A Trip to Southern California and Channel Islands National Park

Susan and I took a trip down to Southern California with the intention of seeing the Ducks win the Rose Bowl. We know how that turned out. As soon as it became clear that the Ducks were not going to win we got the hell out of LA. Having heard of the Channel Islands we figured that they might be a good destination, so we drove to Ventura.

Ventura Harbor.

Brown Pelican.
Brown Pelicans glide across the water at sunset.
The Channel Islands National Park is an hour boat ride from Ventura Harbor. The boat ride is far from boring. We used a company called Island Packers Adventures and found everything about the trip great.

Dolphins riding in the wake of the boat. We also saw a group of whales, and more sea birds than I can remember. Once on Santa Rosa Island we hiked to Smugglers Cove. It is a 3.5 mile hike to the other side of the island.

At Smugglers Cove we sat down and had some lunch. I shot a few photos.
Unfortunately this trip was too short. I would have loved to spend more time on the islands, and probably will in the future.

The flight back to Seattle provided some nice views until we got to the Oregon border at which point 14,000ft of clouds obscured everything.

The Bay Bridge?

Mt. Shasta.