California Costal Images
Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 5:00AM While in the San Francisco Bay area of California recently, I spent a few hours admiring nearby coastlines. The beaches of California are quite different from those of the Alabama coast along the Gulf of Mexico. While we have miles of smooth shoreline and sugary white sand, the beaches of California are ruggedly beautiful with large rock formations and gray-brown sand. Our coastal areas are flat, while dramatic cliffs overlook the Pacific Ocean. Both areas are beautiful. The earth is a grand place!
Here is a scene from the Gulf of Mexico:
And here are views taken in California, about two thousand miles from more familiar beaches:
I have always dreamed of living in an area where mountains are to my back and the ocean is in front of me. That may never happen, but if so, California could be a contender!
Reader Comments (10)
Wow, those rock formations are just wonderful! I can imagine your delight on seeing this scenery while on holiday.
Sounds like Cape Town would suit you ;~)
Are those fences on the Alabama beach against wind, drifting sand, protecting plants?
Hi Diana, I would love to see Cape Town! Those fences on the Alabama beaches protect the sand dunes from erosion. The dunes are an important part of the coastal ecology. Deb
Beautiful photos, Deb! I think the Southern California beaches might look more familiar to you. While we do have some cliff-side beaches like those in NorCal, we also have some reminiscent of your gulf beaches.
I love the rugged beaches of northern California. I am very fortunate, in that the Snowdonia mountains are less than an hour away, I can see them from the cliffs if I walk for 5 minutes, and I live right on the rugged Anglesey coastline. I definitely recommend coastal living - and gardening - though moving from your beautiful woodland garden would be a huge wrench, even to swap it for a new gardening adventure and rugged cliffs and waves.
I so enjoy the CA coast and you have captured it beautifully Deb!
Wonderful images! We were in Los Angeles last Christmas, and loved the dramatic coastline. Your photos make me yearn to go back.
As a teenager I loved John Steinbeck so before I turned 20 I took a bus to San Francisco (Haight Ashbury) and then traveled along the California coast to see the world that he lived in a wrote about. It was my first time to see the ocean, memories that will always be there for me. As an adult I now live with the Cascades and Rockies to my back and I face the Pacific. It is a wonderful way to wake up each morning.
Have you ever been to BC? Our coastal beaches are gorgeous too...I miss them so much. And Deb you can go from skiing to sunbathing in a hour...might be a good trip to check out.
Jen
The coast line of California is very much like Cornwall in England. When I visited the States for the first time my friends kept asking me what I thought; I had to answer that it seemed just like England as we were in California, although I haven't seen so many whales in Europe! Beautiful images.