John & Anne Wiley

2015/09/22

Baby Love

Took my baby to Big Sur. Well, flew her to San Luis Obispo then drove Big Sur in a rental car to a fancy hotel in Monterey. Along the way we stopped at some favorite spots and I took her on a surprise detour to Asilomar Beach where she danced a sunset delight. The next day driving back to SLO she kindly posed for this.

0704 Big Sur Baby

0704 Big Sur Baby

Even though we’ve driven and flown this coast so many times, we’re already talking about going back. This time the focus was on celebration more than exploration.

2015/09/19

Coast Colors

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 07:46

Sometimes the colors along our coast are just breathtaking, like the blue in this wave fan shape around Rincon dotted with surfers.

0372 Rincon Fan

0372 Rincon Fan

Other times we see very different colors, like the Andree Clark Bird Refuge where drought has turned the water toward some strange palette. To me there are notes of pink, purple, salmon and others. When we drove by it on that same day there were birds diving for fish. Maybe out of habit?

0395 Unknown Colors

0395 Unknown Colors

2015/09/17

Silent Roar

Old airports are fascinating to me, because they evoke the presence of the past. SBA has a spiffy new airline terminal and many recent upgrades, yet here and there are remnants of the past. Like these two hangars left over from WWII when top gun pilots prepared to fight with the Corsair, one of our best aircraft of that conflict. Looking at these derelict hangars you can almost smell oily exhaust, and in the silence hear the distant echo of a giant radial engine’s defiant roar.

9980 Fading Memories

DSC_9980-b29980 Fading Memories

2015/09/16

Art Appreciation

Flying over the Sunday arts & crafts walk in our town I snapped at maximum zoom just to see how it might come out. When I opened the photo at full resolution to check the clarity and looked at the center this popped out.

8546 Art For The Birds

8546 Art For The Birds

These colorful giant murals look spectacular to me from this perspective, arrayed as if for the benefit of birds and other aviators, nestled beneath towering palms with intricate shadows. The quality of light brings such magic! As if rekindling memory from a dream.

2015/09/03

Special Day

In recent years every day has been charmed. Today somehow we dialed the enchantment up a notch. This afternoon we flew to the sweet little community around Oceano Airport (aka L52).

8842 L52 Community

8842 L52 Community

This is the sweetest little town! Once we flew there just to pick up a video at that branch of our regional library (we turned it in here at our branch). We did very much want to watch it (whatever it was), but mostly it was an excuse to fly there. As you can see, we can walk from where we park Tripp by the white square building near top-center, left across the bridge over the lovely slough where migrating birds hang out, and in another block we’re on the beach at the bottom-left. This is where people can drive their vast assortment of RVs, ATVs, dirt bikes, bicycles and assorted other vehicles right on the beach and up into the large sand dunes. Straight up off the top of the pic a block is Old Juan’s Cantina.

155523 Old Juan

155523 Old Juan

That gray beard is a reminder that I’m an old Juan, but what we love about this place is their delicious $105 mini-tostadas.

160852 Mini Tostada

160852 Mini Tostada

That’s one in front of Anne in this fuzzy pic. As you can see by the fine crystal water glass, it’s a humble place. As you’ve probably also guessed, these tasty dishes are small $5 treats (plus $100 to fly there). The library’s free, but these meals are an even bigger draw. Another is the sweet shop down by the beach and a couple of other eateries, but even more fun is walking around and taking in things like this that caught Anne’s fancy.

163041 Mini Dune Colors

163041 Mini Dune Colors

There’s sand just beneath the surface everywhere, accented here by the colors and shapes of this ice plant. Back in the air I spotted somewhat similar colors in this pond, apparently polluted from back in the old field days and now fenced off with warning signs.

8766 Christmas Color Pond

8766 Christmas Color Pond

As we approached Vandenberg Air Force Base and turned to leave the coast this jagged point with sea caves captivated us yet again with a garnish of puffy low clouds.

8873 Air, Sand, Rock, Water

8873 Air, Sand, Rock, Water

After myriad other enchantments we joined the coast again at Gaviota where gathering mist in the distance softened our turn along the shore toward home.

8891 Gaviota Into Mist

8891 Gaviota Into Mist

As we rolled into the driveway of our modest home, these “eyelashes” in the clouds provided yet another fleeting delight.

8944 Eyelash Clouds

8944 Eyelash Clouds

To finish the day and greet the night, I made a couple of small margaritas and we went up onto the roof to sit and welcome the fading of colors into shapes in the shades of darkness with mysterious sounds and twinkling lights of the lives around us. May every day be made more special by an Angel near you.

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