Are those mountains in the background across the water in your CA sunset? Is that contrail broken up? Is that contrail anywhere near as thick compared to the vehicle as the one we are discussing?
They are very spectacular sunsets.
That photo above has what appears to be not mountain peaks, but possibly a fog bank.
Also when looking west, from say, Redondo Beach, across to Malibu, your going to see what appears to be islands out in the ocean, when it’s actually Malibu, looking west north/west across the Santa Monica Bay.