey!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Today was another wonderful day traveling!! I drove to Monterey and had fun walking through many shops in the Cannery Row district. There were many t-shirts to choose from, but I resisted the urge to buy any more :).

I next visited the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was extremely impressive. I wish the grandsons were with me to enjoy it too.

I loved seeing so many species.

It was amazing to see so many fish!

Many children were at the aquarium and they loved seeing these fish.

This shark looked hungry and on the prowl.

These “tentacle” structures moved as the water flowed around them.

I think I ate one of these last week in Santa Barbara while visiting Elizabeth!!

This bright-eyed bird was staring into the water for his next meal!!

I drove south on Highway 1 and really enjoyed some spectacular scenery!!

I loved seeing all the colors of the water and rocks!!

The waves made loud crashing sounds as they came down on the rocks!!

I love the colors in this photo!!

Indescribably beautiful!!

Spectacular!!

I simply love these scenes!!