The Giants win the Pennant and the World Series!

2014 the San Francisco Giants are a most unlikely team to win the Series. Some of their most trusted players, the reliable core where stricken near the end. Replaced and sent on their way by the pride of the Giants minor league and some skilful trades for experienced pitchers.

The Giants were the team that had to play through the pressure of winning the one game wildcard against a formidable Pittsburgh Pirate team that almost won their division. The Giants had to win this game in Pittsburgh. But as happened throughout the season this team seemed to be almost better on the road that at home so no account. What some considered the best team in the National league was up next. They faced the Washington Nationals. In the mean time Saint Louis was taking out the might LA Dodgers... thank goodness. The LA Dodgers had set themselves up in this season to be the west coast version of the Yankees. But alas to no avail. They went down.

The San Francisco Giants St. Louis Cardinal series was a tough one. Both teams took losses at home. One of the games went 18 innnings. But in the end the Giants with a low home run total came through in the end. They demonstrated a way to generate runs without a hit. Walks work. No matter how hard the pitcher throws the ball, they ball must go pretty close to the strike zone to limit the damage.

When the Giants met the KC Royals who also worked themselves up the ladder from the wildcard slot the form of each league with the designated hitter allowed in the American League but not allowed in the National league challenged each manager to set their team to do the best they could with each game. The American League had won the All Star Game which allowed the last games to be played in the American League with the designated hitter. But as a truism in this game and in most others, good pitching will defeat good batting every time. The winner of game seven while on the record is Jeremy Afelt, the MVp for the World Series was the humble cow rancher from Hickory North Caolina, Madison Bumbgarder.

The games were exciting throughout. Most runs were made through infield hits or infielder errors. This allowed for the games to be pretty tense through most of its length. The Kansas City Royals were very much like the Giants in their make up. They usually relied on their speed on the bases as a equalizer. In the world series this did not happen as much.  I feel that the arms the Giants had in the infield and the outfield defensively limited this action.

So all hail to the hometown heroes. The Giants are the World Series Champions once more.  They have had this honor for the last three out of five years. Will they wait a year and win in 2016 or will they repeat next year.  This decision will basically happen when the players contracts who are up for free agency are settled and many of them are sure to go find better money on other teams. So is there any more gas in the minor league teams to support the player crunch that occurs through injury and free agency.. Time will tell and that is why they play the game.

Finally a little Fall

It has been a really hot summer.  More days than usual in the triple digits. Fall has come officially and the weather in Merced has finally caught up a little with the label.

We have highs in the 80's and most of the day it is keeping us comfortable in the 70's.  The new whole house fan has seen some nice use this summer and fall.  When the air temperature outside is cooler than what we set the air conditioner, we use it to even out the difference.  If we leave it on all night only the rooms that have a window open equalize. Overall the house temperature drops to about 71 degrees. My friend from England found it interesting that they work hard all summer to trap the heat in the house and we work hard to get it out of the house.

The other signs of the fall are pretty evident.  Baseball is winding up and the local teams are both in single game playoffs called the wildcard.  Both the Giants and the A's are sort of limping into the games in their respective conferences with wounded wings.  The A's are suffering since the trade deadline just after the all star game.  They traded away one of their highest paid Cuban players, Cespedes, and immediately their offense and win making power seemed to drop.  The Giants have had a tough time generating runs and have taken to importing the strength of their farm teams fire power to ignite the old coals of a winning streak to take them to the end. Such firepower is not without liability in the defense. They really had not much of a chance to do anything else as their prospects for post season play dimmed when the overpowering pitching strength of the Dodgers took center stage. So we shall see. A single game will determine if either or both continue into the playoffs and have a chance to play and hopefully win in the world series.  As they look now, I wouldn't  give odds that either of them are balanced powerhouses that seem to be needed to win the October World Series.

Football is once again center stage. So many flags are being thrown that this sport has the chance to become another soccer where the analytic power of the referees and their marching orders to "change" the sport will take the sport out of the endeavor. This year there a a number of defensive backs that have resorted to using their hands into the face mask to slow down the progress of a pass receiver or running back. Pass interference is a very often called. The referees are checking that 5 yard limit of contact carefully.  What seems to have disappeared this year is the call on roughing the quarterback. This call was made routinely last year.  Overall I am pretty pleased to see that the NFL is getting serious with its play on the field. There were way too many concussive events that were allowed to go on without penalty in the past. I am less excited about the NFL's stance on domestic violence with its stars. There is still a chance to catch up so far this has ignited the conversation for the public. Good may eventually come out of this debacle.

In the meantime there are some really good chances to work outside and whip up the yards before the serious wet weather comes.... we all are hoping for some of that this year in this drought stricken valley. Hopefully next year there will be enough water to have a front courtyard annual flower garden. : ) Pat 

Crested Butte and Bud Light

The advance team came and checked out one of our favorite ski towns, Crested Butte, for a wild Bud Light Party. Crested Butte is tucked away about 30 miles North of the Gunnison, Colorado. Crested Butte has a town population of a bout 1000 people in the summer and fall.  It is a big ski town and its winter population may swell to about 2500 people. It is not on the main road to Aspen or Breckenridge. It is out of the way yet can be reached by a jet airport in Gunnison.

At first many residents were massively skeptical that the town council would sell the town for 250,000 dollar for one weekend in September. What were they going to do there? What crazy activity would go on? Why such secrecy? Eventually the town got 500,000 for its trouble.

I week before it was actually going to happen the council approved and the party began last weekend, September 7.  The people who were invited to come were all adults and most of them were over 25 years old. They applied to be in the party, on line of course. 1,000 actually came. Bud Light chartered jets that landed in Gunnison and the party goers arrived in Crested Butte.  800 support staff also were there as Bud light figured to add about 2 million dollars to the local economy. 300 local laborers were also hired. The didn't count the 500,000 dollars that Bud light donated to the city as a legacy payment. Was that enough for hush money?  Most of the people in the area ended up thinking that it was well worth it. The Gunnison Times had a full color spread of the activities of the weekend. Bud light is now running slick advertisements of their fake mayor and their the party town that they constructed in Crested Butte. The Gunnison Times reported that the local hot tub company "rented 6 hot tubs" and returned them in good shape. The payment for their rental allowed the local people to get a very good deal on the hot tubs that were used in "Whatever" town, Crested Butte. Gunnison, 30 miles away saw increases in their motel occupancy for two weeks before the event and a week after the event. There was even some people who attended the party that thought they may come back and enjoy the area after all of the hoopla as over.

As reported in the Gunnison Times, when the town was reconstructed as the party town, gigantic cloth barriers were raised to disguise advertising down mainstreet that would take away from the tone or the focus of the revelers. Local people were invited to some events but not others. The disco and the music venues were strictly reserved for those who had won the contest and were supported at the party.

So what did they do in the heart of the city at 9,000 feet above sea level. If they drank just a little like my father, they were falling off the bar stools from just one beer. No these were people that represent main street beer party drinkers. This is the crowd that Bud light is hoping to widen their appeal. This age is quickly discovering "craft" beer and they have to find a way to make their beverage one that represents this"carefree" lifestyle. So.. rent a town in the middle of rockies, develop a carnival atmosphere, have parades, silly contests, and loud crazy music. Invite the people you want to be seen drinking your beer. Film it, chop it, have people report about it on the internet, and make a thousand cool commercials that get people to ask about what it is all about and you have accomplished your mission. Its the new music video advertisement. It is one way to gather those lost souls and say... you really belong to us. Have a bud light.

This advertisement for Bud Light stands in the wake of the Miller lite ads that claim precedent in the light beer march, claiming that they represent the very reason through a lightly plausible string that young middle age people even exist.... baffling.

With Bud light's investment in Crested Butte, the big question will be... for how long will we see pieces of Crested Butte show up in their ads.  Was it worth it for Bud Light?  Time will tell.

Back to School 2014- But Retired

It is back to school season once again in Merced. Today is the second day that students are back in school. Even though it is August, many students will not report until after the first week of September. Classes are filled to the brim. Some students will start the year sitting on the floor. There ware some nostalgia pieces. Merced finally has a new school that will open up to all of its 9-12th grades. There are no more portables in the two other in town schools. Faculty has been reasigned and students are no longer Cougars or Bears they could also be Gauchos.

I will have to admit that there are some feelings of disconnect. After a career of 35 years in the public schools as a speech and language Specialist I know that this is the time of the year that caseloads are examined. Schedules are made. Contacts with the students are established and established from over the Summer break. There is a myriad of things that need to be done to get the school year on the road.

It just doesn't happen when you are retired. Many retirees use this time to travel. One of my retired friends is off doing a Great Britain-Scandinavian cruise. Looks like they are having a great time.

Some of my working friends look at me in envious manner as their next school day is tomorrow. They are onstage with a couple of dozen (at least) eyes on their every move. They have some concerns regarding Common Core, the latest of an era after era of marching reforms that education will have to endure.  No profession is so vulnerable to public scrutiny as public education. It is so easy to think that education would be better if it did xxxx model. We have lived through many of these. The principal administrators that foist these great visions soon move on and the district is left in the dust by good intentions and usually not enough money to see the plan through. Thirty plus years of being messaged into one plan or another is enough. It still gets right down to what retires miss about teaching... the student and the teacher. The teacher brings some content and a methodology for thinking and learning and the student brings a willingness to take this and think and act and learn in a new way. When it works, which it almost always does, there is nothing more rewarding to the teacher than to see this happen.

Teachers have to revitalize themselves and challenge the way they teach at least every five years. They need to be adding something new, recreating their teaching methods or develop something that will challenge them in the classroom. There has been no way that the school as a institution has been successful in developing this in teacher. The last contract that I negotiated had provisions for professional development included. This is a start... but really the answer is deep inside the teacher It has to come from within and it there has to be some realization and check points to discover that it is personally necessary.

I think that what I miss most is the interaction with my colleagues. Even though they may be working in different content areas, and this job is decidedly solitary, there is nothing like adult interaction that makes the day complete. Sometimes reform objectives isolate rather than consolidate peer thinking. Many of my colleagues have retired too. Just going back to teach would not bring back the peers and fun that we had being on the staff of a high school campus. We have been replaced by a new crop of teachers that have different expectations of their students and their job. You cannot go home... although some teachers try to do this through substitute teacher.  Some need to do it to survive.

I do not miss having to find a place to work each year. Except for the last two years of my career I had to find a place to work to see pull out kids. This was often on the benches outside of their classrooms. Testing materials were always problematic. There was little support for professional conferences. If you happened to go to a conference, you were channeled all the students that could be diagnosed with the conference's them for the next couple of years.

So yes, I feel the prangs of not going to work... my life's work. But no, I do not miss the challenges of educational reform and the logistics of the job especially this time of the year.

Meeting with the Thursday Morning Guys

Every Thursday morning I try to meet with a group of men teachers that have been meeting for about 20 years. They are all retired, as I am. Most are between 70 and 80 years old. A friend of mind very close to my age also meets with this group.

It is an interesting group. Everyone pays their own way and usually there is no comment about what anyone orders unless it is significantly different that what he usually orders. A couple of guys order oatmeal with all the additions, (fruit raisins, walnuts, brown sugar (don't tell their wives) and milk. A couple of the guys only order fruit, but once those has taken to ordering a half waffle with his fruit. He gets a take out container to drag home the waffle to his wife (I suspect). A couple of guys order country potatoes and scrambled eggs. My order varies on the whim but it is usually a half waffle, a couple eggs and a small meat portion. It could be ham (my latest choice) or sausage(two) and the eggs can vary from scrambled to poached.

The purpose of the meetings is conversation. Politics are usually avoided as some of the folks tend to listen to or watch the inflammatory channels and after the intial statement from these sources there is really not much to discuss.  In other contexts my discussions with a right wind set seems to crumble after the shock headline to a simple statement that goes something like this..... but isn't true that we will lose status in the eyes of other governments for all the things we have done. It all wraps up in their imagination that the US is dependent upon other nations for our status by what we do or do not do. I guess I am over that. Or status can by screwed up so easily.

So with politics off the table what is there to talk about.  Today one guy was talking about the concept of how the new houses were being built in his neighborhood. One of them was 2600 sq feet with a three car garage out in front that allowed two cars to be slotted. So actually you have a 4 car garage. He was amazed that there was a significant slope sliding from the back car to the font car which would allow for easy conversion to a new room if wanted later. The lot that this house was on was pretty small. They were asking 394K for it.

Today we heard the horrors of putting your 403K into your trust. One guy said that when a death occured the trust is bound by the state to cash out the 403K directly. This brings up taxation issues that wouldn't occur if the 403K were maintained outside of the trust.

Another guy was excited because his driver won the NASCAR race at Indianapolis this weekend. Jeff Gordon has won more NASCAR races there than any other driver in its 20th year.  He was pretty excited that he won because he was given the key to the city earlier and was predicted by his crew chief that he would win prior to the race. He did not have the pole position to start, just a mighty fine car for that race on that day.

One guy had tales of his father running accountancy for the Fresno boxing events in the old days including a brush with Don King.  Everything was cash. I entered into the conversation with a tale about my boss who sold his house in Livingston to a drug dealer that paid him off in cash, and then was hauled in to the courts to describe how his was paid for his real estate and whether or not he received a discount for his cash payment. The courts found fault with the realtor for the transaction.

The credit union board member had a tale about getting paid 4300 dollars for a used car on a weekend. He arranged payment in the lobby of the open credit union and when she finished counting out the 20s told him it was a stick up....ha  ha... he had to admonish them that it was not a good place for a joke of that kind with the cameras used for security in the lobby.  

We heard the foils of a to do list from a landlord that came just after a tenant had caught up with her rent. It was just a laundry list of little things.

There were some reminiscences of times in the classroom but it seems that these guys are living more in the prospect of the future than the glories of the past. It is a very good group to see each Thursday morning.

Whole House Fans and the Central Valley

I have been in pursuit of a whole house fan for almost a year.

My coffee drinking buddy had two installed in his house over a year ago.  But his house has got more square feet than ours by quite a bit.

My mother and father-in-law had one in their Ft Collins, Colorado home.  It replaced the ubiquitous 20 inch fans they brought out each evening to eat dinner beside and watch the news. They worked reasonably well  and my wife was completely sold for them in the Colorado climate. Their temperature, a good dry heat most of the time was completely abrogated by the afternoon cloud cover and the by 3:30 there was no more build up to the heat and most  people endured their summer weather without air conditioning. The whole house fan was installed to reduce the evening heat build up in the attic and to draw cool air in from the windows especially when it came time to bed time. The 20 inch fans worked wonders in drawing cool air into the living spaces and making the evenings pleasant indoors but they failed to address the issue of very hot attics that returned the heat to the living space after the fans were turned off.  My mother and father-in-law would have the whole house fan work just an hour or two and summer evening and could come indoors away from the pesky mosquitoes that tortured outdoor living.  

The central valley summer night heat is another animal. Our heat generally continues to fire through the afternoon and into the evening until the sun goes down.  Then in a couple of hours 10 to 15 degrees are dropped out of the 90 plus degree temperatures reaching our coolest temperature about 2 am sometimes in the 60's. From 11am through to the evening we live under the air and the the attic even though vented with 3 turbines and end cap releases still harbor air most of the night. Our "cool" water at the sink doesn't get cool without running quite a bit of it as the attic temperature heats the copper pipes as the water makes it way to the various spots it is used in the house.

So how would a whole house fan work in that environment? Using outside air that is warmer than what you have cool using air conditioning doesn't make sense. Our inside air is set at 78 degrees. The air needs to be below that temperature to be affective. The use of the whole house fan before 9 am is when the most effective use of the fan is noted.  On many weeks we have days that the temperature does not reach 90 degrees. Those days can be very effective for evening use of the fan.

The fan takes the outside air from windows that are opened and doors that are opened and shoots the indoor air up into the attic and eventually in less than 30 minutes the outside air into the attic too. The house stays cooler longer with realistic attic temperatures. Windows need to opened to allow the air to come inside. The wider the window is opened the more air flows into the room. At least 3 windows need to opened or the fan could crack your windows.

This year at the fair there was vendor that was selling the fan and installation. They would provide a 300 dollar discount if you signed up at the fair. They had a booth at the Merced county fair but Sue wasn't with me when I went in to find out the particulars. So it got set aside. At the Stanislaus County Fair they were there too.  Sue was with me and we signed up. One week later and 1600 dollars later it was installed in our main hall.

A member of the two man install team crawled up into my attic at 7:30 am.  He pulled away from the attic floor the insulation and sunk four holes into my ceiling wallboard with nails. From those four nails, after carefully measuring from down below, a saws-all type saw cut the hole that they mounted the frame for the louvers. Out in the front 2x6 wooden framing was fabricated and lifted into place and supported by my ceiling truss. The fan was positioned and and secured in place. Electrical was found and attached to the dead doorbell connection. The wall mounted control area was located just under the programmable thermostat. No exposed wires were needed. It also came with a thin remote control. The louvers were installed on the outside of the frame and a stopper peg was installed so that the louvers would not stay open. A quick run through and check was made of the remote and the various positions on the device. The two guys brought in a power vac and cleaned up after themselves and were out the door with my check in hand in just under 2 hours. 

Sue was not too happy about where it was installed.  She thinks that she will end up staring at from the living room way too often.  I reminded her that she could have had a say in where it was going to be but opted out.  That didn't win me any friends. She thinks that she will get used to its location eventually.

Right now we are using it almost every night to get the house under its 78 degree cooling temp. Most nights it can drop the temperature in the house to under 72 degrees... as far as comfort ... it is yummy. Yesterday was the first night that we did not use it.  The outside temperature did not drop to under 78 until after 2:30.  We kind of missed out cool breeze. It still worked pretty nicely when I fired it up this morning at 7:00 and shut it down to let the air conditioning take its place at 10:30.

The company works out of Sacramento and Fresno sending installation teams all over the valley. The installer said that he had put in over 200 of them last year. This year he seems to be doing more. The Sacramento team was doing about the same.

Post Forth of July

It is just after the forth of July in Merced. It can now be hot... although it has been pretty hot in the valley all Summer.

We are going through what the meteorologists call a Monsoon weather pattern. This often occurs this time of the year. It is what gives Western Mexico its yearly rain accumulation numbers. It also brings "weather" to places like Las Vegas.  Massive cloud cover has been the order for the day in Merced,  but not a drop of rain has fallen. It has been  much to hot for rain. You smell rain in the air but it evaporates before it hits the ground.

We are supposed to reach 106 today and would have been that hot if we didn't have that cover of clouds yesterday. It only reached 97. It was one of those rare days when you could say... it is hot really hot but it is a dry heat.... no it wasn't a dry heat and surely wasn't going to be either. Today started somewhat the same way.  The clouds, however broke and scurried to the mountains before noon so the earth could heat up.

We are down to watering lawns just two days a week. In past years even in drought years, we have been allowed to water for three days as a part of our not having water meters. This city has some ancient water rights even though our city water comes from wells deep below the surface. water is not supposed to end up in the gutters. As it is now, if water ends up in the gutters it is quickly dissipated by evaporation.

It has been estimated by some scientists that it takes 35 years for the water to peculate from the surface to underground reserves that we use on a daily basis. All around Merced and many other valley communities have huge evaporation areas  areas around development so that excess water is allowed to get into the ground water during winter storms.

This year was particularly parched around here. Merced had the lowest rainfall in many years. We had just 4.5 inches of rain for the entire season.  The average for this region is about 12-14 inches of rain. Water and water rights in the west have always been an issue of contention. In the future it will be even more important as we balance interests of Ag and their need to support their businesses with water and the needs of a growing population that needs water for domestic needs as well as recreation.

Merced Fair Time 2014

The temperature outside has finally cooled down a bit from the highs last week. Anything over 100 and we all are major sissies. This week the fair came to town. The Marshall Tucker Band played last night. It was the premier act of the entertainment.

It seems that we are in the predicted drought of live entertainers. When Rap became a major player in the music scene, we old timers that could not understand its appeal spoke often of its lack of nostalgic elements. The quote goes something like this,"What will these kids remember when they are our age about their music?"

We had years as we grew up, a rich heritage of doo wap, folk and funk. Jazz translates and so do good casino entertainment. All fairs had a local "big band" that sorted out and supported the performers as they made it up and down the valley to the various county fairs. Rock bands even continued when their might be just one member left to carry on the franchise. Most of that is gone. Rap and modern country needs a different environment to be successful. Their are no "old Rap singers" hitting the county fair trails.

To be fair (no pun indended) are shorter and are trying to make it without the support of the an endangered activity, the horse race. All the fairs used to have a horse race component. The gambling taxes supported the fairs and their entertainment budgets. Not so much anymore.

In the commercial building, the small out of town hucksters with their miked up demos can now be seen monthly at your local Costco as they ply the same waters and hook the same customers... er fish. Public service booths are still there. They raffle away cool pocket prizes with a spin of the lucky wheel... clack clack clack. We have a winner here. The politics are still here with lots of buttons to push out.

Its kind of funny, the latest bit of news on the vendor front, is that Budweiser refused to pony up its $25k to be one of two beer vendors so with Coors jumping in with their 25K they have an exclusive. The cinnamon roll franchise always does better in the evening as the night air cools... just a little.

There are still lots of 4h and FFA exhibits both animals and mechanical. Fear is still generated by the carnival rides and the crane bungee jumps. Merced has a bring your entry to the fair at a given time and free admission will be offered to generate interest in their cooking contests... almonds, salsa and ribs in consecutive days.

Some art, but nothing compared to Alameda or  Stanislaus County's fairs.

Still its local interest and something to do in Merced.  And everyone knows that Merced needs someplace to go and something to do in the summertime. A local bullriding company is putting up its local bulls on Saturday night. Some of bulls have been used in the pro bull riding circuit. If its like last year, the bulls are better than the riders.... so it will be fun to see who stays on.

: ) Pat

The Suite Life

Two Suite Selections

Suites in the  Bay Area and Sacramento were what we got in our latest Hotwire.com encounters. We usually use hotwire to pick our hotels. This weekend Hotwire choose a couple of suite hotels for our use.

Variables in Hotwire.com

My variables in picking the selection in Hotwire  measures off stars, all hotels are rated by stars, customer satisfaction rating and  price. In Hotwire, hotels are offered by price and stars  but not by name. Each hotel while not named has a customer satisfaction percentage that allows a judgement to be made on what percentage of the people who chose this accommodation were satisfied. My desired percentage is 80 percent or higher. Once a choice is made and paid for by paypal, the hotel name is revealed.

Amenities are also listed and may factor into the choice. If breakfast is included, that can save the traveler between 8 and 15 dollars per person. This is also critical if your stay is in a industrial setting where options for breakfast require getting in a car and traveling as well as finding your way back. Many of the business hotels in quasi-industrial areas have some very good deals because their usual business, the business expense traveler,  is back at home on the weekends and these businesses do not look good in the occupancy ratings if they are left to languish on the weekends.

Particulars on a Lead up to a Memorial Day Vacation

Which brings us to our travel this last weekend.  We were after an overnight in the San Francisco area on the Thursday before the Memorial Day Weekend. Sue and I were driving over to drop off a neighbor at the airport, see our daughter, look in on the museum and stay overnight. Transport into the city and back was provided by our truck so location in the city was not so important and we were not dependent upon an airport connection either. The best deals in the San Francisco Bay Area if the criteria we live in are met usually occur in the Oyster Point Area of San Francisco. It is important to pick a spot that doesn't require the traveler to pay for parking if possible.  This can add up to 18 dollars to the final tote. These charges are somewhat mitigated in the Anaheim area in their resort fees as the hotels have shuttles that can save you 18 dollars plus in Disneyland parking fees.

Larkspur Landing in South San Francisco

This weekend we just happened to get two suites in the industrial areas selected as our overnight choices. Each had full kitchens and dining areas provided. Both were had parking lot views. One had flat sceeen tvs in both rooms while the other a flat screen tv in the kitchen living room area. Both were represented as handicapped accessible, and both were on the third floor.

In South San Francisco we spent the night at a Larkspur Landing Suites hotel. It is a Stash hotel. It comes with a great 50+ flat screen tv with a DVD player and selections of check out DVDs at the front desk. It had a very nice feather bed topper style bed that was very comfortable.

Accessible features in this one  was a pull down shower chair in the tub with a removable shower head. An 18in toilet also is a nice addition.  This one passes.

The art in the halls showed some taste. There were prints from Georgia O'Keef and a fly fishing print from one of the Taos collectives, Walter Ufer.

Overall this place has the look and feel of an upscale extended stay place.There was even a grocery store gofer service. You leave a list in the morning and they would have your groceries for you in the afternoon.

The night was quiet, and nestled inside the South San Francisco Industrial complex on the east side of 101 there didn't seem to be much going on in the cubicle jungles of buildings around us. Starbucks was not within walking distance. Breakfast was strictly continental with a healthy theme of a couple of oatmeal types and toasters brought into the business area off of the small check in lobby.

We used a smart phone app to get us to the site off of Gateway which is an extension of Grand Ave. with a whoops si doodle overpass for the freeway and the train tracks.

We used our truck to get some burritos from El Faro on El Camino. This happens to be Sue's favorite burrito spot.

Hawthorne Suites Inn Sacramento

The Friday night we were staying in Sacramento. Later I discovered that this weekend was Sacramento's famous Music Festival weekend. It used to be strictly Dixeland. It now has broken off and become Blues and Dixieland and Jazz. I think overall the downtown spots were reserved way before we did our hotwire search.

Our usual search leaves us with a Holiday Inn Express just blocks from the center of town for about 54 dollars a night. When you factor in breakfast it is a great deal. This night's deal was a 59 dollar selection that also claimed to be downtown.. but that was a stretch. Those people headed up to Redding on I 5 would recognize the Richardson turnoff as the last turnoff to the city before it becomes suburban.

There was just a removable shower head for their idea of accessibility. We were in the top floor which was near the mainlobby.

This is a semi industrial area of Sacramento. There are low level office buildings all around this campus looking complex.

The Hawthorne Inn is Wydham hotel. It looks a little dated in its current form, although it worked out for us. It looks like it is set up for a large conference, with everyone getting a work area in their room. We were on the top floor, the third with very tall ceilings. The coffee maker had single basket Seattle's best in it. The breakfast was super. sausage, eggs, three waffle makers, juice bar, yogurt refridge, hard boiled eggs on ice, loose fruit, packaged danish.

The lobby area was expansive. Some people were waiting across the way for a shuttle bus to take them to the festival and several that were eating breakfast had on their festival buttons ready to go. It looked like everyone was counting on the breakfast and took decent advantage. There were all sorts of people staying. Some young families, and some extended families were also there. There were just a couple of couples in their 25-30's in the mix.

The road home took us over the Old Sacramento area. Sue looked down and saw that the streets were blocked from vehicular traffic and the people were crowded on the streets. The temperature was starting to climb into the upper 80's even a 12:30.

Overall it was a nice experience to see the difference in the Suite accommodations from both settings. There was a difference but overall unless you were going to spend serious time in either the upgrade from the100 dollar a night Larkspur Landing from the Hawthorne would not be worth it. 

Day 6 Solvang to Merced

California Land Form Diversity Solvang to Merced

The Reputation
 California to the rest of the world is something of a mythology. In the mind of those who have not traveled to and through California, it is a place of Hollywood Stars on every corner. It is busy, it is urban and pretty noisy. To those who have taken some time to travel within its borders, California is full of contrasts both physically in the land forms and emotionally in the form of quiet out of the way places that allow one to recharge their batteries and get a grip of the life as well as those .

Contrasts in the Scenery
Our last day of vacation was full of both of these contrasts. The land forms around Solvang are simply beautiful. Its farmland that would approach the quiet surrender that one finds around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the East. Today we also traveled to a part of California that not even a scrap of vegetation volunteers to grow, yet provides California with a huge jolt of economic power. I am bit intrigued by writing such verses.

Solvang and its surrounds is quiet. My local Starbucks barista told me that her parents go there to get a way from a frenetic lifestyle in Ventura. It is easy to sit on the many provided benches and enjoy the quietness of the day. The town has a definite laid  back style and its easy to get caught up in it. Sue loves to pause and see what is seasonally available at the old fashion hardware store near the end of the main street. Many residents meet and carry on social conversations as they meet their neighbors who stop to pick up a pony pack of annuals for their gardens or talk to their friends about an upcoming gathering. Life rolls on in this town on a Monday morning. The residents in the hardware store get a resident discount on all that they buy. In the other stores it is amazing to see that the ubiquitous UPC labels that are read by point of sale computers are not present. The young retail clerks in one souvenir gift shop, the middle aged lady that took my money for some cards at Rassmusens and the retired and back to work owner clerk at the on sale costume jewlery store all carefully wrote down on a receipt book what was purchased, added up the total with a calculator and  entered the price paid at the bottom of the list. It has been along time since I have seen that happen in a retail store.

Solvang Charms
The clerks were happy to talk about their lives as they completed their sales. Sue talked to an older guy that owned a costume jewelry out let that told her all about running two bakeries before "retiring to sell jewelry 3 for 5 dollars. Sue found a handful that she could not walk away from for the price. While Sue was looking at the scarves at another boutique, I talked to a Las Vegas escapee that was running a souvenir shop. She had quite a tale about working in the casinos for 32 years before coming to Solvang to run this little shop beside the bakery. Sue found a couple of treasures and again she dutifully wrote them down and took my money.

I let Sue pick the choices for the bakery to go box. She picked me out some choices that I would probably not pick but were fabulous. She chose for herself a napoleon and a cream puff. For me she picked out a couple of macaroons. She knows I have a weakness for coconut.  They were fabulous but I probably would have picked a danish sweet roll if given a choice. But the macaroons were the best I have ever tasted and they showcased their coconut magnificently.

Solvang is set up for a wine tasting. This was not something that I cared to do with the 5 hour driving trip ahead but it is one of those things that people do since the popularity that the wines of the Santa Ynez valley received in the Oscar winning movie, Sideways. About 35 wineries have set up tasting rooms in Solvang. On a Monday morning they were all pretty empty as we walked by.

Solvang is set up for the tourist buses. There are major parking lots next to the city parks in the middle of the town with massive restroom facilities provided by the city so as to lure in the highway 101 travelers on the crawl. We had done the shops and were on the road to Paso Robles by 11:00. Paso Robles is the spot on 101 that we veer off and take the inland route to get to the Central Valley.

Back on the Road up the Coast

As we were trucking up the road I got a call from my sister and her husband that suggested that we find a place in Solvang to meet up and have some lunch together. At that time we were in San Luis Obispo about 70 miles north. It was a great idea.. but we were pretty intent upon moving up the road and getting home soon.

The road up the coast takes an inland jog as land on the coast is reserved for Vandenburg Air Force Base. It is the place on the west coast that the military launches missiles. When ever there is a UFO "sighting" it usually is not a UFO at all but rather a missile has been launched and lights up the evening sky. The launches are from this spot on the California coast.

Highway 101 rejoins the coast at Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo where on this day the breezes coming in from the ocean were about 30 knots. The road follows up a canyon where there are exits for the Cal Poly campus. Eventually it reaches exits for Pismo Beach, Avilla Beach and Shell Beach. Paseo Robles is further inland and is the home of the mid valley fair and rodeo each year. All the big stars in country music make this fair for a stop on their road trip. There are also many winery tasting rooms in this area too.

We made the turn at Peso Robles and at first the road is pretty scenic as it rolls through the rolling vinyards. Then another junction and suddenly we are in a ghost like land form. There are many layers of sandstone that drop off into other layers of sandstone as we travel through the oil rich California region known as Lost Hills. Not a house in sight for miles and miles. Not a stick of a tree or a wild grass of any kind lives in this area. It is desolate. I make the choice to angle a little North as we come through the area that the legendary movie star, James Dean lost his young life in the late 50's. It is also the area that a coffee drinking retired teacher friend of mine got nailed for traveling 7 miles over the speed limit and had to pay 350 dollar fine and attend a traffic school. You can bet that I was watching my speed as we headed for Buttonwillow a wide spot on interstate 5.  We stopped there and found and IN and Out burger joint and were ready to head north.

My navigation program has a time estimate feature. We could save 25 minutes by angling North on highway 41 from Buttonwillow. It would leave us in Fresno which is about 59 miles away from Merced. We took that direction even though our usual way would be to head up interstate at 70miles per hour and scoot over at Mercy Hot Springs road to the road that would take us through the valley past Dos Palos and into Merced.

The Buttonwillow Road to Fresno was a great road. It followed a couple of canals and rolled us through Lemore, a naval air base in the middle of the valley. suddenly out of seemingly nowhere, a freeway overpass appeared and we were trucking through Lemore. As we got near Fresno the highway became separated and there were a couple of traffic light the two lanes became four lanes Sure to its estimate we were in Fresno and headed home right on schedule.

The cats were very happy to see us and were were happy to see them.

 A Great Vacation was had by all!

Day 5 Tripping to Solvang from San Diego

Leaving San Diego with Regrets

Somehow every time I leave San Diego there is an emptiness in back of your mind which reminds you that that you seem to be missing a major part of the city that you will have to come back and see another time.

We left San Diego and the hotel on the circle with several destinations left behind. Even though we were just a couple of minutes away from Old Town and all of its cool charm, we didn't get a chance to experience the shops or the ambiance.  Our hotel was just a couple of minutes away from the transportation center that housed the red trolly system and that would have been a really nice way to get down to old town and see this attraction.

Just like Old Town square we also missed visiting Sea World. It was also so very close by and just at the foot of the hill that we were staying.  I am sure that our hotel was a major overnight destination for the families that were taking in Sea World.  At the desk I heard that some people had a package deal that included Sea World tickets. Next time, next time.

The major battle ahead of us this day was the battle through LA traffic from Interstate 5 which goes up the center of California to a connecting freeway that would take up to highway 101 the more coastal freeway that follows loosely the coast from LA and Malibu to Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and eventually San Jose and San Francisco. Our end of the journey today was  and the Bueleton which is just past Santa Barbara and before reaching San Luis Obispo. Solvang is a small town just 4 miles inland off of highway 101. Overall the trip is a 5 hour test of your freeway patience. When we reached Solvang we were still 5 hours away from home.

 At any point along this adventure it would have been easy to chuck it all and head for home.  The passage out of Southern California to Merced is just 5 hours of driving provided there is little traffic. So if you pick the times you on on the road this trip is just a little longer than a trip to the Bay Area or a trip to the wine county.  San Diego adds a couple of more hours but still it is a reasonable exit if the vacation becomes too much.

The last time we were at Solvang we put it on the front end of our trip to Southern California. Sue was marshaling a much bigger power chair which was basically incompatible with the gift shops of the little Danish inspired town. She had a very concerted interest in doing Solvang on the way home.

This time the vacation was not too much and with a very willing cat sitter who texts us on a regular basis it freed us up about any worry concerning our furry cat kids.

On the Road again LA Freeways

We cleaned up the room and got all the dirty clothes in one of the two bags we brought and headed out of an almost vacant hotel on Monday morning. We ate the provided breakfast once again and we  and took our chances on the life that so many Southern California residents live, the LA freeway system. My iphone app charted us up the coast and back on the familiar I5. It wanted us to take a toll road or two but I was most comfortable driving the roads that I knew best.  We made the right turns along the way and I religiously and continually merged left losing lanes as we trucked up through the San Clemente, Anaheim, and later Thousand Oak arms of this system. As we drove by the Laurel canyon turnoffs of the backside of the Hollywood Hills.  I thought of my niece who was recovering nearby. My sister and her husband had streaked down to help her out as she was emergency room engaged. Her condition was quickly stabilizing and her boy friend from the Sacramento area had also descended to support her emotionally. We sent good vibes as we knew that somewhere nearby she was recovering.

In the mean time the traffic had increased as the afternoon raged on and all of the local school buses had merged on to the Interstate. We were all headed to coast and the nirvana that is represented in Ventura.

An amazing thing happened as we headed out of Oxnard, just before Ventura. Suddenly the traffic disappeared. We were no longer shuttled in the capsule of 35 to 45 mile an hour moving traffic congestion. We had been in this conga line since we passed through Anaheim on I5 3 hours before.

Reaching Ventura it was time to get some gas and we sought a Chevron station on the Community College Exit along our friend, Highway 101. The wind had picked up and the ocean along the left side of the rode was developing little white caps beyond the waves. As we pulled up into Santa Barbara the clouds started rolling across the road as the wind blew them. We arrived in Solvang about 4:00 in the afternoon. Our paid reservation through Hotwire got us a nice room in the Holiday Inn Express. The East Indian receptionist seemed to know that we were looking for an accessible room and had one waiting for us at identification.

Entering Solvang, We made it!

Solvang is a Danish styled town with all the buildings (about 8 blocks long and 3 blocks wide) in the large exposed beam architecture of Europe in farm design. There are big windmills that don't work but symbolize wind power. Even our hotel at the western end of the town conformed with the beam exposed high loft design. The Hotel is built on a steep hill. Its reception desk and breakfast room and pool are all on the half floor between the parking garage which is under the rooms and the first floor just a half a floor up.

The last time we were in Solvang it was early November and there were vestiges of a business pumpkin contest all around the city. The flowers were minimal and the crowds were gone too.  This time we arrived on a Monday and similar crowds were present. We pretty much had the town to ourselves.  The hotel cost drops significantly from weekend nights to nights during the week. There is a 150 dollar surcharge for weekend lodging so it seems.

Lots of annual flowers are in window boxes everywhere in town. The feeling you get in this town is a gigantic Southern California sigh. Have a seat in the shade and rest a while. Not much noise and the the weather is just right. 

This little city has definite hours of operation. If you expect to tour the gift shops after 5pm you might be looking at lot of items in the windows without access to getting in to the shops to buy. The bakeries are open just a little bit longer, generally closing around 6. They tell their customers that they will open quite early in the morning so they need to close early in the evening, and not everything will be available when they open in the morning.

Solvang Puts the Danish in Danish Pastries

As near as I can tell their are four major bakeries in this small town. They all make pastries that are to die for and to die from. Nothing but butter is used to make the danish wonders out of puff pastry dough that give the bakeries their reputation. Sue is fond of the crispy waffles. They are two 9 inch very flaky dry pastry ovals that have pastry cream between them with a small steak of raspberry jam running from one end to the other. I love the bones with are fruit filled squares of puff pastry four inches square that are filled with various pie fillings. I think to see a "danish" done properly with the 2 to three inch "puff" around the fruit is so unusual. Its really how they are supposed to be produced. All of these bakeries have buckets of cookies that can be shipped anywhere in the USA. They are pretty special too.

Sue took a rest in the bed when we arrived while I set about on foot to sample a couple of goodies and bring some home for Sue to try.  The shops were all closed by the time Sue finished her nap and I returned. 

Easter Sunday at the San Diego Zoo

Day 5 The San Diego Zoo

We woke up and I headed to the provided breakfast at the Comfort Inn and Suites on Hotel Circle . It was located on the fourth floor. There were many families also grabbing a bite to eat before headed to their Easter celebrations or their travel plans. In the parking lot there were cars from many different states.

The breakfast was pretty good with sausage, eggs, cereals, and four, yes four waffle machines with two canisters to pour out the patter. Two of the waffle machines that you activate by pouring the batter from little cups and dropping and turning the handle 90 degrees made four tiny individual waffles.  They were used continually the entire time that I was in the breakfast rooms. There were two eating areas that had TV's set up so that the morning news would not be missed. Some of the families were from other countries and almost all of the breakfast crowd had kids along with them.  All of them were really well behaved and understood that the whole thing was a terrific treat.

We got all geared up and headed out the door. I had checked the maps and confirmed that we were just 15 minutes away. The Iphone gave offered us two choices. One choice had us zooming down the freeway to connect with Interstate 5 and then after 5 minutes on the Golden State, we would take an exit and head up the hill to connect with Balboa Park. The other choice, which saved about 5 minutes had us back tracking up the freeway and jamming over the top the ravine's hill and down the other side to connect with the crossroad of I5 to Balboa Park. We took that one and with just one crazy move that almost took us off the freeway in a suddenly appearing exit only lane to enter at the base of the Balboa Park hill.  Balboa Park is a wonderful San Diego treasure with the zoo occupying the back third and museums, Imax movies and other picnic and park treasures connected to the side of the hill. It was once the cite of a world's fair and many of the buildings and infrastructures remain. Many are being updated to accommodate earthquake standards and Americans with Disability act accessibility.  One of the really cool things about this public park including the zoo is that the parking is free. This also makes the parking lot very large. Many families had brought their picnic to the park and were enjoying their families on blankets and portable chairs.

We did a drop off here in front of the zoo entrance with Sue's power chair because it would save some of her battery and I had forgotten to pack my big camera. So I dropped her off and retraced my route back to the hotel and picked up my camera.

When I returned Sue had found some treasures in the gift shops and we were ready to board a two tiered open aired bus to see that grounds.

The entrance fee is the same as the entrance fee at the Safari Park, 45dollars. You can save a little by showing your AAA card at the entrance. If you live close by, you may be able to save some serious money by buying a membership. It is still a great deal when you look at the value included. Newbies like us get a bus trip from one end of the park to the other with a knowledgeable guide that points out all the salient features of the park. A casual visitor will see about 75 percent of the park with this help and can pick and choose where to go once the bus drops them off at the top. Every bus rider is cordially invited to have their photo taken and prints are available with the license to use the prints sold extra.

We took the zoo bus and has a great time looking over all of the parts visible from the bus. It was now time to think about a little lunch.

Most of the crowd had bought lunch and were on their merry way. We picked the sandwich shop looking for a salad and a sandwich. I picked the pulled pork sandwich and Sue picked the California salad sans avocado.  We shared up and had a perfect lunch.

After lunch we staggered around on the top terrace and took in some of the animal exhibits.

And interesting one was a small exhibit on hummingbirds. The zoo had established a great arboal cannopy  within a small area. When we first walked in it was hard to see whether anything was housed in this little area. pretty soon jealous birds starte to appear and it was obvious that they were ready to protect their territory. A couple of very tourquise and tellow bird started flying overhead. Then some birds with a touch of red on their throats seemed to appear. It was really a place to sit down and watch as these birds seem to be doing more flying than hoovering.

We checked out the monkeys  and the baboon enclosure, The wooded treeline inclosure allowed the monkeys to swing easily in a 5 story arena. We got to the bottom of their enclosure via an elevator. Ofter zooming around on the ground floor a while we looked at the map and discovered that the tiger area was not far away. We were a little dismayed when the route to the lions was posted with a beware of walking devices warning. When we asked about it at the top, the people said that it was indeed pretty steep and probably not a good idea to push that limit. After experiences at the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden, where the only way up the the gift shop was to unmounted the power chair and walk beside it, we decided to not take a chance in San Diego with little battery endurance. On Easter Sunday, all of the usual people that help make these transitions were not around.

We stopped at a few other exhibits along the way, including a much smaller meekat display, and decided that we had gotten our money's worth so we headed back to the car and back to the hotel.

When we arrived, there were suddenly many more spots to park in the parking garage. and the place seemed a little unpopulated.

After a rest Sue asked me to go get something to eat for us. By this time I was trusting the Iphone maps to navigate me home. It was daylight and much easier to find yourself around. I knew there was a big shopping center just up the freeway from us but it was completely shut down do to the Easter celebrations. So off I went to look for someplace open.

I came across a spot that looked promising. I followed a tour bus off the I5 connection and he dead ended in Point Loma. Point Loma is a interesting area of San Diego. There are many hotels here just like Hotel Circle on the I8. It is also home of the farthest West spot in San Diego area. A state park area called Cabrillo State Park sits at the end of road. The major road through this area is Rosecrans. A great little amenity area is located up the hill from the Shelter Cover marina area. It claims to the the America's Cup port. When I arrrived there were people who had spent the day on the Bay/Ocean and were getting back into their cars to go home.

I found an ATM and a Greek oriented pizza place called Gus's. It featured gyros, kabobs, and pizza. It was run this evening by a couple of Latino kids. I ordered a 12 inch pizza to go and a antipasta. The pizza was 13 bucks and the anti pasta was 8. Both seemed like great deals.

I used the Iphone navigator to get me back to the hotel. It was now dark and the basic instructions were just head down Rosecans for a couple of miles. Then it talked me through the cloverleaf sections of the freeway and soon I was back home.... even in the dark.

Sue was pretty pleased at seeing the pizza and it was a very good pizza. We saved the antipasto for dinner at our next night's stop, Solvang.

San Diego Safari 2 and on to San Diego

Saturday

San Diego Safari Part 2

After the great time seeing the Lorikeets and the people enjoying the Lorikeets we headed back to the branch of the trail and started to head further over the crest of the hill. A very nice formally staged restaurant with tables cloths and silverware is situated on a beautiful shaded deck terrace. There were  a few people enjoying the view from the top of the hill down toward the dry revine. A huge balloon was stationed there and as well as a way station.

The elevator to the Safari

We walked over the hill down to a tower looking building that we discovered had an elevator in it. It took people down about 70 feet from the edge of the ravine to the little building at the bottom.

So the power chair, which was getting drained of power once again and us took the elevator deeply into the ravine. The huge balloon was offering stunning viewpoints. I asked if Sue was interested in doing the balloon she said sure. But alas the balloon was grounded due to the winds.

 We got down the the little building. We could see that there was sort of a roadway that was provided for expedition vehicles to roar past. We could to seem to find out where we could get on one of these trucks. We noticed on our left side that people were arriving from their zip line adventure.

They were seated on swing seats and they came in in groups of three and fours at one time to a person that unhooked their "swing". Sue thought that it would be a lot of fun for her if she could get past their agility requirements. She might be able to to this with a little more research. Overall that was what we were lacking in total.  Assured previous research as to to where to go and what to do. Where are my planners when we need them... Ha!

We were still having the best of times and I was getting some really fine shots of the people enjoying the park together.

Mango Sorbet

We found out that the little building that we had spotted from the top was an ice cream store. One sign touted their new mango sorbet. I convinced Sue that she had to have one of those since mango is her flavor favorite. The mango sorbet was a frozen treat that came from a hollowed out half a mango attached to a stick with the mango sorbet replacing the usual enormous pit and attached mango meat. It was a great treat even at 4.50 a piece.

Once again Rescued by a Golf Cart

We tried to stop a 25 passenger bus with a lift as it passed by. The lady driver said that her lift was broken and therefore could not accommodate our chair. She offered and we accepted to have a golf cart rescue sent by. The golf cart came by and it had a ramp up by the driver's side and was dedicated to handicapped use. Once situated the driver took us right back up to the top of the hill via the backway. It was just as good as both of us had pretty much used our energy bank to get to where we were in the park. Next time we will know that we need to get to the bottom of the hill and get on a Safari vehicle that would take us through the Safari route.

Endangered Species Merry Go Round

Back at the top of the hill we spotted a merry go round. Sue felt a little slighted that she had not been able to get on the one with the rest of us in Disneyland. She was happy to jump on the merry go round that was composed of animals representing endangered species. It was a nice 3 dollar add on. Or for 6 bucks you could ride it all day... imagine that? Sue opted for the sled as it was a pretty tough reach for her to get up on the animals that were moving up and down. There were a half a dozen kids that thought the merry go round was pretty special to, they selected their favorite animals and off it went. Everyone had a great time.

At this point we decided that we had experienced enough of the park for the day. She had a chance to run through the garden store and enjoyed the way they had cactus and other succulents planted for sale.

 Animals and their Handlers

On the last hurrah before headed out the gates we stopped at the little grassy stage area where a lady from the park was bringing out animals and describing them. She brought out a frogmouth bird. It looked like an owl. It wasn't and owl and she explained what this one pound animal did to survive. It holds open its mouth which happens to be brilliantly yellow and attracts insects in. Then it swallows them whole. It does not have vicious claws so it depends on its wily to survive in the Indonesian wilderness. When big birds fly overhead it shrinks itself into a column so that it is not noticeable from the tree bark that is its background. Some turkey vultures almost on cue flew by, and sure enough this little bird made itself small and tubular, The specimen that she bought out was 23 years old. It had lived there in the zoo for most of its life. It was born at another zoo.

The lady also brought out a large brown 8 foot constrictor like snake. It knew to stay pretty close to home and she described its origin and what it liked to eat. The crowd seem to love this sort of interpretation of the animals that were brought out.

 Hotel Circle in San Diego

We slipped out of the gates and headed to our truck. I set up the phone to guide us to our hotel in the San Diego City's hotel circle. It was a easy drive and the directions got us on Interstate 8 as we headed south and west about 30 miles to the hotel.

Our destination was the Comfort Inn Hotel and Suites. I had  paid for two nights on Hotwire.com We got the room, very nicely appointed with a refrigerator and great bead and a full breakfast in the morning for 57 dollars a night.  What a deal!

It was night before Easter and the hotel was pretty packed. There were lots of kids in the pool and the parking, an additional 10.50 was pretty full under the hotel. The main desk said that we could avoid that charge by parking out on the street. I opted for the parking because of our lift for the chair on the back of the truck.  That night Sue sent me out for take out food. There were no places nearby that I could find, so up on the freeway I had to go. I finally found a Subway in a liquor store  in the Sunset area of San Diego. To get back was a bit of a challenge especially since it was now dark. I flipped to maps on my phone and followed the friars road out of the Sea World Island and it got me right back to the hotel.

We both had experienced a great adventure that day and it was nice to let it all calm down out of our heads and bodies and get some rest. For next day was our Easter Day trip to the San Diego Zoo. By all accounts it was just 15 minutes away.

: ) Pat

Day 3 So Cal Vacation- Tie up Anaheim and head for San Diego

Saturday

Santa Ana Airport

I got the sisters off to Oakland early Saturday morning. Finding the John Wayne airport in the daylight is much easier than in the night. They arrived at the Santa Ana Airport (the other name for this airport around 9am. Their plane took off at 10:30 so they had plenty of time.

I turned off the I5 too soon getting suckered at the Chapman turn off and had a scenic tour of the city of Orange and then Tustin. Eventually I found Keatella, and there is really only one Keattalla... so I headed West and found its intersection with Harbor and everything was cool.  By this time there was a traffic jam headed for the park and while I was secretly sorry that we would not be going back today there was a part of me that wanted to take it on even with the crowds.. such a glutton for fun.

Escondido

We had an adventure headed for us today however. We were going down to the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park in Escondido. The night would be spent in Hotel Circle in San Diego, about 35 miles away from the Park.

We packed things up and headed South on the Interstate 5. There were a few slow downs and outright stops as it was clear that this was a holiday crowd on the freeway. We passed San Onofre
with its huge nuecular dome and San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. The traffic started to slow down as we came close the Marine Base at Camp Pendleton.  Still we slipped down the coast and headed inland at the juncture of I5 and the road to Escondido.

Escondido was the place that Dad went to high school before he signed on and shipped out to be a part of the Navy in World War II. He spent many of his High School years living by himself, going to school and milking cows and picking lemons for his support. This town has surely gown up since Dad was here 70 years ago. Parts of the town that we discovered looking for the right road were still that little old mom and pop store downtown that you would expect off the beaten path. Some of the major roads were filled with the usual big box stores and fast food franchises.

Through all of this somehow we found the named road that would take us to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Coming our of Escondido it is spindly road that follows along the crest of a rolling hill than dives down and meets the connecting road to Romona on the East and further west to Interstate 8 that eventually dumps into San Diego.  Coincidentally, this freeway connected to our overnight spot on the Hotel Circle in San Diego.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park

We made the requisite left turn and headed up the hill to the parking lot. There was a difference in cost between priority parking and general parking but it was waved as we got out our handicapped parking placard. The parking attendant told us that we could park anywhere we wanted. We were aware of the strength of the power chair battery so we picked one that was close to the entrance. There was a big line to get in but someone from the park said that the people handling the memberships could also do the daily entrance. For some people the 45 dollar admission was a hard gulp. If we were to do it again, I think that we would have stayed an extra day in San Diego and bought the 118 dollar 7 day consecutive admissions that would also include Sea World in the package. This is available through Costco. 

The diversity and value is enormous in this park and the San Diego Zoo proper. In this park we waltzed through the gift shops and found some pretty cool things. One of them was a hat for me. The hat is similar to my walking hat at home but it actually fits over my head and comes down on the tops of my ears. It is tan with vents in the crown. It has a leather brim strip that allows for it to be held on the chin to avoid losing it to the wind.  It is pretty hard to find a hat that would fit me but here it was and just in time for the African savannah or what we thought was going to be a truck tour of this animals in wild environments.

Flamingos from Chile

We stopped at the flamingos, they were from Chile instead of the usual Caribbean or African ones. Their feathers are a very pale pastel pink. The ducks were busy grabbing food in the water from kids all to happy to throw some pellets they got from the 50 cent feed machines.

Meerkats

We had to stop and look at the meerkats. They were pretty close to the crowd. These little creatures are pretty loveable until you take a look at their claws. The live in underground burrows that they dig themselves. A TV series featured their activities on the Animal Planet. It was named Meerkat Manor. It ran for four seasons until it was canceled in 2008. There are about a dozen in Safari colony. Sue watched one of them come over to the glass and pee in the corner. Then another came over to smell it.  A little 8 year old wanted an explanation of what they were doing. Sue was happy to provide it. 

Gorillas

We had a look at the extensive gorilla exhibit which had a couple of families working our their life as the excited tourists including me fired off multiple digital images. One reserved photographer with a lens the size we would have loved to use shooting sports photography, was set up in the corner with a tripod,ready to capture the family unit. In the meantime the tourists were pitching out rationals for the behaviors they were observing like a screenwriter cranking our soap opera scripts. The photographer behind his camera showed a sly gin that basically disputed their rationalities. Strictly suppose alls.

We headed down over the hill and came to the lemur exhibit. A camera crew was set up to take photos of the families as they arrive. The were taken in font of a green screen. The pitch, we will put lemurs all over you. Lemurs have grown in popularity with the release of the movie Madagascar.

Lorikeets

We snaked around on this level of the terrace to come an unusual exhibit. There were kids and adults lined up to buy little cups of nectar. Right beside the stand was a bird double entrance. People go in one door let it close then go into the next so that the birds do not escape. Inside was a most unusual set of small parrots from Australia that have specialized tongues that feed on the nectar or flowers and berries. They are called Lorikeets.  Kids would get a cup of nectar and feed these birds from tiny plastic cups of nectar that they had purchased. Sue was all about remembering to get the nectar the next time we were in the park.

More tomorrow on our San Diego Zoo Safari Day. : ) Pat 

Part 2 Southern California April Vacation

Friday

Bright and early we all took a vow to get out there earlier than we had the day before. The result... maybe a half an hour earlier. We were all enjoying being somewhere else which was okay. Sue needed some extra time to get ready and eyes open so we headed across the street for some Coco restaurant sustenance.

California Adventure Day

Back to the Crowne, we loaded up and headed out to the park. I am always happy to let Linzi drive the expedition as it takes a little pressure off of me. We had anticipated a bigger crowd at the park. This day was good Friday and some people get to get off early for religious services. We decided to make the day a California Adventure Park day. It was a pretty good move.

Sue loves the gift shops on the avenue of this park. They seem to be an extension of the Downtown Disney venue so lots of plush animals plus everything else.

The little Mermaid attraction was down for some repairs and the line was 40 minutes for Soaring Over California. So we got some fast past times. They pass out little cards that allow you to jump the line for a particular time period if you get their reservation.

Soaring over California   has always one of Sue's favorite rides. To describe it to most people it would sound much more risky than it is. The passengers sit in rows and rows of swing set steel seats. The swing set rows are lifted to up into a huge circular screen while your feet dangle freely below your seat. This movement gives you an unobstructed 180 degree vision as you travel in a hang glider by video over various California scenes. Once up into the screen,  the swing seats do not move. Sue tells me that she still hangs on for dear life even though she knows it is perfectly safe. It is really a fabulous ride and drags in a huge amount of people at one time to "Soar Over California." In a previous time, we watched as a mentally nervous person tried to board the ride. His first reaction was that he did not want to stand in line. He attacked the attendant with all sorts of nasty comments about how many people were allowed to ride at a time and why was it so slow. The attendant calmly told him that this ride processed more people in and out of it than any ride in Disneyland or California adventure. When it got right down to it he was just too nervous to ride on it anyway and had to take an early exit before everyone was seated. This is really an easy ride to be on and there are no surprises.. it just looks a little scary.

Aladdin the Stage Show

Our next adventure was the Aladdin Stage show. This typifies what I always miss in modern theme parks. There is nothing like the shmaltz of Broadway Musical. This show does not disappoint. The theater is massive and it was filled to the brim as we waited for to me shown inside. Those with power chairs and their connected families sit right down in front as it is easier if they have an issue to exit early.

Aladdin is a great story of a poor boy trying to get noticed by the princess who is trying to find a suitable husband. Disney uses many of the staging that they used with the Lion King in the Aladdin. And this show costs no more than your admission to California Adventure. The show is not as long as the Lion King but there are some memorable songs that came out of the animated movie. My favorite is sung by the Genie.. "You'll Never have a Friend like me." The cast keeps it topical with references to current events. Sue, who admittedly is not a musical fan said after seeing this that she could stay and see that show again.

Throughout the show the cast uses the aisles and the overhead to make the show even more interactive. It really something not to be missed. The thousands that line up for the performances could testify to its value. 

We got separated outside of the show we were to meet up at the corn dog palace. Its a great spot on in the Wharf area that specializes in various corn dog delights. It also does cheese corn dogs and hot link corn dogs. It might be in the top 5 of all cheese dog restaurants (reference Sean).

 We thought that they were headed to the one on mainstreet by Monsters University. Luckily we were in contact with cell phones and corrected out moves.

At this time Sue was almost out of power and she had found a post that had a power connection that she plugged into to give her powerchair a little more life. When we met up, Sue and Heather headed to the shopping area and Linzi and Pat got a chance to take in a session at the animator's studio. This is a great place to sit right down and learn how to draw one of the characters in the Disneyl ine up with one of the Disney animators. It dose not get better than that. the little theatre had the animator down below with a projector on his board and each seat had a huge drawing board and a pencil to follow along.

We worked on Sulley, the big blue Monster from Monsters Inc and Monster University. It was really fun. There were artists of all abilities and ages that participated in the event. In the end we signed off the drawing and got to keep it.Throughout the day there are different characters drawn as the animators guide each group into the hints and specialties of the character.

When we met up with Sue she was in the same shape as her power chair, happily tired and out of power.

Sue and I headed back to the hotel via and parking shuttle and the sisters had a chance to do some Disney on their own.

Bonus Time with the Sisters!

That evening, I got a message from the sisters that they were up on the top floor of Tortilla Joe's in Downtown Disney.  It was about 5:30. They were having top drawer margaritas and enjoying the cool breeze. When I arrived there was a line of significant size waiting to get a table there. We watched as the waiters made big tables out of small tables and stole chairs from one place to another. We asked if we could be seated at a table to get served. This is usually not a problem. Tonight it was a problem as all the folks were waiting for tables outside the restaurant. The sisters were pretty amazed at the lines as we abandoned the perch and headed to Disneyland to have some fried chicken at the Plaza. AS we left we took a look at Tortilla Joes. It looked like good Mexican food but seemed overpriced.

The walk into Disneyland was easy and so was the Plaza fried chicken. It is one of the best deals in the park. We chose two plates and the three of us ate off of it perfectly. It came with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans.

We headed to Star Tours to avoid the fireworks. This tour started up with Darth Vader and backwards movement. It was one version that I had never been on. We almost missed the fireworks but there were some residuals as we rolled through the gift shop.

The trip would not be complete without a stop at Captain EO's.... Were going in! The show was as good as always and the 3D is something else even now.

At this time we decided that we had had enough and took the shuttle to the parking and headed back to the hotel.

Everyone had given it all they had without getting grumpy so what more could you want?

Happy Easter VACAY Disneyland.

Observations from the So Cal Vacation

We just returned from a great 6 day vacation in Southern California. We are roughly five and a half hours away from Anaheim our first stop along the vacation trip. We left a little late and suffered through some stopped traffic along our route so that it actually took us 6 and half hours to get down there.

It was April in Southern California. The weather is pretty hard to predict. We have been there before and it was icy cold and rainy during our visit to Disneyland. This year's weather was not uncomfortable but not rainy or hot. Easter is very late this year. Our trip occurred just before Easter. Starting on Wednesday night, we were out of the Anaheim area on Saturday morning.

The park was not packed but it was full. Spring break for the kids in school, with testing and the like can occur almost any time in March or April. The week before Easter was the traditional time we had Easter Break.

Wednesday Night

We decided to meet the kids (our daughters) down in Orange County for three nights and two days at Disneyland. They met together in Oakland and flew down together. We picked them up Wednesday night at John Wayne Airport and drove them back to our hotel in Garden Grove, about four miles away. Our youngest daughter, flew down from Seattle, our eldest daughter had to work late on Wednesday so she made it over to Oakland and together they flew down. It all worked out. I picked them up at the airport and immediately made a wrong turn and ended up at UC Irving looking for a freeway that would take us back to the hotel. My tech savy daughters used the map function and Siri on their Iphones to get us back on track and headed on the right highway to our hotel rooms.

Sue and I had arrived earlier and had hidden a couple of bags of chocolate Sees foil Easter eggs in their room. When they arrived they had a great time together trying to find all of the eggs. You are never too old for a good Easter egg hunt. They loved it.  We had a blast finding tricky spots to hide the eggs in the hotel room.

Our hotel, the Crowne Plaza Hotel is a great 3 star hotel with a great customer approval rating through Hotwire.com. We have stayed here before and like its accessibility to the park independently of the Disney parking shuttles. We got great 5th floor with super beds and quiet surroundings. This is pretty amazing considering that the hotel was also occupied by masses of Korean tourists with their tour guide and 7 busloads of junior high school band students from Belmont, California there for a band review and workshops. Many of the band members had parents traveling with them trailing the bus and a group of adult chaperones. The only time I saw the kids a little out of control was when they tried to have a soccer match on the Mezzanine level.

Thursday 
 
The next morning the girls and I walked across the street to the Cocos and had breakfast. Also, next to the Cocos is a giant Target. We are always happy to see this as we seem to forget one thing or another that makes a trip to Target an easy connection.

Sue was up when we got back and Linzi drove us to the Chip and Dale parking lot. It was full so we were redirected to the Buz Light Year Parking lot. We got our own bus that knelled and produced a ramp for the powerchair to zoom up. We let the people know that Sue could "transfer" (move out of her powerchair once it was positioned.) They are always happy to hear that. They were also happy to hear that we had lift connections so that they could attach their straps to the sides and save several more complicated moves to secure the chair to the floor of the bus.

We made it into the Disneyland Park with little line. Sue wanted to do the small world attraction first. We made our way to it and had a great time people watching along the way. It was lunch time so we decided to do the Carnation dinning area on Main Steet. It was a great place. As in most places we bought  dinner for three and shared them around to feed four. Its a great equation for us. I ordered a hamburger that had a a fried egg on it. The girls ordered a couple of spinach salads with dried cranberries and hard boiled egg slices. The appetizer was deep fried pickles.. much better than it sounds.

Mom's next choice was Pirates of the Caribbean. The girls split off and did gift shops instead. Sue is a connoisseur of  Pirates and delights at all the differences that they have made since that last time that she had rolled down the waterfalls in the little boats.

We tried to do Peter Pan next, but its line even for that handicapped entrance was too long and they were taking names for a return, Its appeal is getting on a ski lift sort of boat as it travels over the city of London in the dark. Alice in Wonderland was down for repairs and that could have send more people to Peter Pan.

We took a ride on the Mark Twain steamship. Having Sue with us allowed us first dibs at the bow seats. It was the first time the girls had ever had a chance to be at the front of the ship as it made its way around on the Rivers of America. How fun. We were the first on and the last off.

Sue had a great time in the gift shops. She bought a new watch. It has a subtle mickey in a white face with a clear plastic band. She likes to get a new watch each time. It is practical souvenir and most of the watches are not available on line or in any other store. She also bought some small silver Tinkerbell earrings.   

Sue and I did the horseshoe review. It was not as great a show as it used to be. No dancing ladies just a cowboy country comedy routine. It was a nice place to stop and share a mint ice cream sundae.

After that we all met up and headed through the throngs of people stopped to watch the parade. At one point we were concerned with Ariel as she looked too animated on her seaweed pedestal high above the crowd. We headed out the gates and got on our shuttle to the parking lot.

Power chair battery stamina is always in the back our mind so the batteries were pretty drained by the time we headed back to the room.

That night we ate at Outback and had a great dinner.

Honey Roasted Ribs

It looks like the world is conspiring against your baby back ribs on special. I got two racks of baby backs for 5 dollars each.  But alas.. its raining outside and that precludes using the barbeque.. which by way has not been checked out for spring/summer use yet.

What to do? What to do?  I looked up this oven approach from Cooks Country.. February/March 2013. My previous approaches with this this via slow cooker or pressure cooker were not spectacular. I dumped prepared barbeque sauce on and let her rip.. No so good.  This recipe... which calls for a roasting pan and dutch oven.. for the sauce no less is nothing short of spectacular..  I even substituted a half cup of blue agave sweetener for the full cup of hone and it is one serious marinade sauce... don't forget the cayenne pepper at the end for that kick.. you may even use a little more if you are after some heat in those ribs. This is much better than any bottled barbeque sauce. I could see using this on chicken as well... The timing noted would change. Overall I was pretty impressed with this recipe.

From the recipe:

To get ribs from the oven that actually have flavor, we found that marinating was key. Plenty of honey goes into our marinade, along with soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, and a pinch of cayenne to balance out the sweetness. After an hour of soaking up flavor, the ribs go into the oven covered, where they steam to tenderness. We boil down the leftover marinade to make a tangy-sweet glaze that we brush on the ribs during the last half-hour of cooking. After the ribs are sliced, a final toss in even more glaze gives us a thick, perfectly lacquered coating.
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Serves 4

Cutting the racks into thirds allows them to fit into the plastic bags to marinate. The used marinade is boiled and transformed into a glaze for the ribs.

Ingredients

• 2 (2 1/2- to 3-pound) racks baby back ribs, trimmed, membranes removed, each rack cut into 3 equal pieces
• 1 cup honey (I substituted half a cup of Blue Agave Sweet to make up a full cup)
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce      (I used lite kikoman) 
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 4 scallions, white parts minced, green parts sliced thin
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (Vary the heat heat here.. as it stands it is like the heat in Panda's orange chicken sauce)

Instructions

1. 1. Divide ribs between two 1-gallon zipper-lock bags. Whisk honey, soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, scallion whites, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne together in bowl. Divide marinade between bags, seal, and turn to coat ribs evenly with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours, turning bags ­occasionally. (I refrigerated it for 2 hours)
   2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set wire rack in sheet. Add enough warm tap water to cover entire bottom of sheet (about 2 cups). Transfer ribs, meaty side up, to prepared wire rack; reserve marinade in refrigerator. Tent ribs loosely with foil and bake for 1¼ hours. Uncover ribs and continue cooking until just tender, about 1 hour longer. (I used a covered roaster and a plastic moldable green roast elevator from Sur la Tab that my daughter gave me)
   3. Bring reserved marinade to boil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook until thickened to glaze consistency, about 5 minutes. Brush ribs with 1/3 cup glaze, return to oven, and continue to cook until glaze begins to bubble and ribs are brown, 15 to 30 minutes. Transfer ribs to cutting board (leave hot water and sheet in oven to cool), tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. (This step seems to make it reasonable for chicken the dutch oven will allow it to safely get to that barbeque sauce consistency)
   4. Cut ribs between bones, add to Dutch oven, and toss to coat with remaining glaze. Transfer to platter and sprinkle with scallion greens and ½ teaspoon salt. Serve.

Frost Tender is Gone

The weekend marks the beginning of the gardening season.

It is the end of the period of time that plants and flowers grown in the area can be damaged by overnight frost. If a frost occurs after this date, it would a a totally unpredictable frost. This doesn't mean that it is time to set out the tomatoes and the summer garden. The tomatoes would just sit and shiver in the evening and would work all the daylight ours to overcome the cold of the night. The real start of their growth occurs when the night time temperatures are over 50 degrees. Right now our overnight temperatures swing around 40 degrees. This is why it is good time to start tomatoes in the little peat pellets that expand in water to protect the seed. It takes a while for tomatoes to get past the seed time and develop their root structure. Maybe I will have some planting boxes made by then to allow them to grow and produce the one thing that Sue likes from the garden... fresh tomatoes. I am planting both early girl and a beefsteak hybrid from seeds this week. They will occupy the window sill as they grow. Later they will be transferred to small peat bots with planting soil and then to bigger containers before being tempered outdoors and eventually nurtured in the soil.

This is the perfect time for the fruit trees to blossom. The pluot trees have been blooming for about a week and a half. The peach trees in the front are just starting to bloom. It is interesting in that it looks like the peaches will not have much of a crop if you looked at their bloom at this stage. These trees start off with just a bloom here and there and eventually become a tree of pink.

The pluot trees take the side of the plum trees and have very white blooms with dark red centers. Nectarines take the side of the peach and have hot pink blooms. The pluots, half plum and half apricot take after the plum in fruit. They vary in color and taste depending on the parents of their linage.

The pomegranate will not bloom until it has green leaves throughout the plant. The kumquat has maintained its crop throughout the winter and provides a nice display of grape sized fruit right near the sidewalk.  The lemon tree was hammered pretty solidly early this year and is just now recovering. Most of the top leaves and the fruit on the top were damaged by the heavy frost.  I am interested in seeing if my artichoke plant will produce flowers and thus fruit this year. It looks like a division might be in order as a whole new plant seems to be growing up on the side of the old plant. The older plant seems to be in perfect shape for its third year. The Western Garden book says that artichokes can grow perfectly well in this climate zone but may require some shade and more water than than ordinary if in the heat. We certainly have the heat here in the summer.

The three new trees have been planted this winter. A moorpark apricot has been planted near the 34 year old Tilton apricot. A Fairtime late peach was planted in January near the new apricot. A Fantastic peach, a version of the classic Fay Elberta was planted on the east side of the yard. I am hoping that the Washington navel will survive the devastation of the early frost. Right now it looks pretty gone. All of its leaves are dried out from the cold.

So... onward and upward we would like some more rain... its been really dry this year... but realistically we are almost to the end of the rainy season with less than 3 inches of rain. Our average is usually around 9.

As this is President's day weekend, 2014, lots of kids were at my Starbucks having a coffee or hot chocolate beverage with their parents. It made for and interesting group. Most of the kids have been to Starbucks many times before so they pretty well understand the procedure and and very well behaved.
: ) Pat

Two Movies that will Suck you in- Captain Phillips and Rush

Rented from my closest Redbox, the two fifty rental fee was well worth the viewing of these movies.  Both of these movies I started watching with somewhat of a jaundice eye. What more could they do with the formula One racing that hadn't been exposed on the big screen. The movie Rush opened some new ground. Most people were aware of the situation of the seal team rescuing the sea captain from the throws of the Somali pirates. The movie, Captain Phillips, brings this story much more vividly intimate to the movie goer than the news stories of the incident.

Rush

Ron Howard directed this masterpiece of 1970's racing culture. It highlights the rivals for world championships racing for the McClaren and the Ferrari teams. The rivals are as different in personalities as possible. Ferrari, represented by the Austrian, Niki Lauda and, McClaren, represented by James Hunt. James Hunt has the character that we all suspect as formula one drivers. Niki Lauda has the character of the scientist driver moving into racing. The racing scenes are pretty authentic looking and the deeper character building of using your opponent to spur your recover was pretty significant in this film.

This is an engaging film on several levels. Its a snapshot of the middle 70's both in race cars and in fashion. There is an engaging emotional component with the car and quest. There is a interesting plot thread involving the women of these stars. There is also an engaging emotional thread in following how each of them use their rivalry to improve their race performance.

Captain Phillips

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. Tom Hanks plays the Captain as he attempts to protect his crew and his ship from the Somali pirates that board his ship an attempt to hold it for ransom. The interaction with the pirates and the interdiction of the navy and the seals make this one a real intense movie.

I think that this movie brings new awareness of our shipping business of these enterprises as they travel around these dangerous corridors. I was impressed by how inventive the captain was in protecting his ship before boarding. The toughness of trying to protect his ship from people who had so little to lose was amazing. Each side developed constructs from which to negotiate their side.

This is a beautifully made intense movie.