Southern California Trip 2011: 11/20 - 11/23

We decided to head down from the Bay Area to southern California earlier this week since a friend - his name is "Mightyfrog" on Blogspot - was here. We spent a couple of days in the Mojave Desert (where it was freezing) and then came up through Santa Barbara where we did some fishing. Can't wait to go on another road trip!

Old Can at "Hole in the Wall" campground in the Mojave
Desert.

Cacti - "Hole in the Wall".

"Rings Loop Trail" at "Hole in the Wall".

Ring-less part of the "Rings Loop Trail".

The old post office in the town of Kelso
which is also in the Mojave Desert. The
town used to be a base of operations for a
railroad.

Kelso Jail.

A far-away view of the famous Kelso Dunes.

We climbed all the way up here over rocks of many sizes
in search of a supposed trilobite area. Sadly, we didn't find
anything. Zoom in to locate our car.

Fishing at the pier in Santa Barbara. Photo credits to
Mightyfrog.

Out of the three baby halibut I caught, this was the smallest.
Mightyfrog and I only caught tiny fish, but nobody else on
the pier was catching any, so I guess we did pretty good.

My fourth and final fish. I looked it up, and it seems to be
called an "island kelpfish". I'm not sure though. Photo
credits to Mightyfrog.

Ah, my favorite thing of the day. Mightyfrog ended up
accidentally hooking an octopus that took his bait. We
removed the hook without a problem, and the little guy swam
away safely. Credits to Mightyfrog once again, as my hands
were covered in octopus goo and I was unable to hold a
camera.

The Caterpillar is Now a Moth!

Yes, that beautiful blue caterpillar has just turned into a moth. I thought it would be a butterfly, but I guess not. This moth was very unusual though. It had two weird looking antennae in the front. I know the picture is not good quality but this is what I got before it flew off. The problem is, it was still inside when it flew away (I was taking pictures) and new we don't know where it is... Good luck little buddy!

Blue Caterpillar

Found a turquoise/blue caterpillar on a cauliflower. My dad said that he will raise it to see what it will become. It looks very weird...

Blue Caterpillar

My First Ocean Fish!

Today I managed to catch my first fish from the ocean at New Brighton State Beach. I only caught one, but in comparison with my usual catch rate of zero, I have made some progress!

Barred Surf Perch

The First Jalapeno Has Been Picked!

I have a jalapeno plant on my patio, and I have waited for the first one to become fully red before I picked it. I don't know if it's more or less spicy than when they are green and not fully mature. I guess I will have to try...

Hiking in Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve

Hiking today in Sierra Azul, I used my dad's camera and got some nice pictures.
P.S. (I saw that there is a caption setting when you click on the pictures so I will use that from now on.)

A bird with an acorn.

Damselfly

Grasshopper

Another Grasshopper

Junco lifting off (I can't believe I got this picture!)

Flying Junco (Another really cool picture!)

A nice fuzzy caterpillar that I ended up letting walk all over
me.

Baby rattlesnake

Common Buckeye Butterfly

UC Santa Cruz wildlife research box. It has a camera and
flash on the front. It probably doesn't take pictures during
the day, but I made a face at it just in case.

Top of UCSC research box.

Photography Around the Apartments

My parents said that I had been inside for way too long and that I should find more outside activities to do, so I decided to take a short walk around my apartment complex. I brought my camera along with me and found a few simple everyday things and took some pictures from different points of view, showing them in a perspective that normally we don't see.

Irrigation Control Box

Storm Drain Cover

Purple Flowers

Dandelion

Pill Bug Update

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, so I took the time to take a picture of the pill bug babies progression. In this picture they are swarming around a tomato.

Pill Bug Babies!

I checked on my pill bugs today, and I saw little white things crawling around. When I looked in, I realized that they were tiny, white pill bugs! Yes, they are babies! I know the quality of this picture sucks, but they are really hard to focus on, even though I used the digital microscope to take the picture. I measured them, and they range from 1 - 1.5 millimeters in length... They're so cute!

Yes, all those little white things are baby pill bugs!

Pill Bugs Unite!

Today, I went in search of more pill bugs (since I only had one) to add to my colony. I went to a nearby school like I had planned and looked in the tanbark. I found nine. Not much of an accomplishment. Oh yeah, and they were all tiny! I put them in and they all burrowed deep into the soil. Saddened, I went back around the apartments in hope that somehow, I would find some more. That's when my luck turned around. I found a long piece of plywood on the dirt behind the dumpster. I picked it up to take a look, and was surprised by the THOUSANDS of pill bugs walking around! Thousands! And they were all huge, not tiny like the ones I found at the school. I grabbed a bunch and brought them home. These guys are much more active. Oh, and there's this really tiny one that I brought from the school. For some reason, he always wants to be at the highest place he can go. They're all awesome.

You can't really see the multitude of all of them in the picture, but at least you can see a few of them...

New Addition: Pill Bug!

I decided to start another colony since my other one wasn't turning out the best, and what's better than a pill bug colony? One unusual thing though, the roly polys that are usually everywhere aren't there anymore! Seriously, I was only able to find one! I searched the whole apartment complex: under bricks, broken branches, everything, and was only able to find one lonely pill bug! I replicated a habitat and put him/her in the plastic shoebox where I'm keeping them (well for now it's not technically "them", but I promise you, there will be more!) I am now hoping to go out somewhere in search for more. I remember in elementary school, we would find tons by the corners of the playground. Or maybe if we go on a hike or walk I can find some under logs or things... I will have a pill bug colony! I am dedicated to finding a family for my little crustacean! (Yes, they breathe through gills... Weird, right???)

Update on the Superworms

Things are not going so well... I had two beetles emerge about two weeks ago and one is dead... He/she was born with a mutation. I actually have another one but it is seriously mutated. It's a pupae with legs. It can't do anything, it's body isn't developed, just it's legs... I won't mind posting pictures of them, it's much too sad...

The Lightning Thief

This one is named after the Percy Jackson book The Lightning Thief. Hence the lightning bolt...

The Racers

These snails we painted are based after racecars...

My Superworms Start To Pupate!

I came back from my trip to the East Coast yesterday, and today, I looked at my superworms to find that FOUR OF THEM HAD PUPATED!!! One more has started and is in the process from turning from superworm to alien!

Superworms!

Went to the pet store today and bought 24 superworms... I'm hoping to raise them to beetles who will lay eggs and then I can have more baby superworms! One has shedded it's skin, and that is why it's so pale in the last picture... 3 of them are not moving. I don't know if they're dead or.... we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? Well, I'll keep updating everyone on what's happening... Yay!

The white mealworm in this picture has shed it's skin!