Lakes, Trains and Orange Barrels – June 18, 2009

After being amply supplied with food for the road by my sister-in-law, we left early driving up I-5 towards Sacramento. Our destination for that day was Salt Lake City. In Sacramento, we made a third change in our route, taking US50 out of Sacramento towards South Lake Tahoe. Although costing us a couple of hours in time, it was well worth the scenic drive through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada along a canyon carved by the American River. Breathtaking beauty of the mountains, trees and rivers was highlighted by the view of Lake Tahoe as we crested Echo Summit.

We stopped for lunch and ate sandwiches at a roadside park right on the shore of Lake Tahoe. Once again, we had relatively cool, sunny weather, and watched the parasailers over the lake.

Crossing into Nevada and descending into the desert the foothills are much drier and rockier as Mother Nature drops all the rain on the west side of the Sierra Nevada. Alpine forests were replaced by the stark beauty of northern Nevada as we made miles and no longer made stops to take pictures. Principal among the sights were row after row of orange barrels. It seemed that most of I-80 in northern Nevada was under construction. Construction zone after construction zone dropped our speed from 75mph to 55mph or less. After stopping for dinner in Elko, where Dave’s grandfather had lived and worked for a time in the ‘30’s, we resumed our trip across the desert.

Just as twilight turned to darkness, we crossed into Utah and the salt pan of Great Salt Lake spread before us. Both Dave and I came to a special weary kind of alertness, each scanning the road on his side for deer. I was not put at ease when we saw the heavy barred bumpers which had been added to the front end of the long distance trucks we passed. After spotting only a few jackrabbits, we pulled into the KOA in downtown Salt Lake City around midnight.

Readers, you may have noticed that, when called for, I have been complimentary of the accommodations that we have used during our road trip. When they have not been so good, I simply don’t mention them. The Salt Lake City KOA, however, is an exception. Every transportation device know to man was operating through the night near this campground. Trains, with accompanying whistles, came into the nearby rail yard every twenty minutes from midnight to four AM. Planes landed and took off from the nearby airport. When these two sources were quiescent, traffic noise from trucks on I-80 took over. I even thought I heard a boat whistle, although it was probably a switching engine in the rail yard. The birds chimed in with their wake-up calls at four AM until we finally gave up attempts to sleep and rose at six AM.

Next: Tired Travel to the Tetons

Lakes, Trains and Orange Barrels - June 18, 2009

After being

Wine and Family – June 17, 2009

Richard and I drove up to wine country at mid-morning leaving Dave behind to clean the car, work with my sister-in-law on dinner and then relax. Our first stop on the Silverado Trail on the east side of the Napa valley was the Sinskey Vineyards. They knew Richard here and we were treated to a tasting of fine wines. Since I cannot match the hyperbole of a wine writer's descriptions, suffice it to say that their reds were smooth, full bodied and excellent while the whites were interesting. Sinskey's also has a gourmet kitchen and the cheese, breads, olives and other snacks accompanying the tasting were also a treat. We took a tour of the natural volcanic rock caves where the wine was aged in French oak barrels. They were bottling at the time and the automation was similar to what is used in consumer goods plants in other places in the country. I was interested because it was similar to automation in auto parts plants. However, this machinery wasn't built in the machine shops of Warren, or Flint, MI. It all came from Germany. Why?

Our next stop was the Duckhorn Winery. Unlike most tastings which are served stand-up at the bar, we were seated on a porch overlooking the vines and with the smell of rosemary and thyme wafting in from the gardens outside. It was a beautiful, cool, sunny day in wine country and we anticipated an excellent tasting there. After being seated we waited,...and waited,... and waited, … and waited. I finally turned and gave the waiter my best Adelaide look, caught his attention and he came over and said “I'll will be with you in a moment”. The moment stretched to minutes but what finally ensued was an excellent tasting of twice as many wines as we had paid for. Richard and I enjoyed it immensely and laughed at the over the top hyperbole of both the written descriptions of the wines and the server's comments. Here is an example describing the 2006 Merlot: “...polished flavors of red cherry and raspberry are accented by an enticing layer of graham cracker piecrust.” Really? A wine that tastes like graham cracker pie crust! Fortunately, it did not. The wine, the outdoor ambiance and conversation fostered a connection between us that heretofore, as widely separated brothers, we had never had before. We stopped for lunch at the Frank Family Vineyards. Mr. Frank was a Disney illustrator so the building contained many mementos of his time in Hollywood. Good oakey Chardonnay and the only winery left in the valley with free tastings. When I lived here in the late '60's, we would take visitors on tours up the valley stopping to sample the wines and end up at the north end of the valley mellow and relaxed. The only price was the tour of each winery’s facility to hear about their wine making process and history. Not any more. Tastings are paid for up front and an appointment may be required to sort out the riff-raff.

It was still a gorgeous day as we drove back to Richard’s.

That evening a special treat had been arranged in my honor. We were having a family dinner. Richard’s family would be there, my brother Marc, and my Aunt and my cousin whom I had not seen in decades were also invited. Unfortunately, my Aunt was not able to attend. My sister-in-law served an excellent meal. She had been preparing all day. Roast chicken, roast asparagus and other gastronomic delights. Richard had prepared flank steak on the grill and all twelve of the guests and family enjoyed a wonderful meal. After dinner, I showed my cousin some of the 50 year old pictures that my father had taken including some of her father as a very young man and some of the 100 year old pictures that our grandfather had taken. She related stories to me of her maternal grandparents who lived in Iowa and of the wonderful vacations that their family had taken in Europe and elsewhere. Life in a small Midwestern town in Iowa was not so much different than life in a small Midwestern town in Michigan in the forties and fifties. We share an interest in music, science and literature. Sadly, we had an early day in the morning as we would begin our longest driving day yet. We said goodnight early and set about preparing for our next journey.

Next: Lakes, Trains and Orange Barrels.

Photo Update

A big batch of road trip photos has just arrived. Make sure to check them out in the slide show to the left or go to flickr.com at the following address - http://www.flickr.com/photos/7466375@N02/sets/72157618709537109/ !!!

Pacific Coast Highway – June 16, 2009

It is probably best to let our pictures speak for this part of the trip. From Morro Bay to the Monterrey Peninsula, this is one of the most beautiful drives in the world. We stopped often to photograph the scenery, the wildlife and each other. Lunch was at a Los Padres National Forest Campground right on the ocean south of Big Sur. We took the “Famous” 17 Mile Drive around the Monterrey Peninsula where, like every where else we had been in the country, a lot of homes were for sale. Dave put in a bid for one of them but I doubt his offer will be accepted even in this market. Leaving the PCH in Santa Cruz we headed into the South Bay area, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and San Jose once again familiar to me and stopped for dinner in the pleasant little east bay town of Pleasonton. Dave treated us to an excellent Italian dinner. We sat outside as we looked a bit out of place among the DotCom should have beens with our non-designer blue jeans, fishing hats and hiking boots. We arrived in early evening to a warm welcome at Richard's home.

Next: Wine and Family

America's #1 Highway – June 15, 2009

Monday morning we left San Diego with fond memories and headed north. Originally intending to make a single day trip up the central valley, we altered our plans and decided to spend two days going up the Pacific Coast Highway, California 1. First we had to navigate the maze of freeways in and around Los Angeles. Passing thru familiar territory in Tustin and Orange County a lapse in navigation got us on southbound California 60 headed back for San Diego. According to Dave, God must have known this and sent one of the most courteous CHP officers to correct my mistake. However, there was a price as the officer issued Dave a citation for following too closely. When asked where we were going he told us we were going the wrong way. He then proceeded to guide us along a confusing series of freeway on and off ramps until once again we were headed in the right direction. This area of Pomona where California 57, 60, 71 and I-10 come together is known as the Bermuda Triangle. According to the officer., they have difficulty responding to the scene of accidents in this area because people don't know where they are located. Unfortunately, he didn't have any difficulty finding my accident.

After leaving the sprawl of Los Angeles we stopped at the home of pea soup, Anderson's Pea Soup restaurant in Solvang. We were instantly transported to the roadside tourist traps of the 1950's. It was more Fred Harvey than Fred Harvey, more Stuckey's than Stuckey's more Frankenmuth than Frankenmuth. Not only that, you can get pea soup with anything. They had pea soup with sandwichs, salads, beef, pork, chicken and fish. They had bowls, cups, saucers, flagons and cauldrons of pea soup. Not only that, everyone in the family that ran Anderson's apparently had the first name of Famous. There was Famous John Anderson, Famous Mildred Anderson, etc. Actually, I love pea soup and since I was driving, we stopped at Famous Anderson's Pea Soup Restaurant. Dave was not happy.

The afternoon was uneventful as we traveled along US101 on our way to the Pacific Coast Highway. The forecast was for rain (remember that) so once again we changed our plans and instead of camping in one of the several state parks near Morro Bay we stayed at the Twin Dolphins motel. Our thanks to the helpful staff at the Twin Dolphins for their kind assistance and the room with a view of the Pacific that they provided us. After stocking up with groceries, we cooked a modest meal in the microwave in our room, did our laundry at the local launderette and slept in beds that did not rock or roll.

Next: Pacific Coast Highway.

Sailboats don't roll – June 14, 2009

I was looking forward to sailing on Jeff's cutter. Unlike most boats, sailboats don't roll. They do pitch but that has never bothered me. I have done a lot of sailing in small boats on the Great Lakes but I had never been on a large sailboat on the ocean. Jeff's boat is about as long as Marc's 36 foot Grand Banks and is a heavy boat but still weighs only half as much as the Grand Banks. As we headed out to sea, I was jubilant with the impending adventure. We cleared the channel and burst into 4 foot rollers that tossed even this heavy boat. I climbed up on the bowsprit and rode the waves.

Another one of the boats from the marina was out and we soon had a race. Jeff's competitive edge showed sharp as a blade as he gave orders to trim the sails for maximum efficiency. Tacking to windward on a northerly route up the coast we soon passed Torry Pines Golf Club with the other boat trailing. Even though the cutter was a much heavier boat, more sail gave us the advantage. Jeff took pity and we dumped wind to allow the other boat to come up. After taking pictures of the other boat and they of us, Jeff brought her back into the wind. I was reminded of the lines from the pirate song by Emmerson, Lake and Palmer: “Closer to the wind my boys, the mad eyed Captain roared. For every man that's alive tonight will be hauling gold aboard”. They soon fell far astern.

Satisfied with our apparent victory and once again feeling a bit queasy, I requested a return to port. Our captain was reluctant as we were making a good nine knots which is excellent for that boat. Nevertheless, he turned and showed off the stability of the boat by jibing downwind. In a small sailboat, making a jibe turn by turning downwind and then coming across the wind is usually a violent maneuver as the main boom crosses quickly from starboard to port. But under Jeff's expert handling we hauled the boom in tight and let the jib and mid-sail pull us across the wind, another advantage of the cutter.

Dave really got an education in relativistic politics (the interplay between brothers) on the trip home. Jeff wanted a tack that would take us directly into the channel but the course was difficult to find with the wind variable and mostly directly up channel. So we tacked back and forth in front of the channel looking for a course that would take us by the point and into the channel. We all discussed the appropriate course while Jeff enjoyed the wind and weather while still making a good seven knots.

Finally, Richard bet Jeff that he couldn't make the channel by 3:00 P.M. With almost intuitive pre-conceptual thinking, Jeff turned the boat downwind directly into the channel just as we were passing the mouth of the channel for a third time.. With a regular sailboat, the downwind position of the sails are “wing on wing” with the jib fully to port and the mainsail fully to port. No wind is lost as the mainsail shovels wind to the jib and maximum speed is attained. It seems slow because you are moving at about the same speed as the wind so there is no breeze. With a cutter, the mid-sail is problematic. If it is on the same side as the mainsail then it is blocked. If it is on the side of the jib, it blocks the jib. That is why Jeff wanted to avoid the downwind tack. With Marc handling trim on the main sail, Richard on the mid sail, me on the jib, and back and forth between all of us, we managed a sloppy but timely entry into the channel five minutes prior to the deadline.

Jeff cooked us another great dinner. We tidied up the boat for the end of the weekend and early in the evening we drove both my brothers to the airport for their flights back to northern California. It would be a short farewell as we would be joining them there shortly.

By coincidence, Dave's friend Tim was in San Diego to participate in a nation wide water competition. Water sports are widespread in San Diego but this competition is not what you would think. These folks are from water departments all over the country and compete in how fast to tap a municipal water connection. It is also a chance to have an industry convention for the tools, supplies and services of the water industry. Held at the San Diego Convention center, at the south end of the gaslight district, the whole place was hopping with conventioneers. We had a drink with Tim at his hotel and then headed back for the marina to pack up.

Next: America's Highway #1

Happy Father's Day

From everyone back home best wishes and we hope you are having a Happy Father's Day!