It’s been about a week since we got back from California and I’ve been meaning to post on the last part of our time there.

Thursday, July 24th, was my brother’s 39th birthday. We visited his grave at Westminster Memorial Park and released balloons while singing Happy Birthday. My parents have done this every year since his death, but it was my first time being there. It was a nice thing to do for him, though I had trouble singing. I miss him so much, every day.

That afternoon, my mom and I sat on the beach for a while, several blocks north of the Huntington Beach pier.  It was a bit windy and we watched two men doing something called “kitesurfing.” It’s an extreme sport involving (not surprisingly) kites and surfing.  It looked very difficult and dangerous.  But those guys seemed to be having no trouble at all.

On Friday, we drove up to Palos Verdes to visit my dad’s old boss from when he worked in Seal Beach in the ’70’s, Bill and his wife Maureen. We went to their house lots of times when I was growing up, though we hadn’t been there in many years.  It’s a very beautiful area on a peninsula overlooking the Pacific and the hills are literally “rolling.”  One of the roads we used is quite bumpy due to the constant shifting of the land.  At one point, years ago, I think Bill and Maureen and their neighbors feared their entire neighborhood would slide into the ocean.

After a nice lunch at Bill and Maureen’s, we visited Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, as seen above.  It’s basically a very fancy Victorian house with a light on top.  It stands on the tip of the peninsula marking the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor.  The inside is only viewable by tour, so we went on one.  It houses related artifacts and period furniture.  My mom thought the guide was a bit of a dweeb (didn’t know much in her opinion) but we got to look out of the tower and were able to view Angel’s Gate Lighthouse, which is at the end of a long breakwater in the harbor itself.  Apparently you CAN walk out to that one, but doing so risks arrest.

On Saturday my parents indulged me by devoting the day completely to visiting places I wanted to go to.  We drove down to Mission San Juan Capistrano, the “Jewel of the California Missions” and, I think, the most famous historical site in Orange County.  The grounds of the old mission were filled with lovely gardens.  Beautiful flowers.  I don’t know much about California’s history (I never went to school there) but the ruins of the old Church and the cemetery were interesting.  The famous swallows return to the Mission in March, so we didn’t see anything of them, beyond a few displays.  Oh well, some other time.

We decided it would be nicer to return to Huntington Beach via Pacific Coast Highway, instead of the freeway.  This was convenient because it took us right past one of the museums I wanted to visit, the Laguna Art Museum.  My parents didn’t care about going so they walked around Laguna Beach while I went to the museum.  It was small and compact, so I saw everything in a short amount of time.  The current special exhibition, In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor, was…strange and disturbing, although the imagery wasn’t all that shocking to me, considering that a lot of the music I listen to uses it.  I really came to the museum to see the works of the California Impressionists and they had some nice ones on display.  So I was satisfied.

The drive up PCH took us past the hospital where my siblings and I were born, Hoag Memorial in Newport Beach.   That was a little on the strange side.  My parents, of course, were constantly pointing out “new” stuff along the road, stuff that wasn’t there thirty years ago.

Sunday, July 27th, was our final full day in California.  It was also the day of the Huntington Beach High School alumni picnic, one of the main reasons for our trip.  Since I never went to anything but pre-school in H.B., I had no interest in the picnic whatsoever.  So I contented myself to walking around downtown.  I walked out on the pier again, caught a glimpse of the U.S. Open of Surfing.  I also walked down to the “Ultimate Challenge” statue, at the intersection of PCH and Huntington St.  It’s a bronze statue of a surfer catching a wave.  Nude.  My mom said that part made for a lot of controversy when it was unveiled in the 70’s.  Ultimately, even with lunch, I couldn’t waste enough time wandering, so I was forced to help man the t-shirt table at the picnic with my aunt.  It wasn’t all that bad, I guess.

It was a good trip.  I fear I’m starting to seriously consider moving back out there.  But not for a couple of years, I think…

We left Huntington Beach on Monday and drove out into the desert. First we visited my dad’s sister-in-law, Elsie, in Yucca Valley. She’s in her eighties, a bit frail but mentally as sharp as anyone her age could hope to be. We took her out to lunch. Then we headed over to Indio to see one of my dad’s closest friends from childhood, Lester, and his wife. We spent the night at their house. Geez, I’ve been reminded on this trip that older folks spend a lot of time talking about their ailments, their friends’ and family’s ailments, and all the people they know who’ve recently died. But I suppose we all get that way as we get older…

On the way back on Tuesday, we stopped at these old dinosaur statues near Cabazon (?) that my mom says have been there forever.  She said they were the landmark that let you know you were officially entering the desert.  They had a little gift shop and I was sickened and disgusted to find that it was full of creationist garbage.  I told my mom not to buy anything and went to wait outside.  I hope she took my advice.

Closer to LA, we stopped for lunch at a hamburger place in Anaheim Hills called Knowlwood. They claim to serve the world’s best hamburgers.  Apparently, we used to stop there on our way up to vacations in the mountains.  I don’t really remember it, but it’s fun to hear my parents talk about these things.

Today, Wednesday, we drove up to Long Beach to have lunch with some other friends of my parents, Art and Harlean.  Their family was often with us on those mountain vacations.  On the way back, we went to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.  I’ve been interested in visiting it for a long time, after seeing lots of pics online that people have taken of all the birds there.  We had a nice walk on the trails and saw some egrets (as evidenced here) and some terns.

Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday and we will visit him at the cemetery, to remember and celebrate his life.

Where is that damn California sun? Three mornings we’ve been here and it’s been overcast for all of them. Sure, the Sun came out eventually each day but I want to wake up to some Sun, dang it!

We visited my brother’s grave first thing after arriving in CA.  That was emotional for me.  I hadn’t been to see him in the four years since the funeral.  This was one of the main reasons I came on this trip. We also visited with my 90 year old grandmother.  She’s not doing so well and that’s very hard to deal with as well.

On our second day here, we visited one of my favorite Huntington Beach landmarks: the pier.  I took the surfer picture while standing on it.  There was a competition going on but this guy was on the opposite side of the pier from it.  So I guess he was just surfing for fun. We had lunch at the Ruby’s Diner at the end of the pier.  I had been wanting to go there for a while.  Checked off my list.

Today I took my dad to see Hellboy II while my mom spent more time with Grandma.  We’re going to drive out to Palm Springs tomorrow to see some friends and relatives.

Originally uploaded by etacar11

I had been wanting to check out this state park in Southern Maryland for a while. Rob and I drove down there one Sunday afternoon. The beach is a good two mile hike through the woods from the parking lot. Very pleasant, mostly level, and part of it is through marshland.

The beach seen here, which is on the Chesapeake Bay, is very small. In fact the area in the shot is designated off limits, because of erosion. Behind me was the area where people were hanging out. You are allowed to hunt for fossils on the beach and keep what you find. We didn’t do any digging ourselves, just waded in the water a bit.

Cove Point Lighthouse is visible from the shore when looking south.  Another place on my list…

Originally uploaded by etacar11

A lot of airports have places where people go to watch the planes. Washington National Airport has a park near one end of its runway called Gravelly Point.

We had a little MEETinDC gathering there to take pictures of the planes as they were coming in for a landing. And they were coming in low right over our heads. Very loudly.

It was an extremely hot and humid day. My friend Cat and I almost collapsed on the walk up the Mt. Vernon Trail from the National Airport Metro stop. But, thankfully, our MEETin buddies were set up in a shady spot.

Originally uploaded by etacar11

Yes, the weather held up for us. We had only three stops left on the second day and we finished easily.

The seventh stop of the challenge was Old Field Point Lighthouse. Apparently they used to bus people to this stop. This year we drove right to it. Through a quite lovely neighborhood that my mom went ga-ga over. She had decided that the Hamptons were too snobby, too remote, and too lacking in fast-food restaurants. Old Field, with its lovely yards and gardens and beautiful homes, I think she could take. Old Field Point was climbable, even for my parents, and had a nice view of Long Island Sound.

Huntington Harbor Lighthouse was the eighth stop and we actually reached it by boat. It rests on a caisson and has its own dock. So we were able to explore this lighthouse, unlike the other off-shore ones. We all brought our coats with us but the weather was still being mild and we hardly needed them. The people working on preserving the lighthouse had many interesting stories to tell about its history. There was a picture of someone (a keeper’s family member) with a cat at the lighthouse. I’ll bet that cat moved there under extreme duress.

The ninth and final stop of the challenge was Fire Island Lighthouse.  This lighthouse is part of Fire Island National Seashore and reachable from Robert Moses State Park.  I had actually been to the state park before to go to the beach but had realized you could visit the lighthouse from there.  Fire Island was the tallest of the lighthouses on the challenge, I think.  I climbed it, my parents sat it out.  It had already been a bit of a hike from the state park parking lot.  And the climb was a little on the tough side.  I took breaks on the landings and looking up it seemed like I would never reach the top.  But I did, finally, and the view was tremendous.

The rain started as we left the parking lot for our trip home.  Perfect timing!  The drive home wasn’t much fun, but all-in-all, it was a fun trip.  Now my mom is excited to try the Maryland and New Jersey challenges.  We’ll see!

My parents and I are doing the Long Island Lighthouse Challenge this weekend. The drive up from Maryland was the worst. First, it rained ALL DAY. And the timing made us hit NYC at rush hour. NYC + Friday + rush hour + rain = a very horrific time. Plus my mom’s allergies were acting up. I felt so bad for her. We finally made it to our hotel near MacArthur Airport several hours after we expected to. And we got lost trying to find it. GPS isn’t always your friend!

But today made up for it, for the most part. Sunny and mostly clear all day. Lovely. Our first stop on the Challenge was the farthest out, Montauk Point Lighthouse. A bit pricey, you have to pay to park, plus to get into the lighthouse. But the view was nice and it was not a bad climb to the top.

The second stop was Cedar Island Lighthouse. It was out on a long, thin strip of sand that would have taken a long time to walk out on. So we just viewed it from a far. Maybe some other time, because it looked like a great walk.

Two ferries got us to the third stop, East End Seaport Museum in Greenport, NY. Ok, not a lighthouse but it’s part of the challenge. They have a lot of nice lighthouse memorabilia.

The fourth stop was Long Beach Bar Lighthouse, also viewed from afar. There was a man from the East End museum at the viewing spot who gave us a nice little history of the lighthouse. Apparently you used to be able to walk to it via a sand bar, but due to various reasons (including rising sea levels) they no longer connect. It’s no longer even that safe to visit it by boat. They make people get their own insurance if they want to do that…

The fifth stop was two lighthouses-in-one. Plum Island and Orient Point Lighthouses, both off-shore, were viewed from Orient Point County Park, right near a very cool-looking ferry that goes to New London, Conn. We had a 15 minute walk to a little beach to see the lighthouses. My parents didn’t make it all the way to the end of the path, but I went most of the way.

Our sixth and last top of the day was Horton Point Lighthouse. This one was NOT off-shore and since it isn’t a tall one, it was an easy climb. One of the guides said that the lighthouse is often included in winery bus tours. They make sure the tours come to the lighthouse BEFORE the wineries. Yeah, last thing you need is a bunch of drunks climbing up 27 steep spiral steps!

I got a U.S. Lighthouse Society passport at Montauk, and got it stamped at each stop. They also gave us souvenir magnets at each stop. Very nice. We have three more lighthouses we are going to try to see tomorrow before we head home. I just hope the weather holds up…

Originally uploaded by etacar11

A dairy farm in Middletown, Maryland, near my family’s house, was having a festival last weekend. They called it the Cow Caper. I was amazed at how many people were there, but coverage of the festival in the Washington Post must have been a big part of it.

The highlights were seeing cows getting milked (weird machines actually suck it out of them), a horse-and-buggy ride, sampling the Creamery’s ice cream, and seeing calves like this. Very cute.

Originally uploaded by etacar11

My friend Rob took me on a whirlwind tour of all the places he’s lived. This meant visits to York, Reading, and Mechanicsburg, PA. Not exactly places with great sightseeing, but he had told me about the pagoda on the mountain overlooking Reading. So we checked it out.

The view of the city was nice, though it was an overcast day. And it was cold and windy. And there were loud, annoying kids running around. If I ever get back to Reading and the weather is nicer, I will have to check it out again.

The Pagoda sits on Mount Penn, and the road leading up to it has a series of sharp turns. Early automobiles were tested there by Charles Duryea.  We just had to deal with the aforementioned annoying kids, who hogged the road with their bikes on the way back down.

Originally uploaded by etacar11

Montgomery County does have some lovely historical sites. For a long time I had wanted to see the Clara Barton National Historic Site. My friend Rob wanted to go to Glen Echo Park and the C&O Canal Towpath near there. So this made for a nice little daytrip.

You can only see the inside of the house while on the NP Ranger-led tour. It was just us and a mother and daughter, so that was nice.

Barton lived in the house for the last 15 years of her life and it also served as the headquarters of the American Red Cross (she was its founder) at the time. The central hallway of the house was lined with closets filled with medical supplies ready to be sent to disaster areas/war zones.