Catalina: Casino

Trip Summary:

• B, C and I drove down to San Pedro this time (as opposed to using the Queen Mary port again), arriving 5 minutes before our expected departure time. We were able to call in the tickets the morning of, but didn't get our preferred arrival and departure times. It didn't matter though; our timing ended up being perfect.
• On the boat ride over to Catalina, we met X who was traveling by herself and who decided to join us for the next 9 hours.
• After getting lost in the hills, we had a long, hot lunch at an okay Italian place right on the beach.
• We didn't realize how time-sensitive everything on the island was, and found out that we had missed nearly all available tour times. After speaking with a Chambers of Commerce rep, we managed to find a cheaper tour of the interior of the island that included "free" champagne. Our 2.5-hour itinerary included passing by Escondido, the airport, an aviary, a stable, and scenic views.
• When we got back to Avalon, we each had ice cream and headed toward one of the beaches pointed out by our tour guide. 
• Since there were no more available tours of the Casino, we instead asked permission to enter and take pictures and rest.
• Afterward, we resumed our trek to the beach and somehow stumbled upon a family of deer that were very friendly to humans and who (I think) expected us to feed them. 
• Before heading to dinner, we explored the little shops/streets of Avalon.
• B, C, X, and I took the last boat ride back to San Pedro thus ending our adventure.

Catalina: Petting a Donkey

Continuing with yesterday's theme, I'm posting another animal shot: a donkey that walked up to us. We didn't have any food (which I think it was expecting), but we were able to pet it anyway. There was a horse in the stall next door that we also petted, but that was a little more demanding of snacks and soon got bored with us. I have no idea if we were trespassing on someone's property or what, but it was a memorable experience nonetheless.

Catalina: Close Up of a Deer

Oh, boy! I'm definitely backlogged. I'll do my best to catch up now that summer is "officially" over. One of these posts will be a Catalina trip summary. For now, here's a cute deer that was curious as to what my lens was. What was funny was that I actually thought the deer was much further away than it actually was. It wasn't until all my friends started yelling at me to back up that I realized my camera should have a warning that "objects may be closer than they appear." haha. 

LA (Santa Paula): Hot Air Balloons!

I just realized I should probably start posting hot air balloon photos since that's what the festival centered around. lol. I shot this as the sun was beginning to set and I was playing around with my settings and testing how good the ISO was on my camera. I was pretty lazy that day and pretty much stayed parked where my picnic blanket was.

LA (Santa Paula): Lemons

I saw a "lemon tree" constructed of real lemons hanging from chicken wire at the Citrus Class Hot Air Balloon Festival. I couldn't fit the whole tree in a shot, so I shot a close up.

LA (Santa Paula): Citrus Classic Hot Air Balloon Festival (Car Show)

I attended the Citrus Class Hot Air Balloon Festival over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised to see that a car show/contest was also taking place on the grounds. Here's a shot of one of my favorites. I'm a little swamped right now, so I'll post more of the festival throughout the week.

LA: US Open of Surfing 2013 (Crowd Shots)

So, it's been a while folks, primarily because my camera has been out of commission for a while and I've been doing unexpected random trips these past few weeks. Consequently, I've had to take shots with my trusty Samsung Galaxy S4 when I attended the US Open of Surfing this year. I was too far to zoom in and take shots of the surfers themselves, so I hope you enjoy these location/crowd shots. :)