# 15 Back in Southern California, Malibu, Leo Carillo Beach State Park, Hollywood Bowl, Long Beach Municipal Band

The first thing we did after getting home was to go camping the day after we got home!  Some friends of ours had a reservation at Leo Carillo State Beach north of Malibu, and invited us to join them, so we did.

But first you have to get out of town – I love LA.

Northbound on

Pacific Coast Highway west

of Santa Monica heading to Malibu

Pelicans have made a rebound and helicopters are ubiquitous it seems.

 South end of Malibu  -- practically wall-to-wall houses line the beach side of

Pacific Coast Highway

through most of Malibu so you can’t see the ocean from the highway and there’s not much public access to the public beach.  The surf breaks underneath the houses at high tide.

An opening to see the ocean at the Malibu Pier

North of City of Malibu is where Malibu really begins

Zuma Beach

The cove is at Leo Carillo State Beach.  Campground is on other side of the highway and up into canyon.

The 1987 Ford ClubWagon Van in the background is our usual camping vehicle.  But at 12 miles per gallon, we decided not to drive this on our trip around the US.

Brought this crate full of broken pallet wood from warehouse, so we had a few campfires and left the rest for my friend’s son who was going to stay for a week.

My wife, Reyna, and my friend, Bill Shelton, at our campsite.

We drove back into the city from the campground on Sunday afternoon and joined some friends at the Hollywood Bowl for a summer evening concert.



El Dorado Park in Long Beach is another great place for a summer evening concert.  Picnicing and lots of wine with the music.  The police look the other way, since wine is not legal in public parks in Long Beach or just about anywhere I suppose.



.Long Beach’s Municipal Band has been in existence more than 100 years, but last couple of years of budget cutting have been perilous times for the Band.

Spent a little time in my backyard too.

Cactus blooming in my yard.  This cactus flowers at night and flowers last start to shrivel up the very next day.  I think it's a type of cereus.

Another cactus.  This one just goes nuts and puts out 10s of blooms at a time.

I brought a cutting of this Southern California foothill wildflower home from a hike, and it’s grown into a small tree thanks to regular watering in my backyard.  Flowers remind me of hibiscus, but I haven’t identified it.

It wasn't all beaches and concerts while we were home.  I did go into the office most days.  Too soon our month hiatus from our trip was over, and we flew back to Dulles on Jet Blue from Long Beach on Wednesday August 3.