Malibu Creek Lagoon

On monday we went for a lovely walk along the beach at Malibu pier. There were lots and lots of birds on the ocean side as well as in the lagoon.

The water in the lagoon was a little low but it was beautiful nevertheless. I love watching the pelicans and cormorants land and take-off. They have to expand quite a lot of energy to get airborne. The snowy egrets are adorable with their yellow feet and fluffy white feathers. You can sometimes get quite close to them just walking along the beach and get a decent picture, unlike with the other birds that keep their distance.  (I don’t have a long zoom lens)

The following picture is not that great, but the egret is. It’s a great white egret among the snowy egrets.

On the way back we had to cross Malibu Creek again where it flows into the ocean. The water was very cold!

It was difficult to estimate how deep the water was, and on the way in we were hesitating before going in. Some other people joined us and urged us to try it first, even though they were the ones wearing shorts and we were wearing jeans! In the end I went in first, with rolled up jeans,  and the water only came up to about my knees, so we kept everything dry.

San Clemente State Park

This past Saturday and Sunday we went for our annual family camping trip to San Clemente State Park. Several cousins + family get together for a big free-for-all on the beach, a potluck dinner in the evening, and a nice campfire.

The weather cooperates  surprisingly often. This year the week-end was sandwiched between rainy days,  and we didn’t get wet, except for a cold shower down my back when the wind got under an awning.

The campground is beautifully situated on the bluffs. The cliffs are nicely sculpted and make a beautiful background for the beach. From the campground a paved path takes you to the beach. Halfway down there’s a bench, and some people never get farther than that, the view is so gorgeous.

The train tracks are right along the beach here and Amtrak trains come by every once in a while. People just walk along or over the tracks and it’s allowed, or at least nobody tells you not to. This always seems amazing to me. Growing up in Holland I’m used to Dutch railways which are extremely dangerous with frequent, high speed trains. I would never dream of walking on the track there, or even crossing it at any other point than an official crossing.  I suppose because of that one of my guilty pleasures is pausing on the railroad tracks to take a picture. So call me crazy.