Field Trip - Disneyland

Things I learned at Disneyland.

Mallards are just as interesting when in a theme park, and more interesting than many of the "attractions":
How to wash ones hands:

don't most people learn how to wash their hands before they can read?

$6.50 kid-sized burritos are truly lilliputian:

portion fail

Girls can be silly:

daughter-of-a-friend Lux on left, Celeste showing off her "snake teeth"

Vending machines can be far too realistic:
It's possible for lawyers to ruin everything:
Cotton candy is good:

You can run into long-lost friends:

Stump and the grrls

Sunday At Calavera

Since we're due for crummy weather all week...
...and in spite of Celeste's cold and Allie's lingering sickness, I suggested that we get out and do a little local exploring this morning. No Field Trips to San Diego or LA, we just took Juno all of five miles up to the Calavera Lake trails in Carlsbad.

Parked the car at the closed produce stand where Carlsbad is planning to build a new high school...
...slipped thru the gate...
...and walked down a dirt road to get on to some of the trails. Unfortunately Celeste didn't have a whole lot of energy, so we didn't get too far. But the grrrls both needed and appreciated the fresh air.
Celeste found a perfect retrievin' stick for June Bug...
...and, being a Lab, we pitched it down the creek over and over and over and over again. After all, it's unpossible to keep this dog out of water.
We headed home after an hour or so, with a wet, stinky and happy dog panting in the back of the wagon.
After lunch I returned with my bike, a 2.5 hour "hall pass" and the desire to get a better feel for how the extensive trails intertwine to form the fun network. I've ridden Calavera a couple of times with a local friend as well as brought Celeste to the lake on the north side of the open space, but still didn't know it well enough to be able to fully navigate it solo.
Most of the trails I rode today consisted of relatively-smooth and twisty singletrack on decomposing granite and surrounded by abundant California Sage. Minimal elevation changes and everything I rode today was in my bike's middle ring.

Being the car dork I am, I made a point of stopping to check out a long-abandoned Toyota.
Amazingly, the '71 Toyota Corona my dad owned from 1976-85 had far more rust on it than this "KE20" (second generation) Corolla of similar vintage does. Early Japanese cars + Midwestern road salt = a very bad case of tinworm.
The block and transmission were still in place...
...but the 1166cc (55HP) block had been "well-ventilated" - a thrown con rod perhaps?
Just across from the Toy, but far-less complete and unidentifiable (by me at least) was another CARcass...
My hunch? Some small British roadster. The British Racing Green floor pans are a good clue.
Nice flaking paint on the inner side of the door.
All-in-all, I put in about nine miles and 1500' of elevation gain over an hour and a half of exploring the trails, sometimes doubling-back to better figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together.
Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. Now this storm front needs to blow through quickly so I can head back next weekend.

Summer Vacation - Day Two

Day Two had us waking up in San Luis Obispo with San Jose being our destination and a whole lot of US Hwy 1 to get us there. We packed up camp under clear skies that morning and headed west to Morrow Bay. Unfortunately the coast was socked in fog, so the cameras sat idle for a couple of hours.

just rolling in to the coastal fog

Allie grabbed a mocha at a local coffee shop in the sleepy town and we hit another great stretch of 1. North of Morro Bay lies San Simeon and Hearst Castle. Just as the clouds started to break, we noticed a number of minivans and RVs pulled along side the road with families gawking at.......holy crap - zebras(?!?!).

I threw the telephoto lens on and snagged a few shots. Apparently they're just some of the many exotic animals from the legacy of William Randolph Hearst. We didn't have time or budget to tour the castle this time, maybe the next time we head north.

putting the binoculars to good use

Miles and miles later we all needed a bathroom break and came across Ragged Point Inn at the perfect time. Situated on a, yes, ragged point jutting out high above the Pacific, this also proved to be the most-photogenic stop on the entire trip. The magnificent twisted trees also satiated Celeste during her summer of climbing.

Rocky Point even has a nature trail that takes you down to the water's edge. See it below? No?It's a long way down and an even-longer way back up. Legs already comfortably stretched from wandering the grounds for about an hour, we wisely stayed up top as I was itching to get back on the road.
At this point Hwy 1 becomes extremely winding. Fun in the van, likely not-too fun for those piloting lumbering RVs along the coast.

mandatory thru-the-windshield shots

For the second day in a row we managed to find another nice, wide spot in the road and pulled over for lunch.

rest for Klaus

sadly I can't find the third shot of this series - the one from Celeste's card

Of course a few turns up the road we found an even-better turnout with a fantastic view, barking sea lions and beggar squirrels.

"nom nom nom" -squirrel

The journey continued...
...we did quick detours through downtown Monterey and Santa Cruz and then met with friend Don at his office in Scotts Valley. Got stuck behind a car crash on CA State Route 17 (one of the most dangerous highways in the state), then soldiered on to Don and Stacey's place in San Jose.

And to satisfy someone who says I never post any pix of me, here goes:

dork with camera

Something I Learned Today

That my wife has started blogging. Actually I learned this a couple of weeks ago.

Check it out h e r e.

Weekend Wrapup

After spending a week traveling in the upper Midwest, I was happy to return to the San Diego area late on Friday night.

Saturday's highlight was running down to North Ponto beach for a little fresh air.
Celeste also took some pix herself (not shown), with her camera for her beach birthday party invites. Sadly I had the new point-and-shoot camera in crappy lo-res mode. Must remember to reset to hi-res...
Our grrrl really comes alive at the beach, she truly needs nature in her life.
Sunday involved redeeming our free LegoLand tix that we were able to score with the tix that we used back in December. The park was a ghost town - no one is visiting Carlsbad in February on overcast days during the financipocalypse. Good for us as there was virtually no waiting at any ride.

First we took a boat trip and saw some more Miniland structures:

NYC with new Freedom Tower behind Lady Liberty

We rode this spinning thing (like the classic Teacups ride) 3x without having to get out of our seat. Once we were the only ones on the entire ride.

Who knew that being pitched around by a giant robotic arm could be fun?

LegoLand received a fair amount of press last month with the Obama inaguration at their US Capitol.
They even had a model of Aretha Franklin, complete in her goofy hat. See the grey figure at the center of the pic below.
Allie out on a Sunday safari
Celeste and a sponge
Celeste learning how to drive a small, plastic Volvo-branded "car"
And a mold that pumped out 120,000,000 Lego 2x3 plates:
We spent a few bucks on some Danish plastic to bring home. Another great weekend in Southern California.