April 21-May 8 --- A layover at a Long Beach (CA) RV resort...

I was born, raised, and had been living in San Pedro, aka the Port of Los Angeles, up until last year when I retired from Kaiser Hospital after working there for 34 years and hit the road for Travels of Discovery. I still have parents, condo and friends in the South Bay, so I'm staying at the Golden Shore RV Resort in Long Beach as it's the closest RV park to "Pedro" (pronounced PEE-dro by the locals). The setting here is spectacular, with the RV part visually between the Long Beach skyline and a marine wetlands preserve --

It's not exactly boondocking, or camping in a natural setting, but this IS the Los Angeles basin, and RV parks are at a premium, both land- and price-wise. One of the reasons I'm back here is to sell my condo, a corner unit on the 3rd floor which has a great view of the LA harbor and looking across to Orange County; the sunrises in particular can be spectacular -- 

Here's a street view of the condo (the one with the "For Sale" sign on it, of course). As of May 9th it's still for sale @ $389,000 -- anyone interested? ;o) --

The RV park in Long Beach is located at the mouth of the Los Angeles "River", which is concrete-lined for flood control. As I mentioned there is a wetlands here (I'm looking at it right now as I type this) and there can be a good selection of birds here -- surprisingly -- such as Black Oystercatcher --

And Black Skimmers, who are always fun to watch as they "skim" the water, scooping up fish -- 

And there are occasional surprises here along the ocean. While sitting on the rocks overlooking the wetlands one evening, I saw a small "powder green" blob fly onto a rock. I looked through my camera viewfinder and saw -- a Budgerigar, or Budgie, probably someone's escaped parakeet -- 

Poor thing, probably going to be raptor food before long...In between visiting with family and friends and running errands, getting ready for the next road installment of Travels of Discovery, I'm biking and hiking around the South Bay, possibly for the last time. Though most people tend to think of the area as heavily urbanized since it's a busy port, there are still oases of calm and natural beauty to be found here. For instance, there is George F Canyon on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, one of the last fairly pristine canyons left in the area, with its rare running (for the most part) stream -- 

As with much of the natural areas on the peninsula you can hear Spotted and California Towhee, Song Sparrow, Western Scrub Jay -- and if you're particularly vigilant, see Pacific-slope Flycatcher --

But you don't necessarily have to hike a trail to see "good birds". For instance, there is a "dog park" just off a busy street which has now has nesting Western Bluebirds. A few friends and I put up a bluebird nest box there a few years ago; I hadn't checked it for a year as I've been on the road, but the other day I found -- success! -- Mrs. Western BB coming out of the box -- 

Averill Park, with its ponds running the length of the park, is a place for contemplation, and has seen visits by Green-winged Teal and a male Mandarin Duck -- 

Those are turtles sunning on the rocks in the center foreground...Landscape-wise, the PV Peninsula is hard to beat in the Los Angeles area. Here's a view taken during a bike ride, looking north -- 

Malaga Cove is famous among local surfers; the Los Angeles basin and beach coastline is in the (smog-lined) background -- 

Here's the view from the same vantage point, looking south -- 

As you can see, this area is pretty spectacular. And there are inside places to visit, too. One I recommend is The Discovery Room at Ladera Linda Park, across from Trump Golf Course. It's full of local exhibits documenting the history of the area and its flora, fauna and geology. The "matriarch" of the Discovery Room is Yvetta Williams, who I have the honor of calling my friend. I donated the photos you see hanging on the wall of her Discovery Room -- 

It will be difficult to leave this area as I've been here all my life, but now it's time for the next chapter...