On the Sunday before Memorial Day we drove the 300-mile round trip to Joshua Tree National Park for a day out. We walked a couple of short nature trails, Ethan climbed some boulders, and we enjoyed the high desert flora and fauna.

070526 Palos Verdes Walk

Late this afternoon we decided on another walk around Palos Verdes. This time we started at Flat Rock Point and went a little farther south. On the way, we found some strange things.

The Cock & Bull pub was a good place to watch Chelsea triumph in the FA Cup final. The crowd of Man U and Chelsea fans was drinking warm beer and enjoying the game on big screens. What's the surprise? It was 7 AM in Santa Monica, California; not 3 PM in Surrey.

070512 Malaga Cove Tide Pools

We got out this afternoon and poked around in the tide pools at Malaga Cove on Palos Verdes. Our most exotic sightings were a young octopus and a pod of porpoises.

Last night when we were out on Hermosa pier, someone had just landed this leapoard shark. Ethan was fascinated. Karen and I felt bad for the fish. This pic is from my phone (Treo 750) which takes pretty poor pictures, even in good light.

 It's still novel and exciting to go down to the beach on a Saturday. Ethan and I actually went out and fought with the surf for a while, before retiring to the beach.