@Night San Diego: Cabrillo National Monument!

                                                                                                                      April 22

On September 28, 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, sailed in to San Diego Bay.  He was the first European explorer to set foot on present day California. High above where he landed, on the cliffs of the Point Loma peninsula is the Cabrillo National Monument (CNM), one of my favorite places in San Diego! CNM offers beautiful, panoramic and spectacular 360 degree views of San Diego Bay, Downtown, Coronado island and the Pacific ocean. The place shuts down at 5 PM. I always used to think how am I going to find a way to access this place at night. When I heard of an evening fundraiser event held there by the CNM Foundation on April 22nd, I signed up. After an excellent dinner on the patio overlooking the Pacific, I was roaming the monument grounds up to 10 PM, taking night sky photos.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

San Diego Downtown. View from Cabrillo National Monument.

The Old Point Loma Lighthouse, built in 1855.

Spiral staircase of the lighthouse.

Constellations Canis Major and Orion.

Constellation Orion on the left, the "V" of Taurus and Pleiades right above the roof.

"The Path to Orion".

Constellations Canis Major, Orion, Taurus and Pleiades over the Pacific!

Jupiter (bright object above center) in the constellation Virgo.
Constellation Corvus above the lighthouse.

Orion landing!

Constellation Auriga over the lighthouse.

April 22nd was Earth day and April 24th was Hubble Telescope's birthday! With my birthday sandwiched in between, I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate these very important events!!! ;)

ISS Over San Diego!

Last week, almost every day, the International Space Station (ISS) was visible from San Diego.  Though I have watched the ISS 100s of times, I have the same level of excitement; getting outside the house and eagerly waiting for ISS to show up above the horizon and the pure joy of watching it cross the sky and disappearing in to the earth's shadow.

April 14:

Orion at bottom left and Auriga at top right. 20:57 PM.

21:05 PM

April 15:

Gemini at top left and part of Ursa Major at right. 20:12 PM

20:13 PM

Borrego Bloom !!!

The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is 2 hours east of San Diego and is the largest State Park in California. Anza-Borrego is a desert and doesn't get much rain. During the summer, temps can reach up to 115 F.  With the drought-busting rain storms we had for the last 3 months, the desert floor and valleys are exploding with wild flowers. Our last trip to Anza-Borrego to watch the wild flowers was in 2008. With lot of expectations, we got out there last Saturday!

                                                                                                 Click on the photos to view them in Full Screen

Desert Dandelion

Desert Chicory

Sand Verbena

Dune Evening Primrose

Desert Sunflower

Once in a decade, with heavy rains, these wild flower blooms happen and they last for just 2 weeks. Very soon, an army of very hungry caterpillars will attack and these flowers will be recycled!

Selfie With Blue Angels !!!

Every year, around this time of the year, on a Friday I take my camera to work. Around 3 PM, I step out to the top floor balcony and watch the "Blue Angels". Blue Angels are US Navy's F/A-18 Hornet (Fighter and Attack) aircrafts. Since San Diego is at the edge of the Pacific, right from the year 1917, US Navy has a huge and strategic presence here and San Diego is also referred to as the Navy Town. The Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), Miramar is very close to my office building. Being so close to MCAS means, I don't have to buy the tickets to watch the annual MCAS Miramar Air Show :)  This time, I tried to take as many closeup shots as possible and also tried a selfie with the Blue Angels !!! ;)

For the 1986 movie, "Top Gun" (with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis) many scenes were filmed at MCAS and around San Diego. Link: Top Gun movie locations in San Diego
  

The view from the top floor balcony of my office building.

With few of my colleagues.

While waiting for the Blue Angels to show up.....the Amtrak train service from San Diego to Santa Barbara is one of the most scenic routes in the country.
The train winds through San Diego canyons and goes along the Pacific. The service is aptly named, "Pacific Surfliner" !
Checkout: http://pacificsurfliner.com/

 

Right above my office building!

I could almost see the pilots !!!

Blue Angels.

Delta formation. At the limit of my tele-lens :)

This is the best selfie I could take with 3 Blue Angels !!!

VIBGYOR !!!

Last weekend, along with the much needed rain, San Diego received a beautiful rainbow too!!!

Running On Water !!!

During the holidays, spent a lot of time at warm and sunny San Diego beaches :)

A bunch of birds were quietly strolling along the shore on Mission Bay beach, San Diego.

Suddenly, a dog being walked by a boy escaped the leash and started chasing the birds!

Pure pandemonium erupted and the birds went berserk.

It looked as if these birds were really running on water :)