On my way out of the house, I saw a sight that I had seen once before that just cracks me up. The neighbor's dog loves to lay on the garage floor and peek out of the slightly-open garage door. So of course, I had to take a photo. The first one is what you see just standing there, and the next one is closer up.
Once in Palos Verdes, I tried to take a different route than the one I had taken before. I drove by this cove called Lunada Bay. It was really pretty.
Then I drove to the whale-watching station. Inside the building, they had a nice little museum talking about the geology of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the people who once lived there, and of course, the oceanic wildlife off of its coast. This is a grey whale model they had on the wall. You could open up little compartments to see what was underneath the skin of the whale.
Then I went outside to see if I could see any whales, but unfortunately, did not see any. So I took another picture of the gorgeous lighthouse.
As I was driving, I saw something that I have seen a couple times now in LA -- sky writing! You never see that back home. Another type of advertising I often see out here along the beach is banners pulled by airplanes. This ad is for a show on the ABC Family channel called Kyle XY.
I arrived at the Trump National Golf Club hoping to see some Apprentice action or a stray hairpiece, but no such luck. But I did see some gorgeous views and some incredible homes!
I'm curious to know how much these houses cost! They were huge and right across from the entrance to the golf course.
This shot is overlooking the driving range, out to the ocean.
This view is from the other direction, where you can see the course and the ocean beyond. The green against the bright blue was quite striking.
When I was at the whale-watching station, I looked at some brochures and they reminded me that Catalina Island is just off the coast below Palos Verdes. I thought that even if I couldn't go out to the island that day (it was kind of late in the afternoon by then), I could at least drive down to where the boat launched from and see if they had any information I could get. As I left Palos Verdes, I immediately entered a much less well-off neighborhood. I guess all the workers from the shipping industry and nearby port live there. Anyway, I kept driving towards the spot on the map where it indicated the Catalina boat launched from, but I must say, the map was not that detailed where it counted. So I ended up mistakenly going over this bridge into the port area. Normally I am not nervous in these cases and know I can just turn around and find my way back, but when I started seeing signs for "Federal Correctional Institution" and "Berths 508-523" I thought I'd better turn around pretty quickly and get back across the bridge. It was kind of interesting though because the view was basically taken up with those big storage bins as far as the eye could see. I've never been in a big port like that before.
Anyway, I turned around at the first opportunity and went back over the bridge (this photo is from the "wrong side" of the bridge as I went back.)
So I finally made it safe and sound to the Catalina launch spot and took some photos. This was some Navy ship that was docked there. Can't remember the name. U.S.S. something-or-other.
The fateful bridge!
Here is a video of one of those storage bins being lifted:
As I was walking around, I saw this sign and it cracked me up. I think it was mostly a crime-free zone because there was nobody there, but I took a photo to reassure Mom and Dad that I was in a crime-free zone walking down by the docks by myself. ;-) But seriously, there was really nothing to worry about, although I don't think I would want to be there at night, despite the sign.
I wish I had had a little more time because the harbor seemed to have a lot to do down there, like museums and stuff. But I went into the station for Catalina Island and picked up a bunch of information. Who knows -- I might go there another weekend. That would be a fun trip!
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