California (September 2007)

Written by ceddammit

I’ll be keeping today’s episode of ThrowBack Thursday short, partly because I am recuperating from elective eyeball surgery, and partly because I still have a lot to iron out in regard to my next trip (which is only 11 days away).

It was September 2007. I was sent on a week-long work trip to California. This trip involved stops at several facilities, starting in Pasadena and ending in Emeryville (basically, from Los Angeles to San Francisco). I was given plenty of travel time between the work stops, so I was able to enjoy the drive up the coast. Most importantly, this was my first trip with a digital camera. This was the camera you have seen me refer to as the Old Cheap-n-Crappy(TM) camera. Despite the new camera and a good amount of time, I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures…and a lot of those that I took were just me experimenting with a digital camera and aren’t worth sharing. So, representing the city of Pasadena, I present these TWO photographs:

This is Devil’s Gate Dam. The concrete over head is not part of the dam; it’s a freeway.
Mountains of southern California, as seen from a Pasadena hotel

After Pasadena, I spent the better part of a day driving up the coast to the city of Santa Maria. Here’s some of what I saw at the various beaches along the way:

Trying to freeze-frame a crashing wave.
Another crashin’ wave
Very dry country just across the road from one of the beaches
Dry eroded land near the shore
Buying bread from a man in Brussels…
…He was six-foot-four, and full of mussels.
San Buenaventura Beach
A surfier view of San Buenaventura Beach
I was surprised to learn this little guy owns an oil company.
The mellifluously named SMAT. I assume this stands for Santa Maria Area Transit. But…SMAT!

Following some quick work outside Santa Maria the next day, I drove up the coast the rest of the way to the San Francisco Bay. Enjoy a little of what I enjoyed:

I named this file “anemones” but that may be way off base.
Big Sur coastline
Big Sur coastline
Washed-up jellyfish
Morrow Rock and nearby power plant

All right, that’s it. Last stop. Everybody off!

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