James Applebury's (apfelbury) Blog

  Dolphin!  I love this little guy, or girl, I am in no way qualified to tell the difference.  This is one of the added perks on the boat ride to Anacapa Island, a Dolphin escort.  They come up along the side and jump up out of the water,  I presume to get a better look at us.  Let me tell you t...

  This picture was taken on Anacapa Island. This is one of the islands in a chain that make up the Channel Islands National Park.  http://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm You are looking at one of the oldest lighthouses on the West Coast.  I recently went on a day trip with some friends to this wonder...

  Here is another sunset picture taken from one of the many vistas available to the public in Griffith Park.  I just want to drive home the point that LA has some of the best sunsets anywhere in the world.   Every sunset is special.  I want to catalogue them the best I can, much like a devoted p...

  This was taken from a friend's deck in Agoura Hills, which is about 45 minutes from LA, just outside of Malibu.  As you might imagine, you can't see a lot of stars within most urban areas.  I like being able to take a reasonably short drive and see stars (literal stars, not movie "stars").   T...

  I just became a member of the Arcadia Rock Climbing Gym.  It is only 15 minutes from my house in Los Feliz.   I have always wanted to learn to rock climb.  I spend most of my time hiking and backpacking.  I have to admit I have a very healthy fear of heights.  I like being able to climb in a p...

  You are looking at one of the plush leather booths inside the Dresden restaurant.  This place is one of my favorites.  You can come dressed casual or in your finest formal wear and feel right at home.  The circa 1960's decor is still in tact and as kitschy as ever. The food is great and comes ...

Ah sunsets.  So relaxing, so mesmerizing.  We are looking out towards the pacific ocean and the "West Side" of LA.  I'm sure that is obvious to anyone who realizes that the sun does in fact set in the west.  Well, I just like to be thorough.  Anyway, I was once again right smack dab in the middl...

We are looking at the high country of the Angeles National Forest.  This photo was taken from the roof of the Griffith Observatory which, as you can probably tell from my previous posts, is a great place to gaze out upon some pretty amazing views.  You can also see a couple of different Griffith...

This is a post storm picture.  This particular day was filled with thunder, lightning and heavy rain but ended with sights like this.  While this was going on in LA the east coast was bogged down with blizzard conditions.  It's nice to have a robust storm here every once in a while, it makes us ...

I shot this right next to the Vincent Gap trailhead.  I thought about hiking the trail but decided against it.  As you can see there is a lot of snow covering everything, including the trail itself.  Yes, this is just outside of LA but people get lost in these mountains all the time.  I like adv...