California V: An Inside Look at Yosemite National Park

Wednesday provided an opportunity to see, in some detail, facets of management at Yosemite National Park. I spent the day on a field trip looking at, and talking about, the fire program at the Park. They have a very active fire use program--re-establishing fire to its pre-European role in the ecosystem--as well as a fuels management program that uses prescribed fire, and a fire management program that deals with wildland fire that may or may not threaten Park infrastructure. They also have a great fire education program that engages staff, visitors, local residents, and school kids.


We took a look at the Giant Sequoia groves at the Park, and particularly at the use of fire to maintain and protect the groves. Talk about the need for fire education--there are a lot of people who ask a lot of questions about setting fire in those groves. Fortunately, the Park Fire Staff is skookum--that means they know what they are doing in Forest Service speak.





Of course we also were immersed in the beauty of Yosemite. And I wasn't the only one gazing off at Half Dome and El Capitan--I caught this little lizard enjoying the sun and the view of the valley!

California IV: Goodbye Los Angeles, Hello Yosemite

We bade farewell to Los Angeles this morning and headed out over jam-packed freeways to make our way to Yosemite. After three exits, we crawled off the 101 and took surface streets, Chiara, our trusty GPS, correcting us constantly. Finally, sensing her frustration, I turned her off and we went by dead reckoning until we hit the 405. From there it was smooth sailing up the 405-5-99 to Visalia, a little southeast of Fresno where we stopped for lunch and a couple work conference calls.

I decided that Fresno was the place to get gas before we headed to the park, so we hopped off the 41 and found ourselves in a Ring of Hell that Dante didn’t describe—strip malls and no-large-sign-zones, making gas stations and grocery stores almost impossible to find. Half an hour later, we managed to fill the tank, and Chiara, back in our good graces, piloted us out of Hell and back to the 41.

Down the road, we passed through Coarsegold, stocked up on some wine at Oakhurst, and headed to Yosemite National Park where I will spend the next 3 days in a conference room while Nancy explores some of the most beautiful area in the country. At least the conference room has windows…that look out at tourists headed off to have fun.

Los Angeles, California III: Another Day in La La Land

We spent the day doing what Angelenos do--driving around. Wow, it is some kind of sprawl. As Nancy's son says, "Everything is 20 minutes away." The entrance ramp metering lights for the freeways are even active on Sundays and the traffic is not much different than weekdays in Portland, except the speed is 10-15 MPH greater and horns are freely used.

We ended up in Venice (we did spy one of the remaining canals left from when they tried to make Venice Venezia), Venice Beach (where The Dude lived) and Santa Monica. We tracked down Chez Jay where, rumor has it, Daniel Ellsberg handed over the Pentagon Papers to a NY Times reporter and where Henry Kissinger used to take his girl friends. It wasn't open for lunch when we got there, so we had to take a pass and head for Trastevere, which is a pretty authentic Italian restaurant.

After lunch, we strolled along the park above the beach where I snapped a picture of these gnarly trunks. On the way back to the car we came across a sign coming down from a storefront--letters in a pile on the street.

Los Angeles, California II: A Day at the Ballpark and More

Day 2 in Los Angeles found us at Dodger Stadium to take in a game between The Blue and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The two are apparently battling for first place in their division although I don't follow them 'cause they are National League where every 9th batter has no chance of hitting the ball 'cause they are pitchers. It was a great day at the park but it wasn't packed with action. Lots of strikeouts. A couple walked in runs. Manny Ramirez struck out with the bases loaded, but atoned by hitting a 3 run dinger the next inning and a 2 run ground rule double in the following frame. That one looked like it was going to be caught, but the right field Diamondback coiled up in the wrong spot, lost the ball in the sun, and Manny actually had to run when he saw it drop in. Then he slowed down when he saw it bounce over the fence. Never seen a ball player with baggy rapper kinda pants...



But, all's well that ends well and the Blue trotted away with a 7-2 victory.







Then we cruised Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards where we saw this large thing Ronna, a stretch Cadillac Escalade! Pure Hollywood! Add to that a cell tower disguised to look lile a palm tree and you've got Los Ang-gel-eeze!


Topped of the day with BBQ at Dr. Hogly Wogly's in Van Nuys--good BBQ with giant portions in a funky joint.










By that time it was...

Los Angeles, California I: A Really Big Donut

Nancy and I are visiting Los Angeles--Los Ang-gel-eeze, as the Stranger calls it in The Big Lebowski--to see Colin, Nancy's son, and check out the sights and sounds of Tinseltown. The third time is the charm, I guess. First try was a train trip for Oscar Weekend, but the Coast Starlight was cancelled in Sacramento since it was about 8 hours behind schedule. We rented a car and drove home. The second try was in conjunction with a meeting I was to attend in San Diego, but my trip was canceled and LA along with it. The third time, well, here we are.

As the plane was coming in to LAX, I looked out the window and spied a donut shop with a really big donut on it. Lo and behold, our GPS unit took us right to Randy's on the way to the freeway and our hotel! Eat your heart out Ronna!