Will You Stop For This?

Field of White Oxeye Daisy, Seward Highway, Alaska

 Field of White Oxeye Daisy, Seward Highway, Alaska

Field of White Oxeye Daisy, Seward Highway, Alaska

Leaving Seward to Portage Lake for a hike at Byron Glacier, we saw these field of oxeye daisy on Seward Highway. Of course, as soon as we saw a legal parking, we pulled over to enjoy this roadside beauty. We got busy photographing the wildflowers, and soon, we saw some more cars stopping to also enjoy these field of wildflowers, taking in this breathtaking beauty. However, in Alaska, usually, people stop for wildlife, so, there were two who asked me, "what are you taking pictures of?" And I told them, "these wildflowers and the landscape!" One of them said, "duh, we stopped coz we think you saw wildlife!" and I replied, smiling, "this is our wildlife". How about you, if you see this on the road and there is a a legal view point parking, would you stop driving for this? 

We did!

San Onofre State Beach and Campground

These are pictures I took last Saturday on our way home from Los Angeles. San Onofre State Beach is in the Northernmost of San Diego County and some parts borders the Southernmost of Orange County. It is one of beaches I know in San Diego County where you can have an ocean front camping on top of the bluffs. Some hiking trails from the top of the bluffs go down to the ocean. However, the campsites is open only from May to September. You can visit the park's site, San Onofre State Beach, for more details.

Dogs Wanna Have Fun!!

This Dog (Ricochet) Can Surf, Del Mar Dog Beach, San Diego County, California

Healthy dogs for a happy dog life :) Last Sunday, September 25, 2011, we were able to witness the nation's largest dog surfing competition at the city of Del Mar, San Diego County, California! It was really a fun event, and if not for my work assignments, I would love to have stayed longer to the end of the competition so that I will be able to see the winners.

Ricochet Can Maneuver a Turn on the Surfboard! ( winner in the large dog category, and 2nd over-all)

But despite not having finished watching the competition, we sure had a very enjoyable day! This is an event that I know I will not get tired of watching! Though we live in San Diego, but this is the first time we witnessed this event, but definitely not the last time.

What was very joyful was seeing these pets having fun, running around, showing their responsibility as they enjoy the beach interacting with other dogs almost freely. Aside from surfing, dogs were having a time of their lives swimming for the tennis balls or whatever floaters thrown for them to catch, dogs having tug-of-war with frisbee, among others.

The event raises fund for the orphaned animals and promotes responsible pet ownership.

Pets are such joys to have, they reduce our day to day stress and is even found to be therapeutic in most aspects. But we have to take care of their well being too. Pets that are not well taken care of would hardly show friendly agility because they are not used to friendly atmosphere.

Just like us, when pets don't feel healthy, it is hard for them to enjoy life moving around. Feeding our pets the right way, and having their health constantly checked is important as it is for us. If we are new to a place, sometimes we do not know which veterinarian to go to, but we can always go to trusted and reliable reviews in finding a veterinarian for our pets. In Austin for example, Angie's List has trusted reviews on Austin Veterinarians. Pets need to have a proper diet, grooming, a place to sleep, proper training, social interaction and of course, a good veterinarian to help us make them on top of their health in order for them to enjoy pet's life as happy as they can be. Look at all those pets above, are they not awesome?

Gee, they look a lot better than me surfing the waves!!

Faces Part 3: My Version

Red Panda

I have shared a while back two posts, Faces and Faces Part 2. However, all those pictures I shared were taken by my hubby who is always excited to shoot faces of animals. His influence taught me to be patient on animals too :) Photographing animals is not always the easiest since we have no control over their movements and lighting. If they are in the dim shade, we can cannot ask them to be out to get lit a bit. If they are too far, we can not ask them to move closer. To capture their interesting faces, oftentimes, we have to patiently watch them as they transition from one activity to the next, or from one emotion to another. Patience out of the doors is not something I have since I am easily distractible especially when I see a lot of flowers and other subjects to shoot. Anyway, here is my version of faces.

Happy Red Panda ("hello, am glad you came to visit me today" )

Giant Panda ( just shoot you girl, I am busy eating and will continue eating )

Giraffe ("Hi)

Lion - "I am the King! I can sleep all day if I want to" :)

Baby tigers - "hello, we are still curious about our world, are you one of us?"

Baby and Mom Tiger - (baby: "mom"? )

Mom Tiger - (mom:"what? today i'll teach you to growl, growl at them!" )

Pensive Orangutan

Jaguar- fierce!

Cheetah running at full speed- he completed 100 meters in 5.6 seconds! No land mammal can beat that! Cheetahs are the fastest land mammal on Earth. They can run up to 70 miles per hour. 

(anyway, a lot of people did not even attempt to take picture of cheetah since cheetah was too fast for their camera, just watching cheetah run at full speed alone is already a unique experience). 

Cheetah and Dog- who is the leader in the relationship? It is the dog! Trainers use dog to train cheetah.

Playful and Pensive Orangutan

Galapagos Island

 Dusk in San Diego (not in Galapagos)

No, I have not been to Galapagos Island yet, all pictures here are from San Diego. However, since I watched Ocean Oasis at San Diego Natural History Museum, it has always been part of my dream to one day explore the Southern Pacific Ocean in Baja California, and further south, in Galapagos Island. 

 One Fine Afternoon by the Sea

Seeing how the diversity of ocean's life exists and thriving in a seemingly barren landscape in the movie, brought me a strong sense of hope that life regardless of the harsh conditions can still exist beautifully. And if we remain strong and wise enough to adjust to the conditions and know how to respond well to the environment around us, life will go on. There may be changes, painful it may be at the start, but slowly, transformation occurs to allow for a deeper beauty embedded inside, character strongly built by the natural forces of this Earth. 

Desert Tortoise

Since watching Ocean Oasis, I always am looking for cheap Sea of Cortes and Galapagos Cruises. 

 Harbor Seals

The Galapagos Island has always been associated with Darwin's theory of Natural Selection. Man observes, and observation is followed by so many questions, analysis, and theories. Questions arise such as: how did these many plants and animals arrived at the island? How were they able to adapt to the new surroundings?

 California Sea Lions

California Sea lions, fur seals, penguins, giant tortoises, among others, probably immigrate to the island through the periodically changing currents. The currents brought them in, but they could not get out! But life continues for them and made the island and its surrounding waters their new home. 

Flock of Cormorant, Sea Gulls and Pelicans

Because of this, Galapagos Islands are very popular amongst natural historians, both professional and amateur. Galapagos Cruise allow travelers to experience the migration of giant tortoises, sea lions, penguins, marine iguanas and different bird species can all be seen and approached. The landscape of the islands is relatively barren and volcanic, but still very beautiful. Peak season for Galapagos Cruise Ship is December through May when the seas are the calmest and the weather the warmest. However, summer months is also a good time to visit the island because of more activities observed from wildlife. Ahhh, I wish someday, I can share pictures of my experience of Galapagos Island in this site. Meanwhile, as I dream about experiencing Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection in Galapagos, I get content with observing marine wildlife here in San Diego.

Mathematical Parrot

Trainer: 1 x 4?

Mathematical Parrot: 4! (then, biting his claws, cute!)

Trainer: 2 + 2?
Mathematical Parrot: 4! (smart!)
Me: Hmmm, do you always ask questions where the answer is 4?
Trainer: Oh you are doubting the Math aptitude of this parrot? Want to challenge? We'll see if you can answer correctly before the parrot.
Me: Okay! ( I was telling myself, "just say 4 before the parrot says 4")
Trainer: What is the square root of 25 minus 2?
Parrot: Three! (said it right after 2 was said)
(My ego was hurting, parrot beat me! I must find an excuse!)
Me: Oh-oh, I was wrong, so he knows another number?
Trainer: Oh yeah! What is square root of 49 minus 4?
Parrot: Three! (smart parrot)

Me: Oh, 4 and 3? So, the next one the parrot will say is 4, pairs of 2's?
Trainer: Hmmm, still trying to beat the parrot? Okay, parrot, what is the square root of julienne minus 1?
Parrot: 4!
Me: Weeeee, I am right!
Parrot: 4!
Trainer: (Winks! )- don't say anything, we'll test others vs parrot :)