June 2004 Archives

I left the motel in South Lake Tahoe around 8:00, but had to stop to buy stamps and mail the postcards I needed to send, and to grab a muffin and Americano at a Starbucks. After gassing up, I hit the road for real around 9:00am.

The 89 south of Tahoe winds along a couple of beautiful rivers and through some small towns. After passing thru Markleeville, site of a famous bicycle ride, I hit SR-4 about five miles further south.

Pick any and all adjectives you want - beautiful, stunning, amazing, unique - and they apply to SR-4 over Ebbetts Pass. The first few miles are two-lane, but as you climb it turns into a fantastic one-plus lane as it winds up to the Pass at the 8730' level, with streams, waterfalls, and lakes along the way. I made a point to take a picture of the PCT trailhead as it passes SR-4.

After cresting the Pass, the road down is equally great, with more lakes and streams, a few fishing camps, and the occasional small hamlet. This idyllic road continues for 80 miles or so before hitting the towns of Murphy and Angels Camp.

Angels Camp was made famous by the Mark Twain story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. I stopped at a frog-themed cafe for some lemonade and an Imitrex, and read the end of sitting on a bench outside an antique store on the main street. A few motorcycles came through, but much less than last Sunday.

At Angels Camp I headed south on SR-49. Sonora was a traffic mess - summer school had just let out. Past Jamestown, the road lost it's allure for me. Maybe it was the contrast with the amazing SR-4, but it just didn't seem that fun. The terrain was much drier, with fewer trees, endless anonymous vistas, and the road had way too many sandy/rocky corners to be safe and fun.

I pulled into Mariposa around 3:15pm, much later than I had planned, probably due to the traffic in Sonora and the slow going through the hills. I had a burger at a local place, then headed out on the 49 for more. Because of the disinterest and the late hour, I decided to pull the cord and skip the route through Auberry, and headed south on SR-41. The 41 is the main route into Yosemite, and was loaded with traffic the whole way into Clovis.

I got lost a little in Selma, but tracked down the Super-8 after a few tries. What a monumental dump. I should have bugged out when I found out they mixed smoking and non-smoking rooms on the same floor (with interior corridors, no less), but I was tired, and it was after the guarantee time, and I didn't want to fight with the desk clerk, so I took the room.

The TV remote was bolted to the nightstand. Jeez. I went down and offered to leave a deposit if I could get the remote unlocked, but the clerk took pity on me and gave me the one they use for the lobby TV. Then I found out that some machinery on the roof (presumably a big AC unit) was causing the ceiling of my top floor room to resonate - loudly. After a short while it was driving me batty.
If I pushed up into the ceiling with a hanger it would stop, so I wound up pulling the shower rod out of the bathroom and propping it on the top of one of the chairs. The resonation just moved about five feet into the room.

I tossed and turned, and got some intermittent sleep until 2:45am, when it dawned on me that I had earplugs. They helped me sleep, until the fine hour of 6:45am, when the gardeners arrived just outside my window with some two-stroke tools.

I had planned a 120 mile loop from SLT into the Sierras on 88 and Iron Mountain Rd., but the combination of impending thundershowers, my sore back, and the need to do some laundry caused me to reconsider.

Once the laundry was done I headed over to the Harrah's for a little mindless gambling. My limit was a whopping $40, which meant video poker. At one point I hit a four-of-a-kind on a progressive, and pulled in $37+ for a $1.25 wager, but after a while I got fatigued and I wound up losing all but the $16 in $1 chips I'd been holding in reserve.

I went outside and walked towards the shops for some lunch, but the skies were ominous, and I decided on a strategic retreat. The rain started about half-way back to the motel, and quickly turned to hail. Of course I had ventured out without a jacket, so I was soon soaking wet and more than a little cold. When I got back to the motel, the handyman motioned me to park under one of the walkways, which I appreciated.

After the rain stopped, I walked down the street and picked up a sandwhich, then spent the rest of the night reading.

I had a great time today, even if I started with a migraine. I took some medicine and had a good breakfast at the Denny's across from the motel, and read the San Francisco Chronicle.

The planned route for the day took me east for 20 miles, then west-northwest back to the 49 north of Auburn. In a late route check, I found that a 5 mile section of the route was on a dirt road, which wasn't going to work. Instead, I headed straight north on the 49. The first 15 miles is heavily travelled, but north of Nevada City it became a very good motorcycle road. The scenery was somewhat distracting (in a good way), and the road followed various rivers most of the way to Downieville.

I stopped off for a Cafe Mocha at a great little coffee house by the bridge. Most places make a Mocha as hot chocolate with a touch of espresso, but the one I got was a great coffee drink with just the right hint of chocolate - definitely there, but no overpowering. Some local teenagers bogarted my table while I was waiting, but I moved to another table in front of the pizza place next door, and read some more of , which is growing on me.

Back on the 49, I followed the river northeast, and 3 or 4 miles past Sierra City I turned north on Gold Lake Hwy. Lush forests, big lakes, lots of streams, high-speed curves, and light traffic made this one of the highlights of the entire trip.

After 15 miles or so on Gold Lake Hwy, I turned south on SR-89, for more of the same. After crossing the 49 there's a series of beautiful alpine meadows, that look ideal for snowmobiles and cross country skiing in the winter. I stopped for gas at a quaint little gas station/store in Sierraville, with thoughts of Mayberry in my head.

The road got busier on the way to Truckee, but the scenery remained first rate.

In Truckee I stopped for Chinese food at a Panda Express, then headed down the 267 to Lake Tahoe. It was little cool and cloudy, the 267 and then the 89 had plenty of traffic, and my back was hurting, but the views of the lake were great. I stopped off at Inspiration Point above Emerald Bay for a rest and some photos.

I found the Motel 6 just after 5:30, and settled in to rest up. Happy Anniversary.

I headed out late after some pain medication and a Big Breakfast at McDonald's. Heading east on SR-4, I missed a turn, and wound up on Cooperopolis Rd., which turned out to be a better alternative. This road dead-ended about 15 miles east of Stockton, and I jogged down to catch SR-4.

This is a great area to ride - almost as good as the central coast. I took SR-4 to Poole Station Rd., and followed a county police car half way to San Andreas. The views were superior.

From San Andreas, I headed back west on SR-12, then worked up to Stoney Creek Rd., which Pashnit recommended, and rightly so. I had a really bad cup of coffee in Jackson, then headed up SR-49 to Plymouth. There were a lot of bikers out on this sunny, clear day.

From there, I had a great ride east up into the Sierra on Fiddletown Silver Lake Rd. Great twisties, good paving, cool views, great weather - unbeatable. FSL runs into SR-88, and after 20 miles I turned north on Silver Fork Rd.

Silver Fork Rd. drops down from the SR-88 ridge to the Silver fork of the American River. It's a slow speed, smell-the-roses kind of road, with good enough pavement, but killer scenery, and a bunch of happy fishermen on the river. The road then climbs up to SR-50, the main route between the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe. I only needed to go 8-9 miles west on the 50, but with the bumper to bumper traffice it took a while.

It was heaven to get off the 50 and head north on Ice House Rd. After passing the lake, the road swings west as Wentworth Springs Rd. At Georgetown, I found SR-193, and took it into Auburn.

The Motel 6 was one of those new, 3-story Accor jobs - quite nice.

I left with great anticipation around 9:30am on Saturday. Day 1 was a run from the house to Stockton, right around 350 miles north - 30 miles on the 210, followed by 320 miles on I-5.

Before I left, I joined Justin by shaving my head. It felt freaky at first - almost like I had an icy towel on my head. Justin made me sit back on the leather sofa.

Starting a few miles past Magic Mountain, I fought a stiff headwind the whole way to Stockton. It seemed to be about 20-25 mph from the left quarter, making the ride physically tiring and somewhat uncomfortable. I normally get 150 miles plus on a tank of gas, but the headwind forced me to reserver at 98 miles on one tank.

I stopped more often than I planned, hitting a couple of rest stops just to take a rest and get out of the wind.

I pulled into the Motel 6 in Stockton right around 6:00pm. A bunch of teenagers were having a good, loud time in the pool just below my room, which was fun. The room was a nice, standard room, with no smoking residue that I noticed. I slept well.

I'm off for my Downieville ride, and will return in the early afternoon of July 1st.

To replace my traditional anniversary trip, I leave on Saturday for a 6 day motorcycle trip to northern California.

Day 1 is a slab ride from home to Stockton. Boring but necessary. The fun starts on day 2 - east on SR-4 into the Sierras, north on SR-49 to Plymouth, back up into the mountains on Fiddletown-Silver Lake Rd. and SR-88, up Silver Fork Rd. to Kyburz, then west on Wentworth Springs Rd. and SR-193 into Auburn.

The beginning of Day 3's route is a still up in the air, but most of the day is planned for SR-49, past Nevada City, Downieville and Sierra City. It's likely I'll head up Beckworth-Taylorsville Rd. then back down Beckworth-Genesee Rd., depending on the final early morning route. Next is SR-89 from Sierraville into Truckee, then SR-267 and SR-89 into South Lake Tahoe.

Day 4 is an out-and-back, over Carson Pass on SR-88, up Iron Mountain Rd. to SR-50, a loop up Peavine Ridge Rd., then back over Echo Summit to SLT on the 50, with plenty of time left to play some blackjack.

Day 5 starts on the 89 to Markleeville, then over Ebbetts Pass on SR-4 to Angels Camp. Next is a long stretch on SR-49 south through Mariposa to the 41, follwed by a loop east on County 223 and 221, and ending with some promising looking roads leading down into Selma, with dinner at Sal's.

Day 6 is a short slab ride from Selma back home.

forfended

I was reading chapter 6 of , and the title of section 6.1.5 is Diamonds are forfended.

Bert's has a big sale going on through the weekend. I drove over on my lunch hour to pick up some things before the trip that starts on Saturday, and on the way down Azusa Ave. from the freeway, I saw my first 5H license plate.

5HJA249 on a bright red Ford Focus SVT. Nice car.

sigil

From 21.17, Templating with Template Toolkit, in the Perl Cookbook:

Variables in TT2 code have no sigil like $, @, or %.

Mathilda was in the men's room at the DEA building in The Professional when I finished up this morning. I was a little late - Jason was already in the front shower when I got up at 5:45am.

I had a nice Father's Day. The kids and I went to breakfast with my dad, Carol, and Sheehan at Coco's, and we all had a good time. Justin enjoyed showing off his newly shaved head, and Jason had my sister rolling in laughter with his HR strike team impression.

Afterwards, Jeremy and I watched the US Grand Prix from Indy. Why did it take so long for the course marshalls to get to Ralf Schumacher after his crash? Why?

Rick and Ann hosted the big McConnell gathering, which included July birthdays. Everyone was very generous, including Carole...

Rick's carne asada was excellent, as always, and Ann worked hard to make things work smoothly. There was a little sisterly dust-up at the end that threatened to spiral out of control, but we all got out of there in one piece.

A few months ago Justin and I agreed that he could shave his head in the summer. Teenage individuality and all. He's the youngest, and this is something he can claim to be the first one to do. Plus, as he noted, his hair has been buzzed short for months, so it's not that big of a change.

So, last night he shaved his head. Thankfully, he has the skull structure to make it work.

The Lakers lost game 5 of the finals, giving the championship to the Pistons. Sarah is really quite happy.

Jeremy had to work, but Jason, Jennie, Justin, and I went out to dinner at the Chili's in Monrovia. Jason and Jennie are leaving for Ceres on Friday, so this was a sort-of going away dinner.

The food was good, the place was noisy, and the annoying waiter kept calling me buddy: "Can I get you some A-1, buddy?", "How's your steak cooked, buddy?".

Here's a great excerpt from an article in the June 7th issue of AW&ST, about the upcoming 100-km. sub-orbital flight of the SpaceShipOne, attempting to be the first private craft to officially reach space. The author is discussing concerns about flight control given the high mach and low atmosphere expected at the end of the main engine burn:

The computational fluid dynamics says it is OK but the pilot will be earning his salary.

I did Grosse Pointe Blank again.

So, Justin and I are sitting on the family room couch, watching the Lakers-Pistons in game 1 of the NBA finals. We hear a crash from the living room - Gavin and Smidger had knocked the cat carrier off of the coffee table.

Smidger needs allergy shots once a month from the vets for a skin condition. When she gets back from the vets, she enjoys sitting on or in the cat carrier, so we leave it on the coffee table for a few days after each shot. Over the weekend, she had nudged it so it hung slightly over the edge of the coffee table.

A minute or so after the crash, she walks over to the couch in the family room, and jumps up in the middle seat between me and Justin. I ask her what's up, and she just stares at me, with these big soulful eyes. I tell her (out loud) to wait until the end of the first quarter, and I'll fix the carrier for her. She still stands there looking at me. After a minute of this, she turns to Justin, and starts looking at him. So I get up and put the carrier back on the coffee table. She walks right over, jumps into the carrier, and settles in for a nap.

My nephew William played the part of Sky Masterson in Gladstone High's production of Guys and Dolls. His acting and singing are first-rate. Justin and I had dinner at the Bowser's, then went to the play with Karen, John, and Jake. Sam got back late from a school beach party, so she and Cary missed the play.

My new digital camera has problems with low-light, no-flash conditions (I think most cameras have this problem) but I got a few nice pictures, along with a couple of Quicktime movies of William's solos. I'll post these in a day or so.

I had a problem uploading the pictures of Gabriela's graduation, and invested in Photo Rescue, a nice program that recovers deleted and/or damaged photos from a camera memory card.

Here's the exe: Photo Rescue Expert

My neice Gabriela graduated from Edison High in Fresno on June 1, 2004.

Here's a 10mb Quicktime movie of Gabriela receiving her diploma.

Today was my niece Gabriela's graduation from Edison High in Fresno. I drove up with my sister, Sheehan, and my dad, to the new Save Mart Center on the campus of Cal State Fresno. It was great to see Gabbie's mom Francine and her family. Kevin and Loretta were both forced to miss the ceremony due to illness.

The graduation was very well done. Traffic control, both of the people leaving the building, and the cars leaving the parking lot, wasn't so good. We all met at a nice restaurant afterwards.

Here's a 10mb Quicktime movie of Gabriela receiving her diploma. There's also a photo album of the ceremony.

I felt good when I woke up, and the weather was cool and clear - perfect for a ride to Palmdale. I made it out around 8:00 to beat the heat, and to get home before noon to give Justin and Krisanie a ride.

I bypassed Big Tujunga Canyon to save time, taking Angeles Crest to Angeles Forest. The bike felt good, I felt good, and the cool breezes in the mountains felt really good.

I had breakfast at Tom's (along with half the Antelope Valley), and read The Adventure of the Six Napoleon's. Just after I got to the twisties at the base of Sand Canyon, I knew I needed an Imitrex, but it didn't seem to make sense to turn back to find water. As long as I kept the bumps to a minimum, I could manage.