Oakland zoo - Sister Act

When Jr. and her cousin get together, they are in a world of their own and it is fun to watch them observe things, make up stories, interact in general..

So here is the Oakland Zoo, the way they saw it..

The little one has her own perspective of things. She was in white and white and looked like a mini astranaut exploring things her own way.

Will post the remaining animals and flowers tomorrow. Until then, ta ta..

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Oakland zoo - Revisited

After a break of two years, we visited the Oakland Zoo today. We had a really great time!

Here are the teaser photos, taken with my new love, the Digital Rebel!

of birds and...

animals, or kids trying to be animals..

I promise you, this post is not like a Jackie Chan movie trailer where the best action sequences are completely shown in the trailer and you go watch the same sequences with filler material in the movie. Brings back memories of watching First night, first show in Alankar theater a few decades ago! Boy, I am growing old..shoo shoo, you bad thoughts.. Now back to the topic! You will see some more nice pictures when I upload them tomorrow!

Home made food, great company, nice weather, cooperating kids, time well spent! All said and done, it was a great day!

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Kaakaas and Kuruvis..

Kaakaa is crow and Kuruvi is sparrow in Tamizh.

We did not see those, but the local flora and fauna of California and we went to some really scenic places to see them.

Mono Lake and Yosemite.

Travelling with small kids is highly over rated. Especially if not to Disneyland, Lego Land, Sea World etc. If Half dome were to wear a costume or the Tufa towers had a mascot with a DVD franchise, things would have been a lot better.

We learnt a valuable lesson over this weekend. Do not take kids to see nature, especially if it means

1. they sit in a carseat
2. we are driving in 95 degree heat with the AC on full blast
3. We travel for 4 hours, open the doors and say "ta da. Behold Mono Lake!"
4. and the kids go "you dragged me here to see these plants, animals, flies and this lake ?!?! You could have taken me to the local park in Cupertino!!"

So, if you are a parent out there, planning a trip to Mono Lake (which is definitely a star attraction in the top 10, for a nature lover, but is going to be on the bottom 10 list for your kids), go without your kids, if that is possible.

That said, the pictures did turn out nicely..

Finally, this post answers the question "What has physical fitness got to do with Photography ?". The answer is "Everything!! especially if you are trying to take pictures like the one below."

I am way out of shape. I had 10 seconds to run down from the tripod and make it to the group. It was probably 10 meters max including two leaps across wooden barricades. But NO! I could not make it on the first try.

The second lesson that came from this trip is that I should take better care of my health! (I was defending the position that I had misjudged 10 seconds and started towards the camera rather slowly, but the entire group told me that, it was not my problem).

The scenic shots, the panoramas, stitch photos will probably hit this blog tomorrow or day after.

Until then, ta ta..

Lake Cachuma

Lake Cachuma is around 6-8 miles from Solvang. A very short drive with two or three spots on the way.

First you pass an Ostrich farm on your right,



then you pass the Mission at Santa Ynes and after you make a right to go towards the lake you cross the Bradbury Dam View point.

The lake itself is just your run of the mill State Park Lake. But we got to see some blue Heron's fly back and forth from their nest. But I spent the time taking pictures of the local ducks.

Here is one.


Here is another one..


Yet another variety (although I am not sure if this is a duck!)


You get the PICTURE right ?

Note : It was a tragedy that my 4 year old Canon S30 could not zoom enough or had enough Mega Pixels to catch the Heron's which were just a few hundred feet away!! If only I had Digital EOS at hand...

I still love my S30 .. look at these shots..(you have to click on the panorama shot to see the larger version).


or this shot of Jr.


And here is Bradbury dam. The vista point entrance hyped up the place. It was scenic, but to the extent of the hype..


Here is the panaromic view from the Vista point..


There is a grill right at the Lake Marina..The most interesting thing (at the grill) was that the girl at the counter was downright flirting with me inspite of me having one kid on my shoulder and another one holding my hand. I was pondering the "Why?" for a full 30 minutes after I finished eating my lunch!

Now, that leaves only two more posts on this trip..

Mission at Santa Ynes
The stops on the way back (Morro Bay, Limekiln State park and sunset at Carmel)!

Scenic Route 1

This is part of a series of photoblogs on our recent trip along the California Coast..

The first part was Sisters at Play.

Route 1, is by far the most scenic highway I have driven on. The only thing that comes close is the Great Ocean Road Drive on the south Australian Coast (which we visited in 2004).

Just after Crossing Carmel, we came to Rocky Creek and Bixby Bridges.. They are truly spectacular. Would have got better shots of the bridge if we could make it down the mountainside.. but the wife was worried about safety, so we let that one pass..


The two bridges ..


The coast from Rocky creek..



The coast farther along in Big Sur..


The coast from a vista point along the Big Sur section..


It is always a pleasure to keep driving when the road keeps opening up and you dont see any car in sight.. just a windy highway that seems to lead straight into the ocean.. This photo was taken by San through the windshield..


Baby discovered what it means to jump into puddles at the Pfiffer Burns State park..


Watching the kids among the backdrop of the giant trees was a new experience. Somehow they seemed to brighten the hues from the colors of the falling leaves..


Jr. walking on a fallen log. She doesnt get to spend time in wooded areas as much as I did when I was growing up. We need to do these outdoor trips more often!


The amazing beauty of McWay falls where the creek goes straight into the ocean. Breathtaking!!


The view from the trailhead of McWay falls. The park bench was inviting, but there was a Poison Oak warning that scared me...


The sea gulls on the way to Pismo beach..


The view from "shitrock" as I call it.. the favorite vista point for the gulls..


Pismo beach! Next time, I am staying at the Best Western with the ocean view. You should see their lobby! They have a huge glass window overlooking the ocean.


The sunset, rather after the sunset.. Went to feed baby in the lobby for a minute and came out, only to find that the sun had just set! Well, better luck next time.


Next up will be Solvang in Pictures......