The Exploration Continues (Page Two)...
I am still watching you
Brian
Did You Know? - What did they race through the interior in the 50's? Antique racing cars and motor cycles
It starts here again!
We had to stop and get the Moon Rocks
How quiet and peaceful!
And a few rocks... The small white marble rocks were the "Moon Rocks"
All quite today!
Beach with palm trees... Like a desert island!
Making great discoveries!
Back to the car...
Time To Visit The Birds... The Feathered Ones!
We told all these guys that Brian ate a buffalo!
A magnificent, albeit injured, creature
That would make n amazing swooping sound
We stayed where it was safe
The Bald Eagle was bashful
Did You Know? - The bald eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species, up to 4 m (13 ft.) deep, 2.5 m (8.2 ft.) wide, and 1 metric ton (1.1 short tons) in weight. Sexual maturity is attained at the age of four to five years.
Bald eagles are not actually bald; the name derives from an older meaning of "white headed". The adult is mainly brown with a white head and tail. The sexes are identical in plumage, but females are about 25 percent larger than males. The beak is large and hooked. The plumage of the immature is brown.
The bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States of America. The bald eagle appears on its Seal. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the continental United States. Populations recovered and the species was removed from the U.S. federal government's list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States on June 28, 2007.
The cages are located next to the research ranch so the science
team can keep and an eye on them
We are ready to go...
Return To Civilization
The cruise ship is departing so the town will be "empty"
The New Descanso dining area is beautiful
Just being completed
Off she goes to Mexico!
Our destination in May
Did You Know? - The Catalina Casino is located in Avalon on Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles in California. It is the most visible landmark in Avalon Bay, and when approaching it from the mainland.
The large building contains a movie theatre, ballroom, and island art and history museum. The Catalina Casino gets its name from the Italian language term casino, meaning a "gathering place." There is no gambling at the facility.
Beautiful after eighty years
Did You Know? - Catalina Casino was built on a site formerly known as Sugarloaf Point. The site was graded for the planned construction of the Hotel St. Catherine. However, it was eventually built in Descanso Canyon instead.
When chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. bought the controlling stake in Catalina Island in 1919, he used this cleared site to build a dance hall he named Sugarloaf Casino.
It served as a ballroom and Avalon's first high school, until it became too small for Avalon's growing population.
In 1928, the Sugarloaf was razed to make room for a newer casino building. Sugarloaf Rock was further blasted away to enhance the Casino's ocean view.
On May 29, 1929, the new Catalina Casino was completed under the direction of Wrigley and David M. Renton, at a cost of 2 million dollars. Its design, by Sumner Spaulding and Walter Weber, is in the Art Deco and Mediterranean Revival styles.
It was the first movie theatre to be designed specifically for films with sound ("talkies").
Across the bay... Our destination today!
Still in the 70's... A super day!
The Tuna Club
The Yacht Club
The Bluewater Grille
Back at 5:00 sharp... A four hour tour is complete
Some of the pictures in the store windows are quite informative
A Drinkie And Dinner Perhaps?
Did You Know? - When was the golf course built? In the 30's and is auguably the oldest course west of the Mississippi. The course went back to 9 during WW2 and may soon be 18 again.
Time for a drinkie before dinner
Excellent drinks and time to relax
Joe's is gone and we know not what is going in instead!
Time For Dinner At Maggie's Place
A new Mexican restaurant (owned by the wife of Steve's Steakhouse)
Street Taco's and a beer is all we could manage... And Jalapeno Poppers
"Do you have buffalo wings??
"
"Delicious!"
Paul runs to the boat to get our seats reserved
The sunset is coming
Our chariot has arrived
We are in line and will get a great seat!
SPLASH... The Sun hits the water on the other side of the mountain
Check the moon at the top of the picture
Great reflections
Goodbye Catalina
City lights are coming on
Interesting shot
Darkness has arrived
The casino is alive and well
Just one more little drink for the way home
Brian studies the Moon Rocks
Did You Know? - How many people visited Avalon in 1930 and what were the two steamships? 750,000, the SS Catalina and SS Avalon
