Return To Oso Flaco Lake

Today one of my regular Cal Poly classes (History 424, a teaching methods class) was reconfigured to be a field trip to an effective teacher's classroom at Nipomo High School. Philip Deichler welcomed Dr. Joel Orth's 424 class for an hour-long presentation on how to teach social studies classes at any level, but particularly at the high school level. He was a gracious host and in the previous decade got his teaching credential at Cal Poly. My wingman Blake and I got down to Nipomo early enough to have time to burn so we headed out to Oso Flaco Lake located within the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. It was Blake's first visit ever and my first visit this decade and maybe even since sometime in the 1990s. The boardwalk was new to me not having been there the previous time I visited. I found it most impressive.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

The Dragon Helispot Wedding Spot

My friend Jeff Auslen and his girlfriend Kate Crosswhite are getting married tomorrow at Lake Nacimiento (a.k.a. "The Dragon" due to the map outline of its shore looking much like a dragon). The ceremony will take place on the helipad at the resort there. Today I was in attendance of the ceremony rehearsal. The weather was hot (perhaps the last hot day we will experience until next Spring) but the entire scene (weather + scenery) was perfect. I took several photos of which the following two are the best.

Both photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Summer 2010 Utah Trip

Last Summer (Late June, 2010) I joined my friend Dave Richter on a trip to Northeast Utah following our appearance at Gem Faire in Sandy, Utah. Our destination was Flaming Gorge on the Green River and Dave's long-time friend Roger was to join us.

On Day One we traveled north up to the Bay Area via US101 and then picked up I-680 and took it to I-80 and stayed in Truckee, CA, the first night of the trip. This was my first time going over the Sierra Nevada Mountains anywhere, let alone on that route and thus it was my first visit to Truckee which I found delightful. We stayed in a classic Truckee Hotel which was quite an experience in retro overnighting but was quite enjoyable. We found a wonderful place to eat dinner downtown that was partially in the basement and had an amazing ambience and memorable food (forgot the name).

Early on the morning of Day Two we partook in a greasy spoon breakfast at the small-town good-old-boy dinnology, photography, road trips, Utah, weatherer. We then hit the road headed east-bound on I-80 for Sandy, Utah. We stopped for gas at Cabela's in Reno, NV, and got a carwash in Eureka, NV, and picked up lunch at a fast food joint in West Wendover, NV. The weather became stormy about this point in the drive and got stormier the entire drive into Sandy, UT.

The following photos are shown in the order they were taken over the course of the week-long trip with the first five photos showing the stormy weather over the Great Salt Lake to which I refer.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice.

The very first fish I ever caught.... a rainbow trout.... which I subsequently released.

Upstream view of the Green River in Brown's Park Area.

Downstream view of the Green River in Brown Park Area.

Dave and his friend Roger who lives in the general area.

Bald Eagle nesting pair with young along Brown's Park Road.

Green River, Brown's Park Road area.

Green River down-stream view in Brown's Park Area.

Stormy weather building in the sky over the Brown's Park Area.

Brooding sky over the Green River in Brown's Park Area.

Gates of Lodore, Dinosaur National Monument.

Gates of Lodore, Dinosaur National Monument.

Dave posing in front of the Gates of Lodore.

A then-overweight me posing in front of the Gates of Lodore.

I'm unconvinced of the accepted theory as to how this formed.

By the time we got here we were in Northwest Colorado.

Irish Canyon, Northwest Colorado.

Significant scree field to the left of the uplifted layers.

County Road 10N heading north through Irish Canyon.

County Road 10N heading south through Irish Canyon.

Photos like this one are incapable of capturing the feel here.

Many millions of years of Earth's history recorded here.

Fremont People pictographs at south mouth of Irish Canyon.

Fremont People pictograph appearing to show an execution.

Dave and Roger on the rim of Flaming Gorge.

Flaming Gorge Dam in the morning light.

Flaming Gorge Dam in the morning light.

Flaming Gorge red rock walls in the morning light.

Flaming Gorge looking downstream in the morning light.

Flaming Gorge looking upstream in the morning light.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Triple Eight Road Trip - Part 4

This is Part Four of the series.

Part One Part Two Part Three

Day Four ~ Alturas to Williams

We started this day, Sunday, August 10, 2008, looking forward to the scenary ahead of us, in particular visiting Lassen Peak but this was tinged with a wee bit of melancholy as we realized this wonderful little road trip which was also the Last Hurrah of our Summer was now over half completed and we would soon be separated.
However, we didn't dwell on such thoughts and chose to live in the moment.

After breakfast at our new-found favorite local joint there in Alturas we headed up the road to the west on Highway 299 to Highway 139 which we took northwest with a short stop once again at Howard's Gulch Campground and then drove all the way up through the town of Tulelake and to Stateline Road which we then took west to Highway 97 and back down through Dorris and across Butte Valley and over the pass to Grass Lake where we stopped again at the rest area there before taking another little stop at the Highway 97 Mount Shasta vista point we stopped at a couple of days earlier.

Mount Shasta obscured by smoke from Trinity County blazes.

Caterpillar on Indian Paintbrush flower.

Next we drove a short distance down the hill on US97 to the Vietnam War Living Memorial Sculpture Garden. This is a very poignant and powerful place at least for those who endured the Vietnam War and I suppose any war.
I highly recommend all Americans visit this place at least once.

Vietnam Veterans Sculpture Garden

Vietnam Veterans Sculpture Garden

After walking through the place we had gotten very hot so sort of rushed towards the end and forgot to check out the labrynth.

We then hit the road again and headed on down to Weed, CA, where we picked up Interstate 5 and took it south through the mountains intending to stop at the rest area near Lake Shasta but found it too hot and crowded so we got back on the freeway intending to stop somewhere outside of Redding to the east of town along Highway 44.

At Redding we switched onto Highway 44 and headed east and ended up driving all the way to Shingletown before we found a place we felt like stopping.
There we got gas and some snacks and water intending to enjoy them at the rest area just east of town that we had used in the past.

When we to said rest area we found it empty but for a single auto and a scraggly-looking guy playing with the gate to the rest area.
There was a sign at the entrance stating the rest area would be closed the following morning.

Almost immediately after getting out of our cars we found the scraggly-looking fellow in our faces informing us the rest area was closing right then and there.
The fellow sure wasn't dressed like a CALTRANS employee and this day was a Sunday (meaning it was not a work day) but he did have the keys to lock the rest area and was insisting we promptly leave albeit with trite platitudes to the effect that he was merely following orders.

Surely he could have given us five minutes, no?
I was civil, but did nothing to disguise my displeasure.
He seemed uncomfortable which was understandable, however, he seemed to try too hard to justify what he was doing.

Normally, when public servants inconvenience me I'm the model of grace and patience, particularly with road workers.

However, for some reason this guy didn't elicit that automatic reaction from me but instead I found myself pissed at him and after we left him at that rest area and headed on up to Mount Lassen National Park I found myself increasingly finding his story fishy.
I'm an extremely intuitive person and I have a potent internal b.s.-alarm which that fellow activated.
I now suspect he wasn't supposed to close the rest area until very early the following morning but didn't want to have to do that so he went in and closed it prematurely on his weekend so he could say he did it at the crack of dawn the following morning and save himself driving his lazy ass out there.

We soon pulled off of the highway and into Lassen Volcanic National Park.
As we drove up the short road to the park entrance we passed a NPS fire crew cutting and stacking wood just off the road in anticipation of burning it later in the year it appeared.
After paying (which cost mom nothing due to her senior pass) we immediately stopped at Manzanita Lake which was beautiful as always but mom was having problems by this point having driven so far so fast with so few and so short breaks.
Fortunately, she was able to regroup and given the time factor we headed on to the next stop.

Lassen Peak from Manzanita Lake.

Mount Lassen as seen from Manzanita Lake.

Upon leaving Manzanita Lake we headed on up the park road, past the park museum and visitor center and on over the rubble field of Chaos Jumbles from which we could get a great view of Chaos Crags. We drove towards the Devastated Area but decided that was taking too long and we wanted to spend more time back at the Jumbles so we turned around and drove back to Chaos Crags and stopped there and got out and took the photos shown here.
Chaos Crags is the newest feature in the park and collapsed about 300 years ago which generated a long run-out landslide whose rubble field is Chaos Jumbles.

Chaos Crags with Chaos Jumbles in the distance.

Chaos Crags with Chaos Jumbles.

Chaos Jumbles with Chaos Crags in the background.

Chaos Crags and Chaos Jumbles.

Whatsdatplant growing amidst the Chaos Jumbles.

Old and now obsolete seismic station next to the museum.

When we left Chaos Jumbles we were pretty much done here for the day as we needed to get on down the road and see how far we could get. On the way out of the park we did stop at the park museum but it had just closed for the day.

Smokey Sacramento Valley Sunset

We headed on down the hill on Highway 44 but chose to not go drive back into Redding, CA.
Instead we elected to shunpike around the city to the east on Deschutes Road down to Interstate 5 at Anderson, CA.
From there we shot on down the freeway to Williams, CA, where mom decided to drop anchor for the night. On the way down we enjoyed a smokey sunset caused by the Trinity Blazes.

Smokey sunset in the Sacramento Valley.

All photos by Krissa Klein (all rights reserved).

We checked into the motel there right by the freeway.


After dealing with that we walked down to nearby Granzella's which is a local landmark that has been a staple of Interstate travelers passing through this area for many years.
They had a bad fire last year and I had wondered if they were rebuilt yet.
Not only were they already rebuilt but looking better than ever. The smell of fresh-cut and sanded wood was intoxicating in the antechamber.
They even had a small shrine of sorts on the wall near the cash register dedicated to the fire and recovery which had newspaper clippings about the fire and even photographs of the fire as well as burnt pieces of paper and such from the fire itself which was caused by an electrical issue in the kitchen. By the way, the dinner was first-rate as you'd expect.

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Day Five ~ Williams to Atascadero

We finished with a delicious breakfast from Granzella's and then promptly hit the road.

The drive went quickly and smoothly and we got in rather earlier in the day than normal for such a drive as we sped down Interstate 5 all the way to State Route 269 with breaks only at the rest areas along Interstate 5 which were hot so we kept our breaks short.

Upon our arrival home, there was a while of concern when our cat Rocki was nowhere to be found (she usually runs out to greet us as soon as we arrive).

Fortunately, she was just being a cat, and it typical cat fashion sauntered nonchalantly in after we'd looked all over the place for her!

Part One
Part Two
Part Three