From my 3-day perch at Tap's ranch, above the Humbolt River and the Pacific Ocean, in Klamath, California, I can nearly see the Redwood National Park. Heck, I can nearly see forever.

My notes say this is in Sonoma, California, but then, where else could it be? As the ocean breaks against the rocky shore, and the landscape lunges upwards to the heavens, banks of fog lull in your presence. They're quiet, serene and friendly. Do not be afraid.

LIKE SURFING? You'll like northern California.

ON A CLEAR DAY, you can see L.A. Here is a view (on a clear day, believe it) from an observatory near Los Angeles, California. I can't remember the name, but they should name it "The James Dean Planetarium" because they are so proud that he acted here, during filming of Rebel Without a Cause.

HALF DOME, at Yosemite National Park, California.

SOMETIMES, THE LIGHTING IS JUST RIGHT, and so is the mood, and everything is beautiful, even that which so many, for so long thought was so ugly. (Roy's Motel, in the Mohave Desert, Amboy, north of Twentynine Palms, California.)

El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.

IT'S PRETTY ugly, the thought of building a house atop this beautiful rock, but I can't resist. (A small, but beautiful beach park along the northern California coast.)

A SEA OF LOGS in that same park is an ongoing semblence of disaster which is a routine way of life around here.

The lighthouse at Battery Point, somewhere on the Pacific Coast Highway. I can't remember where, but when you're drifting through heaven, you can't be expected to take notes.

A JOSHUA TREE, in or near the Joshua Tree National Park, southern California.

SOMEWHERE on the northern California coast, there is a little park, where only the gift shop is accessible, and the best view appears after you plead with the cashier, and she takes you to a back room above a staircase, and she opens a small window, and you get on your toes and crane your neck and camera outside and you gaze into the vista. To see the grandeur of this shot, study the waves hitting the shore -- we're about 700 feet up.

IT TAKES ABOUT AN HOUR to hike up here, but Vernal Falls is worth the trip. In fact, it's worth the whole trip to Yosemite National Park, in southern California.

I DIDN'T KNOW how to make this shot work, but then a teen-age kid ran up and posed in front of (inside of?) the tree, and it worked.