Hike to the Top

I came across this trail while looking for another last Sunday. I went looking for the Grotto Trail and instead found Backbone Trail which took me up to the highest peak in the Santa Monica Moutains (3111 ft.). In the distance you can see part of the Channel Islands amongst the clouds there. It was such a beautiful day and well worth the 1.5 hours almost straight uphill on a really rocky & muddy trail and only 45 minutes downhill since I was hiking/running :-). It was a 3.5 mile loop.

Geo Tidbits

So I made it through 2 interviews and my 3rd one is next week. I got a new boss today and its been quiet the past two days here making work nice:-). Now I'm thinking..hmm what could I do with working for a non-profit and combine it with my education in geog do? Are there any non-profit geog organizations?...Well, it turns out there are! Way I look at it is if I can't get a job in my field right away then perhaps I can do 'other stuff' in geog and then combine it with the non-profit work experience to eventually do some work for a non-profit GEOGRAPHY organization or here :-)! Hey you have to keep makin it work for you or it's just not worth it.

The above was taken at the beach in Goleta, CA.

Lol...Where in the world is MJ??

So finally I am finishing up a class that was "required" but not necessarily one of my favorites. I honestly have to say I think I learned more in the last week from it through the extra time then I did the whole quarter it was offered when I first strarted it. It's all about how to use the tools to analyze, download, and give back to someone what you learned about those 'diamonds in the sky' that DMB sings about in his song.

Isn't it pretty? :-P (No I didn't make it)

Yay I will be done with Remote Sensing today (unless someone wants me to use it in a future job).

Monarchs Winter Vacation

I came across a great place to go for an easy hike in Goleta/Santa Barbara...this butterfly preserve. I didn't know they had such a thing. Too bad it was overcast and cool. Well I liked that it was but definitely not the day to go hunting for butterflies. It was overcast in Simi but I thought oh what the heck, the weather is almost always different along the coast. Wrong :-/. The website said 'best time to go was mid-day and when it's sunny out'..well ummmm ok I go the mid-day part right. I didn't see any butterflies though since it was overcast. I did see this sign though. Guess that just means I have to go back:-).

Dendrinization

Dendritic patterns have always held a special interest for me long before I probably really knew what it meant. You see it in lightening in the sky especially in the South where sheets of it light up the sky compared to the bolts that are more common in the North. You see it in river drainage structures, tree roots & branches, human lungs, and even here in this piece of wood(?) or dried plant that has washed up on shore.

Mags would have probably collected it to sneak into the car when I wasn't looking. Lol ...she's my great collector...always sneaking loot in for later. (Don't even get me started on the tennis ball collection she had before we moved 2 years ago..OMG:-).

Don't you think it looks very "zen" ? This is somewhere along the shoreline at ABB in SB.

Puddle Jumping for New Year's

Every year for the holidays is different (or it should be) and this year on New Year's Day I decided to go exploring in SB because I could lol and because I wanted out of the house away from the drama with my landlords.

I went to a great Jewish whole foods market and got the fixin's for a picnic lunch and then went in search of a place to eat. On the way I passed this beach turnoff and after lunch decided to go check it out. Wow, great place! Turned out to be great weather too and you can see the Channel Islands from here (Arroyo Burro).

Too bad I didn't have my Mags with me she would have loved it!