August 06, 2009
Family Drive
We left Fresno at 7:00 am Sunday morning headed for Mono Lake via the Tioga Pass through Yosemite National Park. Instead of using the Highway 41 park entrance I opted for the Highway 140 route leading to the El Portal entrance.
Just outside of Mariposa the highway follows the Merced River all the way into the park. This is one reason I prefer the El Portal entrance, the view of the river and lack of windy turns required on the more mountainous South entrance.
Once in the park we headed out of the Valley and connected with Highway 120. We were in Tuolumne Meadows 30 minutes later. Throughout my life I've visited Yosemite National Park, as many as 60 visits but have never seen Tuolumne Meadows.
It is as inspiring as advertised and equally popular. At 10:00 am the crowds were picking up.
At an overlook where my wife shot this image of Tenaya Lake I met a guy from San Diego on a bicycle that began his trip from Mammoth the day before. His wife would be picking him up in Sequoia National Park in a few days. A commercial real estate turned investor nearing 60 that always wanted this challenge. The people you meet always make the trip.
We exited the park at the East gate but were held up by a ranger for a few minutes. It seems they meter entrants, something I have not encountered in any visit to the park before. As we exited we passed by a line of cars at least a mile long waiting to get into the park. Lesson to travellers, get to the park early in the morning.
The descent to Mono Lake was straight downhill run . The setting is pretty spectacular and a complete contrast to the terrain just up the mountain.
After taking a good look at Mono Lake we moved 30 miles north on Highway 395 to the town of Bridgeport (elevation 6,700 ft). This is a place locked in time, circa 1955. It's a highway town with everything a person could need or want. Five restaurants, a handful of older motels, a general store, police station and jail, school, courthouse, museum and very nice people. About 1,000 people call Bridgeport home.We ran into a large group from Palo Alto, all Stanford grads, all graduated in the 60's, all in great shape in town for a week of day hikes.
We departed at 7 am via the Sonora Pass. I can say without reservation this was the most beautiful ride I have ever been on. The sun was bright, the air was crisp and we were the only car on the road....all the way up to the summit.
4 hours later we were home. Down into Sonora, through Coulterville on Highway 49, Mariposa, Oakhurst and home.460 miles in 30 hours. That's how we roll in this house.
Labels: California, Mono Lake, Sonora Pass, Tenaya Lake, Tioga Pass, Vanity, Yosemite
March 03, 2009
Flu
My youngest had it first, then oldest with the stomach variety. I got it and it sucks. I did get the Flu shot back in October but we all know that is a 50/50 proposition. I get the shot every year but fortunately I have been Flu free for 10 years or more.Saturday morning I woke up with severe congestion. I looked around for some antibiotics to self medicate but everything in the medicine cabinet had expired. I don't have a spleen so I don't take chances with secondary infections. Spleen less persons are susceptible to bacteria not encountered before they lost their spleen.
Bad news for me, I had to line up at the urgent care clinic. The place was packed and we were all there for the same reason. I waited 2 hours to see the one doctor on duty. She listened to my chest and within 3 minutes I had a prescription and was out of there.
During the 2 hour wait I sat in the outer lobby, not wanting to sit in a germ laden waiting room begging to get whatever else might be crawling around. While I was waiting I asked the pharmacist wandering the halls what this Flu was all about.
Pharmacists are always more willing to share details doctors avoid and here is what I was told about this Flu.
It starts in the throat, enters the chest in a couple of days. Half the patients experience gastrointestinal issues in time. The upper respiratory symptoms can last up to 4 weeks. While I was waiting for my meds a young man was quizzing the kind pharmacist about how to hasten recovery. He was told Mucinex, the expectorant not the suppressant.
Day 5 and I am getting better. Appetite is back and the fever threatening last night did not develop into a sheet drenching nightmare.
I searched Twitter for "Flu" and found others sufferers talking about it.
Google has a great feature for tracking the Flu with Google Flu Trends.
Twitter and Google tell us this bug is widespread.
April 22, 2008
Firefighter Blog Around The Web
I saved the screen and posted it here as proof because I expect big "G" to adjust the results and kick me down to remote pages where the post belongs.
My post yesterday about food hoarding was picked up by New York Sun as a blogger perspective for the search term "India". They have a food hoarding problem in India and their algorithm ripped through my text and thought it had something to add.
It didn't.
Part of the fun of blogging is being a part of the emerging web. We are in the primitive stages of web development, search and information delivery. My kids may look back someday at this archive (maybe on a bet) and it will be like looking back in those old timer stereo vision viewers that were hot in the late 1800's.
Labels: Hyperion, Off Topic, Vanity
October 25, 2007
SoCal Wildfires: View From a Retired Fire Captain
Watching President Bush arrive on Air Force One to tour the fire damage in the San Diego region adds a punctuation mark to the tragic fire events of the past week. What we're witnessing is an unprecedented fire event that is testing California in a number of ways.
It started with the Canyon Fire in Malibu, grabbing the attention of local and national media. Later that morning, the Buckweed Fire in Canyon Country above Los Angeles started followed quickly by news the Ranch Fire near Castaic could threaten the town of Piru.
With urgency, fire crews rushed to these potentially catastrophic Santa Ana wind-driven fires. Firefighters were rushing Code 3 to save lives and homes.
As the Los Angeles County fires became established, news of two fires in San Diego County crossed the wires. Ramona was being evacuated, Rancho Bernardo was put on alert.
Later in the day ,the San Diego County Sheriff was quoted saying, "This will be worse than the Cedar Fire." The Cedar Fire destroyed more than 2,300 homes four years ago, burned 280,000 acres and killed 15 people including Steven Rucker, a firefighter from Novato.
The Harris Fire near Otay Mountain south of the Witch Fire in Ramona became a concern shortly after. This was indeed beginning to look like 2003, with fires burning in two regions of the Southland. An added element to this year's version was the addition of two fires burning in the Lake Arrowhead area in San Bernadino County.
Stretched resources
Needless to say, resources were, and are still, stretched. Due to high winds, fixed wing aircraft were grounded; the perfect storm was developing. This was forming to become "the big one," that fire first responders discuss — the career fire, the big show.
These established major fires were quickly joined by the Santiago, Rice, Rosa, Poomacha, Magic and Ammo fires. Each of these posed threats to life and homes. Eventually, more than 500,000 citizens were told to evacuate — an inconceivable number and seemingly an impossible task, a number larger than the Katrina evacuation.
Against all the numbers, order prevailed. Evacuees found shelter, firefighters went to work and the government entities that support both came to the aid.
Firefighters don't shut down when there's not enough help, they buck up and get to work. Not one fire had ideal resources. The Harris Fire in particular was extremely under manned. At its peak, the command team was working with only 255 fire personnel with no help in sight. In an ordinary circumstance, that fire alone would have more than 2,000 firefighters and support personnel.
As the Harris Fire worked its way towards the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, it had to pass through the San Miguel Fire District. San Miguel is a small town just east of Chula Vista. Whatever was coming their way was going to be up to them to confront — no help would be coming no matter how bad it would get.
Fire Chief Augie Ghio was quoted the next day in a television interview, saying, "We're OK, our guys can handle everything, no complaints."
When asked if he had slept, he said maybe a half an hour in the past three days. Underscore, no complaints. This man and his firefighters are about community and service.
It's this spirit that we see from the Governor's office as well and a similar spirit is apparent in the evacuation centers. As horrible as circumstances were and are, a positive attitude is present.
As a life long Californian, I can only express pride in what I have witnessed. Trees will re grow, homes will be rebuilt. The state has been tested and from my view has passed with flying colors.
Please pay a visit to FireRescue1.com.
Labels: San Diego Fires, Vanity
September 21, 2007
Another Vanity Post?
A couple of weeks ago I responded to an interview request from Blog Interviewer. Flattered of course, I hammered out some answers in the digital interview form, sent it off and today they posted my interview.Labels: Vanity
