Day after the rain

When it rains in Southern California this is the result. The smog is cleared out for a few days. This picture was taken on the 405 fwy southbound in Irvine.

Our little creek

This is Aliso Creek. This is the closest thing we have to a river here in Orange County but when it rains like it did today this creek gets pretty high. I will come back tomorrow just to see how much it rises. This is very close to Laguna Niguel Design Center from a previous post.

UC Irvine

This is a photo of the University of California, Irvine Social Science building. UC Irvine is the biggest and one of the newest Universities in Orange County.

PCH Palm Tree

This was taken along Pacific Coast Highway Southbound on the border od Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. The bay is called Emerald Bay and also located there is El Morro trailer park. It is such a beautuful drive from Newport Beach to Laguna Beach on PCH. This is very close to where I took the picture of the Ferrari and the Dog.

Fast Coffee!!!

This is a photo of The Daily Grind "Drive-Thru" in Seal Beach. I think they are one of the first coffee shops to have a drive-thru at several locations. This particular building used to be a Photo-Mat which was a drive-thru photo developing company. If you look closely at the picture of the door you will notice one of the employees posing.

Orange Hallway

This photo was taken at the Lab "Anti Mall" in Costa Mesa. The Lab has some great restaurants and retail stores. Habana, a Cuban restaraunt is one of my favorites. As I took this picture an employee asked me to stop taking pictures she said "You need a permit to take pictures." "We are unique." I stopped but I was able to take some shots. This hallway had take my picture written all over it.

Aliso Viejo City Sign

This is a photo of the new Aliso Viejo City Sign. Almost every city here has a sign that welcomes its visitors. There are no regulations on design or size. I will take pictures of other signs from different cities, but I will try to take the really interesting ones only.

Seaside Statue

This statue is located in a cliffside garden in Corona del Mar. This beach is popular for its tide pools and its crescent shaped shore line. It is not really beach season but some days we get great beach weather.

Doggie Bags

These are poop bags available to all who walk their dogs. Just thought this picture looked interesting. I Promise a better picture tomorrow.

Car and Dog

I first noticed the dog then I saw the car. It sort of looked like the dog was guarding the car. This was taken at Crystal Cove Promenade in Newport Beach. We had lunch at a restaurant called Sage. They serve California Fusion cusine and have great crabcakes! I will take a picture inside when I go again. They have a very nice outdoor patio and garden.

Butterfly

This shot was taken at the Laguna Niguel Botanical Gardens. I took this last week but I thought I'd share it. There are a few parks in the area that have butterfly's like this. I will try and find out if there is any significance or do people just like butterfly's.

Clouds

Today was such a beautiful day I wanted to share with everyone. We have such unusual weather here in Southern California. Some days it is 45-60 degreesF then the next day could be 78-85 degreesF. It is supposed to rain tomorrow. I will take a photo and post if it does.

Peet's Coffee

Peet's Coffee. They have great coffee and it does not get very crowded. Peet's only has few locations in Orange County and this one is not on my usual route to work but it is near Trader Joes from yesterdays post. So, I get to stop by at least once a week.

Trader Joe's

This is another one of my weekly sometimes bi-weekly stops. Trader Joe's has many hard to find grocery items. Including wine, cheese, coffee, dried fruits and more. They are all great quality and pretty low priced. They are also the only seller of the immensely popular and cheap wine label Charles Shaw. People have called this win "two buck chuck" as it only cost $1.99. The wine is OK, but for the price is perfect for parties.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day everyone!!

Steps

This is a shot from the Laguna Niguel Botanical Gardens. The garden showcases local and non-local plantlife in there natural habitat. It is also a great place to relax and exercise. There are some athletic fields and trails close by.

Irvine Spectrum

This is a shot of an obelisk at Irvine Spectrum. Spectrum is an entertainment center with movie theaters, shops and restaurants. The Spectrum is one of South Orange Counties biggest entertainment centers. This shot was taken from my car. I will take a better shot next time I pass by.

Photo request - Disneyland

This photo was taken outside the Disneyland entrance. I did not actually go to Disneyland but I wanted to take a photo of something Disney. More Disney to come later. This photo reminds me of Manuel's photo.

http://sanfranciscodailyphoto.blogspot.com/

West Los Angeles

Here's another non OC photo. This is the West Side of Los Angeles. Westwood (home to UCLA) and Beverly Hills are straight ahead. Bel Air is to the left and Santa Monica is towards the right.This shot was taken from the Getty Center.

SHARK

This is a replica of an ancient Carcharocles Mecalodon shark jaw on display at Plaza de La Paz in Laguna Niguel. The jaw and other fossils including a Mixacetex Baleen Whale skull were discovered during the construction of the plaza. The skull is only the second example of the species known. The site of the plaza was a deep ocean basin over 10 million years ago. The plaza is a shopping center.

Southern California Wildfire

This is a shot of the smoke coming from a wildfire about 30 miles away. The ashes that fell from the sky looked like snow.

Photo request - Las Brisas

Michael here is Las Brisas - The view at this restaraunt is really breathtaking. The restaraunt is famous for its brunch and view.I would have taken a picture of the view but it was so foggy today.

Laguna Design Center

This is a shot of the Laguna Design Center Logo. The center is like a shopping mall for Interior design related things. Kind of like the Antique Mall accross the street from the Louvre in Paris. I see the logo every week and it looked interesting.

Snoopy

Here's an old picture of Camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm. Orange County was famous for its amusement parks in the 70's and 80's, but now it is famous for its TV shows. The OC on Fox and Laguna Beach "The Real OC" on MTV.