Laguna Beach, USA

Well, one more card for today - it all started with a beach so lets ended with one too, this time with one from California.

from the back of the card: Crystal Cove is one of the many beautiful coves that line the coastline of Laguna Beach. These pristine covers make for some of the best swimming in Southern California.

Seems that I am on a streak of surprise cards today, sent throughout the years. Makes me feel kinda special, you know *I wish I had a blushing emoticon here*

Three great stamps - starting from left to right - an amazing The Wizard of Oz stamp! It comes from a set of 4 Classic Film Posters issued in 1990. The middle one shows the Johnny Cash stamp, issued in 2013, while the last one is also from 2013, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of West Virginia Statehood.

Who do I thank for this one?? Well, Bryon of course :) Go and take a look at this cover I received today :D (I'm a bragger, I know :)))

Well, that would be all for today! Have a great weekend ahead! :)

Southern California, USA

Next comes a card from Bryon - the US traveller :)

A spectacular view over the, as the card says, dramatic Southern California coastline. And Bryon says that it looked exactly like the postcard when he was there....ermm, need to turn off the envy button :)
I can't tell the temperature on the card, but it feels odd not to see a single human silhouette on the shores or in the waters....well, at least *I* can't see anyone...

and here comes a whole line of awesome stamps! lets see if they give me the same trouble as the turtle :)
ok, the first one is more or less known to all...issued in 2011, showing George Washington. Now, the second stamp...it is from a set of two issued in 1960, representing Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. The stamp comes from a series of US stamps titled "Champion of Liberty", where each year the US postal service would portray someone they think deserved this spot.
The nest two stamps are just fantastic! Issued in 1990 in a set of 5 stamps representing Olympic winners - these two here portray Eddie Eagan ( the only person to win a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different events, in 1920 and 1932 respectively). The other stamp shows Helene Madison, who won three gold medals in freestyle at the 1932 Summer Olympic Games.
And the last stamp was issued in 2002, with the title, Heroes.

Thanks so much for the card Bryon! And I dont know how you got the stamps, but thank you!

California, USA

Next is a card I received few days ago from dear Bryon...in honour of the freezing weather we had....cant help but keep laughing about it :))))

luckily our freezing weather is over, though not even close to as the one on the card...plus we dont have beaches here...ok, actually we do have a beach along the Vardar river, but Ill never understand what's their purpose since no sane person would put on a bathing suit and go there to sunbathe (swimming is forbidden either way...)
well, one can at least always dream...and enjoy..and hope for a nice upcoming summer...

ps. my Spanish is really not progressing at the moment, but hopefully ill get back on track...soon :)

hm, ok...is it my impression or the postal rate in the US has gone up? I received another card as well, with stamps over 1$...so I guess that's not such good news =/
But Bryon did manage to use three lovely stamps and as much as my memory serves me, all three rather new to me!
the ones on the right are both Forever stamps issued in 2011 in a set of 10, representing flags...the top one represents the flag of Pennsylvania while the bottom one, of Rhode Island.
the other stamp was issued in 1978 and portrays George M.Cohan, a late American entertainer.

Thank you Bryon!! Curious to when you find a Macedonian restaurant at last :)

Los Angeles, USA

ive always liked the image on this one...and I could never be 100% convinced if it is photoshopped or not...the sky I mean...

the back of the card says "The Griffith Park Observatory overlooks the sprawling glitter on the L.A. Skyline"

and it seems it has been featured in a BUNCH of famous movies and series, and most probably I had seen it but had no idea it was this observatory in question...just to list a few...Terminator, Charlie's Angels, Transforms, 24, Mission Impossible, Beverly Hills, Melrose Place, the Wonder Years, Star Trek....and so on and so forth....
In case you want to visit it, it is open 5 days a week, and in general free of charge, except for some shows for a minimal price at the planetarium

so, definitely a MUST see!

the card bears three nice stamps...the clock stamp comes first...in the middle is the 'celebrate' stamp from 2009, while next to it is the Bob Hope stamp, also from 2009.

This reminds me of some dark humour lately...it says "we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash...now we have no Jobs, no Hope and no Cash"....ironic?

Tehachapi Loop, USA

a fantastic official card I received last year, showing the Tehachapi Loop in California.

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The Techachapi loop is located about 8 miles west of Tehachapi, California, A train with 85 or more boxcars will pass over itself going around the loop. The engineering feat which created the Southern Pacific Railroad Companie's route through the Techachapi Pass continues to fascinate tourists and railroad buffs by the hundreds each year.

It is just soo amazing!!! I wonder at what speed you actually need to go in order none of the boxcars turns over and you make it to the destination safe and sound.

a lot has been spoken of this stamp, no? :)

San Francisco, USA

One of the loveliest views over the Golden Gate...

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It is called "Fog rolls into San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate Bridge".

Here is one similar view of the Golden Gate, veiled in more fog, being more mysterious, hiding more secrets, but in both cards, the sun is the one which makes everything hopeful.

The Golden Gate hides more secrets than you could ever imagine, peoples' sad stories....it is the favourite place for people committing suicide, not just in USA but in the entire world as well.

I dont know whats so appealing about it, like it has some cortex that drags you in...I was reading some articles about this recently, and about many on-going debates of how to prevent people from committing the suicide...my favourite point in those articles was that, you may do something with the Golden Gate and reduce the number of suicides HERE...but that doesnt mean that people wont find another bridge....sad but true..

The well known stamp of the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Lake Mono, California, USA

A card which caused some great confusion, being that it arrived from Germany....but Lake Mono is indeed situated in the US...the only results you will get about Lake Mono in Germany is about some music label company or so....

DE-462941

It  is an alkaline and hypersaline lake in the Mono County in California. It has an unusually eco productive system and is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species.
Some quick Mono Lake facts:

DEPTH OF MONO LAKE
-Maximum = 159 feet.
-Average = 57 feet.

AGE OF MONO LAKE
At least 760,000 years old and probably 1-3 million years; among the oldest lakes in North America.

LAKE LEVEL
The lake level before the diversions of Mono's tributary streams was 6,417 feet above sea level (asl). The current lake level is 6381.4 feet asl (1,946 meters), its volume is approximately 2.6 million acre feet, and its surface area is approximately 45,133 acres. It is expected to take over 20 years to reach 6,392 feet asl, the Water Board-ordered stabilization level. Once it reaches 6,392', it should usually fluctuate about 6 feet in elevation and occasionally rise as high as 6,400', and during extreme drought, drop as low as 6,382'. The yearly evaporation rate is approximately 45 inches per year.
Without restrictions on stream diversions, the lake would have eventually stabilized at approximately 6,355 feet asl with fluctuations of 21 vertical feet. During periods of extreme drought, the lake might have fallen as low as 6,336 feet asl.

as i said, the card arrived auf Detuschland, hence the German stamp....showing Mendelssohn

Santa Barbara, USA

Here is another official card from the ones that i received recently...from the US of course...

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Wasnt there a soap opera called Santa Barbara?? I know there was Beverly Hills and Melrose Place...but for some reason i keep thinking there was one called Santa Barbara as well...probably i hadnt watched it since i cant remember it...i did watch Beverly Hills though...i was in those years, when a series like that was just something i had to watch and felt thrilled about it...i still think that compared to its followers, BH was like the best of them...whenever there is something that becomes a success, directors just hunt for something alike, coz they think that they have the magic ingredients for the success and just want to multiply it and multiply it an multiply it...but those followers never really reach the popularity of the predecessors...and they tend to repeat themselves...and the point is just lost
though i think that no soap operas can match the Spanish/Latin American ones...now THAT is a phenomenon...ive watched only one...probably coz it was somewhat outstanding (wont reveal which one) and i know that afterwards they tried to make similar to that one in particular and i wanted to watch them but i got annoyed at the very start coz it just wasnt it...sometimes i do leave the channel on if there is one and im in the room...and i just listen to the Spanish...to acquire the accent...and try to see if i am able to understand...and maybe learn something new...

Sometimes i wonder how i so much manage to deviate with my writings with whats on the card actually....

Morro Bay, USA

Hello everyone...dear postcard collector, or just visitors who for one reason or another ended up here...you know you are all welcome :)
Yesterday i finally got some mail, after being ignored by the postman for almost a week....and it was a rather good mail day which included 4 official cards, and here i am to feature one of them....i wanted to make an update yesterday, but i just really wasnt in the mood....i still dont feel ok, i have way too many things weighing on my mind and it all gets me down...but at least my creative part isnt as frozen as yesterday, so hopefully ill manage to write a few decent sentences...if not, you'll know why is it so..

US-336084

I really like the view on this one. The sender says that Morro Bay is a really nice place to spend an afternoon eating fish and chips with the toes in the sand. Mmmmmm....I dont doubt its nice...i would just add some nice wine on my list to make it feel more complete...
this is what the back of the card says:
"Morro rock towers over the coastal town of Morro Bay. the sandpit in the foreground encloses the bay, home to hundreds of species of birds and marine life"

thanks to Judy for choosing such a nice card for me....

California, USA (06)

I already have Californian maps (you've seen them) but this one is different....funny how some places have NO maps like this, while others have several different ones.

The area known as Alta California was colonized by the Spanish Empire beginning in the late 18th century. It and the rest of Mexico became an independent republic in 1821. In 1846 California broke away from Mexico, and after the Mexican-American war Mexico ceded California to the United States. California became the 31st state admitted to the United States on September 9, 1850.
This feels like the US have been collecting states one by one, growing in total area and eventually becoming what they are today...

Yosemite National Park, USA

Here is a the Yosemite National Park in the USA...California in particular..

Back of the card:

Upper Yosemite Fall  -  Yosemite National Park, California

Upper Yosemite fall drops 1,430 feet. The Fall runs full in spring and in early summer when the snows melt, and usually runs dry in late summer and autumn

California, USA (05)

well, if you wanted to argue with me for labeling two cards above as map cards, then you'll have to let it go this time, coz its more than obvious this IS a map card indeed....hehehehehe....

wanna know what the back of the card says?

Greetings From California

Nickname: The Golden State
Area in Square Mies: 158,297
Population: 25,000,000
Entered the Union: September 9th, 1850

well, as you can see, i didnt bother you with a lot of facts today...I have mercy sometimes :))))

California, USA (04)

I like it how colourful and vibrant this map is...reminds me of a warm summer....which is actually appropriate since this card is supposed to show some of the major touristic attractions in California...and that Pacific Ocean on the left simply makes me crave to go and have a nice long swim....i miss that a lot....

I may not know all the places on the card but some of them ring a bell, being realted to something....Disneyland...i dont even need to explain this, even though the only Disneyland ive been the is the one in Paris...Pasadena...reminds me of Depeche Mode and the famous Rose Bowl concert...it is featured in the 101 CD/DVD edition, then its Malibu...reminds me of some soap opera...i think there was one with that name...reminds me of a nice cocktail as well....something creamy definitely...Santa Barbara....wasnt there another soap opera called like this...or maybe took place there?? Im not sure coz i dont watch these, but they have been soooo much advertised that they simply get engraved into your brain...Mojave Desert....I love that "Mojave" word......Fresno, reminds me of concerts.....Yosemite...i cant figure it out right now, but i know there was something related to this as well...Sacramento, reminds me of basketball....San Francisco....there are way too many things to be related to San Francisco actually.....

California, U.S.A

Another one from the set of lighthouses


St. George Reef Lighthouse

Perched on an exposed rock off the coast of northern California near Cresent City, St. George Reef Lighthouse took 10 years to build, From 1892 until its deactivation in 1975, the light from this concrete and granite tower warned vessels away from hazardous reef hidden beneath the surface.



and here is the nice matching 26c. stamp

California, U.S.A

California, U.S.A