Ta. Hard to tell from photographs but some of those areas looked pretty well 'urban'!!
thing,
You are right. Just look at the map - "yellow" equals "urban". If the FAA strictly enforced the rules, there would be no SE GA in the Los Angeles basin.
After leaving Fullerton, pb84 and I were discussing forced landing options. There's always the choice of gaps in the freeway traffic - I figured a nearby, nice straight railway line would be a better option. He preferred the concrete ditch which is the LA River, but there's always the risk of meeting the Terminator on a Harley!
maxred,
Catalina is a must. I did it two years while trying out a Cirrus SR22 at Van Nuys. There was a 'marine layer' all across the channel and the runway (1602' MSL) was perched on a mountain sticking out of the fog.
I can see why a checkout is required though. My instructor told me that the runway was quite rough. Since he didn't know me from Adam and this would have been my first landing in the Cirrus, I readily agreed with his suggestion that he should do the landing. He did let me do the takeoff.
Also, as you can see from the photo below, there is significant potential for "curl over" on the approach:
pb84,
Good luck with the check ride. Will I have to call you "Sir" if you pass?