My teenage son starts 8th grade tomorrow. Needless to say he is not thrilled. Usually at the beginning of the school year thousands of children are asked to write an essay on what they did during their time off from school. To make him feel better I will do my version but with help from a few photographs.

The highlight if the summer was our visit to The Channel Islands National Park, a string of Islands 10 miles off the shore of Ventura, CA. You are able to camp overnight on the islands but I decided on just a long day trip. The hour boat ride left us n the shore of Santa Cruz Island in early morning. The boat would be back in the early evening. Hours and hours of hiking and exploring the island lay ahead. Landscapes, foxes, ravens, and countless insects passed before us.

At the end of the day just before returning back to the boat this landscape crossed my path:

The island in the distance is Anacapa which means in the Chumash language mirage. After witnessing the island pop into view and then disappear I understood why it was named as it was. The path lead to a place called Pirate’s Cove. I was half expecting to meet Jack Sparrow at the end of the walk.

Our main reason for going to California was to visit friends who moved to take teaching posts at UCLA. We all loved hiking and so instead of extensively touring L.A. proper we decided to see it from the many hills surrounding the area.

That so many natural wonders could be found so close to a place like L.A. was awe inspiring for this east coast city boy.