Greetings from Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo taken on Wednesday, January 9, 2008.
I spent the first week of the new year mostly indoors. I could blame my self-seclusion on the series of rainstorms that passed through but I claim post-holiday recovery as the real reason. The threat of cabin fever was diverted by a dry and warming trend in the weather. On Wednesday afternoon I headed to the beach where I captured a shot of a spectacular setting sun that became the bonus photo of the week. The accompanying message encouraged you to respond with your own thoughts but I have yet to receive a single email reply. I will naively believe that I wrote an incredibly thorough description that left nothing else for anyone to add.
The beach trip was so great that I went back the very next afternoon hoping that lightning would strike twice. Instead the weather was even better. Yet in reviewing the photos, my favorites were from the first of the two days. I also went back to the Great Park of Irvine and took a literal lift up on the previously mentioned and still free Great Balloon Ride. The experience itself was indeed great but the view was obscured by marine haze. I’ll have to take the ride again another day. Last week still have more adventures.
January tends to be light on social events as people recover from the holidays. But the year has gotten to a rousing start and I went from totally reclusive to completely social. On Friday night I attended a volleyball match at my alma mater UC Irvine where the men’s team are the 2007 national college champions. They won of course and afterwards I went to Laguna Beach for a friend’s birthday at Hush restaurant. Then I had a housewarming in Aliso Viejo and a “post-holiday holiday party” in Orange both falling on Saturday night. I managed to attend both before heading to West Covina to spend Sunday with my parents. Are you exhausted yet?
With uncommonly clear skies in West Covina, I drove up to the Pacific Palms Hotel & Resort atop a hill in the aptly named neighboring area of Puente Hills. This vantage point boasts breathtaking vistas of the San Gabriel Valley’s eastern edge. Forming the northeastern border, the Sierra Nevada mountain range was a mix of white and brown peaks. I took dozens of pictures but they will have to be bonus photos for another time.
Instead here is another beach shot. Normally the pictured rock formation is completely submerged but an extremely low tide brought it almost entirely above water. Perch pelicans on the rocks, toss in a few more feathered friends in flight, add anchored boats to the background and you have the makings of another perfect picture - if I must say so myself, since no one else is [cue ego stroking].
Angelo
Photo taken on Wednesday, January 9, 2008.
I spent the first week of the new year mostly indoors. I could blame my self-seclusion on the series of rainstorms that passed through but I claim post-holiday recovery as the real reason. The threat of cabin fever was diverted by a dry and warming trend in the weather. On Wednesday afternoon I headed to the beach where I captured a shot of a spectacular setting sun that became the bonus photo of the week. The accompanying message encouraged you to respond with your own thoughts but I have yet to receive a single email reply. I will naively believe that I wrote an incredibly thorough description that left nothing else for anyone to add.
The beach trip was so great that I went back the very next afternoon hoping that lightning would strike twice. Instead the weather was even better. Yet in reviewing the photos, my favorites were from the first of the two days. I also went back to the Great Park of Irvine and took a literal lift up on the previously mentioned and still free Great Balloon Ride. The experience itself was indeed great but the view was obscured by marine haze. I’ll have to take the ride again another day. Last week still have more adventures.
January tends to be light on social events as people recover from the holidays. But the year has gotten to a rousing start and I went from totally reclusive to completely social. On Friday night I attended a volleyball match at my alma mater UC Irvine where the men’s team are the 2007 national college champions. They won of course and afterwards I went to Laguna Beach for a friend’s birthday at Hush restaurant. Then I had a housewarming in Aliso Viejo and a “post-holiday holiday party” in Orange both falling on Saturday night. I managed to attend both before heading to West Covina to spend Sunday with my parents. Are you exhausted yet?
With uncommonly clear skies in West Covina, I drove up to the Pacific Palms Hotel & Resort atop a hill in the aptly named neighboring area of Puente Hills. This vantage point boasts breathtaking vistas of the San Gabriel Valley’s eastern edge. Forming the northeastern border, the Sierra Nevada mountain range was a mix of white and brown peaks. I took dozens of pictures but they will have to be bonus photos for another time.
Instead here is another beach shot. Normally the pictured rock formation is completely submerged but an extremely low tide brought it almost entirely above water. Perch pelicans on the rocks, toss in a few more feathered friends in flight, add anchored boats to the background and you have the makings of another perfect picture - if I must say so myself, since no one else is [cue ego stroking].
Angelo
