The Smokies from near Taig an Drama Day 10 - Lompoc to Redondo Beach
October 28, 2019
Monday evening, Redondo Beach, CA

Continuing our trek south, the temp slowly climbed to 65 and it looked like it was not going to get any higher. As we headed down CA1, we finally came back to the Pacific. As we got close to Malibu, we encountered a stretch along the beach that was lined with fifth wheel trailers along the roadside. We finally realized that they were in rented and numbered spaces and were apparently housing surfers!

We made our goal for the day Mt. Wilson Observatory. Back in the mid 80s, I was in LA for a two week training course. For some reason, it was scheduled over the Easter weekend. Being cheaper to stay over the weekend than fly back to Memphis, we took the two days to do some tourist stuff. On Sunday, we decided to drive up to Mt. Wilson Observatory. We drove 30 miles up the winding CA2 along the cliffs and another 5 miles up an even windier road to the observatory gate. The gates was closed and on it a sign read "Open 364 days a year. Closed for Easter". I've always wanted to go back and finally I have. For those concerned about the fires, the only indications that we saw today was some road sign messages regarding highway closings, none of which involved us. Jr said he smelled smoke at one point but I never did.

Oh yeah, it finally got up to 80° this afternoon.

Fifth wheel trailers parked overlooking the beach. The highway ahead of us. Passing through the Malibu area, we saw many of these quaint haciendas overlooking the sea. The houses on this hillside reminded me of our trip to Italy. Ocean Ave at California in Santa Barbara. The Church of the Good Shepherd, Beverly Hills. Looking down one of the many canyons on the way to Mt Wilson. LA is off in the haze somewhere. Yep, I told ya LA was down there in the haze. Here's a selfie looking up at the 150ft Solar Telescope Tower. Two mirrors feed sunlight to a 12 inch lens with a 150 ft focal length. Here's another selfie of sorts. When George Ellery Hale built this 60 inch reflector at Mt Wilson in 1908, it was the largest in the world. He then built this 100 inch reflector in 1917. It was the largest reflector at the time. Hale went on to build the 200 inch reflector at Mt Palomar in 1948 (known today as the Hale telescope). It remained the largest reflector until 1953. The largest reflector today is 409 inches located in the Canary Islands. Unlike the 100 and 200 inch scopes made from a single cast and ground glass lens, it uses an array of octagonal aluminum segments. This 40 inch reflector is one of an array of six scopes known as the CHARA array. When all are focused on a single object and combined, the array has an effective diameter of over 1000 inches. It is capable of resolving individual stars in distant galaxies!   (FYI the Chara is owned by Georgia State University.) Another canyon as we descend the San Gabriel Mountains from Mt Wilson Making our way to our motel, we passed the Church of Scientology Community Center. Our Lady of the GPS took us through some rough looking neighborhoods on the way to our motel. I've had a talk with her about choosing the shortest versus the fastest route.
To Day 11