Hot Time in the Garden

The biggest chore I had this week was deadheading the roses but the temp is 110 and climbing. I expect it'll hit 115 before the day is over.

Just too hot, so I'm just fertilizing and check the progress of the crops.

These tomatoes have weighed down their part of the vine so that they're resting on the soil. I don't want them there where the worms and other insects can get to them.

Gingerly, so I don't break their branch, I lift them up and rest them on the neighboring hot chile's cage. Now, they're about a foot off of the ground.

Something's already got this green heirloom, so I picked it off and threw away. Nothing else seems to be affected right now.

Except this little zucchini plant. It's hard to see in this picture but something has been digging at it's roots and the plant is a bit wilted from it.

Across the path, it's sibling is finally producing some fruit. Homegrown zucchini on the way.

This pasilla chile has three fruit that should be ready in about three weeks and will feed the three of us with the tastiest peppers in the garden. A lot of trios in that paragraph and there's also about 40 more chiles on the plant in the earliest stages of ripening.  Can't wait.

Finally, although most of our crops are in between harvests right now, I got one good heirloom tomato, one hybrid tomato, and a nice little Anaheim chile to go with a good harvest we already got last week.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

We Eat What We Grow and Grow What We Eat...at least a good portion of it

At the certified farmers markets around here, it's a law that the vendors have to grow what they sell. You'll see banners at each booth with the name of the farm, the city or town where they're from, and the slogan "We Grow What We Sell."

I found out it is also a law that those banners appears at each booth and the agricultural inspector will write you a fine if you don't.

No such law in our backyard garden but I assure you we try to make the best of our harvest.  Each year, we'll have some winners and some losers. Last year, the losers almost completely took over but we did have a few bright spots. 

This year, the tomatoes are pumping out so much fruit, it's hard to even think about losers right now. We are having a record tomato season, my friends.

I've given some surplus away but I'm trying to eat as much as we can, too.

The heirloom tomato vine (pic at top) is slowly producing but when it does, the fruit is spectacular.

This giant globe, we sliced up.

Then we put it on roast beef sandwiches...it almost looks like another kind of very rare cold cut.

We served with chips and some pico de gallo that I made with some other tomatoes from the garden and homegrown chiles. Delicious!  The rest, I am using for a lasagna sauce for another recipe post later.

Darryl

Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Cajon Pass and Searching for a Legendary Road

This is shaky country. The mountains on either side are there because one of the earth’s great faults passes through the neighborhood. Fires regularly scorch its sides, traffic jams it roads, and the majority of L.A.’s rail freight passes through it.

Cajon Pass threads its way through sparsely populated gap separating the San Gabriel Mountains to the west and the San Bernardino Mountains to the east. The modern superhighway, Interstate 15, channels tens of thousands of cars through here every day of the year. Multiple sets of rails carry a few thousand more rail cars towards the massive rail yard in Colton, destined for the warehouses of Southern California. At the bottom of the canyon, a not-old-looking four lane blacktop sits unused.

While the world rhapsodizes about the mother road, Route 66…that road in the bottom of the canyon...many old time state residents also remember the other number assigned to that road.  Highway 395.

Formerly stretching from border to border, the stretch here heading south has been replaced by the interstate.  It is just as legendary as the Mother Road but in a more understated manner.

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It’s not a long drive through the pass…much shorter than the other big pass to the west, Tejon Pass (also called The Grapevine), and when traffic’s running smooth, it’ll only take you around 20 to 30 minutes to make the passage from Devore to Hesperia.

In between those two points is another world that most locals never see.

The intersection of Interstate 15 and state highway 138 is the midpoint of the pass and your portal to the land time forgot.  Head east and you’ll be headed towards the manmade Lake Silverwood.  Beyond that, the windy, climbing highway heads up the mountains to Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs and Big Bear in the distance.

Boaters and fishermen love Silverwood.  Crestline is a small, quiet little community popular with hang gliders who launch off of a point west of town. Lake Arrowhead has a nice little village but the lake itself is private and reserved for residents only. Running Springs and Big Bear are popular snow skiing areas and Big Bear Lake is another lure for boaters and fishermen.

While we do have some good times in this eastern portion…Tim goes to camp each year in Crestline, I’ve misspent much of my youth on the slopes of Bear Mountain and Snow Valley ski areas, and we’ve rented a cabin a time or two in Big Bear…turning west on highway 138 is where I’m more likely to go.

Mormon Rocks Courtesy of Wikimedia

Photo by Takwish under CC BY-SA 2.5 License

The first thing you might notice are the rocks. Giant, red rocks tilted at strange angles to the sky.  Little caves dotting the sides, sitting there by themselves, off to the side, all pointing the same way. These are called the Mormon Rocks.

It’s an otherworldly sight. Several miles to the west of here, a collection of these rocks have been turned into a park where Hollywood has used them countless times as backdrops to commercials, TV shows, music videos, and movies from westerns to The Flintstones.  Legend has it that the infamous outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez hid here and the park, Vasquez Rocks, is named after him.

The rocks jut the way they do because the big San Andreas Fault lies just beneath, exerted its upward pressure.  Letty and I have had many picnics under this awe-inspiring view.

Turning left on highway 2 will put you on Angeles Crest Highway and soon you’ll be entering the town of Wrightwood. This cute little village straddling the line between desert and alpine offers some good eats and shopping in its little downtown.

Moving just west of town and you’ll hit Mountain High, one of the area’s biggest ski areas covering three separate mountains. 

There’s not a lot of lodging here in Wrightwood, but there does seem to be enough for visitors who’d like to spend the night.

Jackson Lake Courtesy of Wikimedia

Rennett Stoweunder CC BY 2.0 License

If you’re inclined to keep going down the highway, a right turn on Big Pines Highway will take you to pretty little Jackson Lake, where kids have a ball bluegill fishing, and the desert down below where Devil’s Punchbowl park invites hikers and rock climbers to explore its canyon walls.

Highway 2 will take you all the way back to La Canada and Los Angeles if you have the time and the highway is open, but we’re heading back the way we came, back over to highway 138, Interstate 15, and pointing ourselves north out of the pass looking for that legendary road…

-Darryl

Copyright 2012 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

IT'S AN OLYMPIC YEAR : When Los Angeles Hosted the Games - 1984 & 1932

My hometown of Los Angeles hosted two summer games, 52 years apart.  The 1984 games were known for their budget frugality.  Some venues were recycled from the earlier games...like the coliseum...and the games actually earned a profit, which is used to fund local sports charities.  It was also known for the "Olympic Miracle" where, due to much scaremongering, people stayed off the streets and traffic was a dream for two weeks - kind of like what happened during "Carmageddon" last year.  It is also the games where much of the Communist world stayed away in retaliation for the U.S boycotting the Moscow games four years earlier due to the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Bobak Ha'Eri under CC-BY-SA license

The coliseum is now used for USC home games and few other events.  Many in the area have dreams for another NFL team to move in here, but reality states that will never happen.  USC seems happy with it and every now and then wrestles for total control of the facility, which is run by a commission made up of state and local interests.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Pelladon under CC-BY license

Next door is the Sports Arena, which was the venue for boxing at the 1984 games.  It is also the original home of the Lakers (when they moved to L.A.) and the Clippers, both of whom have moved on to Staples Center up the street.  It's in pretty shabby condition these days, hosting lingerie football, car shows, and other minor events.


It is scheduled to be demolished soon.



Adjacent is the swim stadium from the 1932 games, which is still in use as a public pool. 

The Expo Line light rail, which just opened a few months ago, goes right by these three venues. It's also the new home of the space shuttle, Endeavour.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

kla4067 under CC-BY license

Sitting on top of a hill overlooking downtown Los Angeles is Dodger Stadium...now the third oldest Major League Baseball stadium still in use...which was the site of the baseball competition.  It is also the only major baseball stadium that I know of that is almost completely lacking in public transportation access.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Ellen Levy Finch under CC-BY-SA license

One of my favorite places in the area is Santa Anita Park racetrack in Arcadia where many of the equestrian events took place in 1984.  Still open and still racing, crowds have really thinned out over the last few years as satellite wagering has expanded.  Magna, the company that owns it, has been in and out of bankruptcy.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Dan(golfpro1) under CC-BY license

In 1932, it was the Riviera Country Club which hosted the ponies.  Today, it's host to the L.A. Open PGA Golf Tournament...now known as the tournament that Tiger Woods dropped out of when his scandal hit the news.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Bobak Ha'Eri under CC-BY-SA license

Other venues farther out hosted some more events in 1984.  The Rose Bowl in Pasadena hosted soccer.  Of course, it is still used every New Year's Day (except for Sundays) for the Rose Bowl game and UCLA uses this as their home facility for football.  It's also home to a very large flea market each month.  It's in a beautiful setting in the middle of Brookside Park, just north of Suicide Bridge.

Lake Casitas, in the mountains above Ventura and near Ojai, provided the water needed for rowing and canoeing.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia and Arnold C (Buchanana-Hermit)

Our tour ends down in Anaheim, across the street from Disneyland, at the Anaheim Convention Center which was used as the wrestling venue for the 1984 games.  For those of you who have attended the Abilities Expo while it was in Anaheim, this place is in that same complex.  Dating from 1967, it is also the venue for the first concerts I ever attended...Merle Haggard for country and western; Loggins and Messina for rock 'n roll with Argent as the lead-off group.



Hope you enjoyed this Olympic Tour and will join us again tomorrow as we get ready to wrap up Olympic Week here at The World on Wheels.



-Darryl

CLASSIC TRIP: Scottsdale, Arizona, 2001

 
The arbor at Taliesin West

When will some business people start to realize that if give a customer what they want and provide satisfaction, they will spend more than they planned?  I ask this because started off writing this report by doing what I usually do last...figuring out the budget.  This is because I felt I spent more than I planned and I was right.  About $120 more than what I figured before the trip.  


But you know what?  I don’t care because it was money well spent.

I know I’ve consciously avoided spending money on vacation at places where they don’t get this point.  The Congress Hotel in Chicago is a prime example of this.  By trying to squeeze every penny out of me and not providing what was agreed to, they lost more in the long run than they save...penny wise and pound foolish.  Whereas the merchants we visited in Scottsdale kept us happy and we spent money freely...more than we planned.  Those guys made out like bandits.

Which brings us to our trip report.  In short, these three days in the Valley of the Sun were much more fun than an entire week in the windy city.

Friday afternoon...a Memorial Day getaway from L.A.  A routine trip to the dentist delays our exit, so we get stuck in the peak of holiday travel traffic.  The jam lasts until Banning making what should be a 5 ½ hour drive into a seven hour trek.

We make it to the Quality Suites in Scottsdale around 11:00pm.  Check-in goes smoothly and we are soon in our room after a quick complimentary lemonade courtesy of the front desk folks.  


We are tired from the long drive and turn in immediately.

After a restful night, we head down for a complimentary fully cooked breakfast.  Love that word...complimentary.  You hear it a lot at this hotel.  In addition to breakfast, there is complimentary beer, wine, and soda in the evening.  After that, it is complimentary milk and cookies.  Round-the-clock it is complimentary lemonade.  The business center sits right off the lobby where there is a PC set up for complimentary Internet access.  Local calls are also no charge.  In fact, other than the in-room movies and small souvenir shop, it was hard to find anything to spend money on here.  All this was $59 per night plus tax and $10 for an extra rollaway bed.

And yes, they have accessible rooms too.

After eating, the three of us head north to Taliesin West.  In his last years, Frank Lloyd Wright used his 640 acres in the Arizona desert as his winter home and architectural school.  Apprentices would tag along and create their own shelters in the desert.  Wright and his disciples would test their theories here. (See pictures above and below)

Taliesin West 

What they have created is a marvelously ingenious compound of living spaces, studios, theaters, and landscape that is beautiful and practical.  Originally more of a camp, the buildings had no windows.  Canvas flaps covered the openings while in season.  During the summers, the canvas was removed and the building interiors were left to the elements.

Wright’s wife didn’t enjoy the cold that produced or sharing space with local wildlife such as snakes and scorpions and demanded her husband install windows and other shelter from the elements. 

We take the grand tour (there are 1 hour and 1 ½ hour versions of the tour) and found in completely accessible although some of the ramps were a bit steep.  In addition to being a museum and historic site, Taliesin West is still an architectural school, residence, and architectural firm.  The apprentices still live in shelters of their own design and construction scattered throughout the land (if there in winter, be sure to take the apprentice shelter tour).

It was a highlight of the trip and very beautiful except for the nearby power lines that mar the view.  Wright went all the way to President Truman to try to have the lines buried underground to no avail.

Afterward, it’s lunch at the Coyote Grill near the Scottsdale airport.  It is so delicious we make reservations to come back for dinner.  After an afternoon of swimming at the hotel, we come back for apple baked pork loin, pasta, and grilled fish while sitting on the wonderful patio here.  See what I mean about a satisfied customer spending more than they planned for?  Coyote Grill is definitely worth the trip. (Unfortunately, Coyote Grill is no longer there, it's now a place more like Hooter's - Ed)

Tim wanted to see the rides at Coasters ‘n Castles, an amusement park in north Phoenix.  We go but it is very cramped and none of the rides are accessible.  At least it didn’t cost us anything to find out.  I can’t really recommend this place to anybody with a disability.

The next morning we take in the Phoenix Zoo at nearby Papago Park.  An accessible tram provides guests with a quick overview of the zoo.  It also doubles as mass transit around the zoo for those who find walking a great distance too much.  There are four handy stops on the route and one fare allows you to board and alight from the tram as many times as you want.

The tram at the Phoenix Zoo is wheelchair accessible 

We are real impressed with the recreated Columbian rain forest here.  Starting off in a recreated Columbian town, an accessible dirt trail leads through the jungle where many animal inhabitants await such as Columbian bears, pirana like fish, alligators, monkeys, and many birds.  Misters do double duty making it more jungle like and cooling off the Arizona desert at the same time.

Lunch today would be at the Sugar Bowl in downtown Scottsdale where ice cream is the star of the show although they also serve sandwiches.  Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane is a regular here and his cartoons and doodles are very much in evidence.

As the temperature climbed into the afternoon, we settled into the cool waters of the Quality Suites pool where we swam the afternoon away.

Dinner tonight was at the Reata Pass Steakhouse in the northeast corner of Scottsdale.  This place is a real hoot.  Dining is outdoors where your steak is cooked over an open fire.  An Aussie by the name of Gary Lloyd serenaded the diners with some real good country western music and the steaks themselves were succulent and juicy. A flight of stairs will stop you in your tracks but just check with the bartender for the  accessible route to the dining area. 

This would be our last night here and all agree that there was way more fun in Scottsdale than we had time for.  Another weekend here is definitely in order.


-Darryl
Copyright 2001 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

On the Back Roads of the Motherlode

Highway 49 connects the historic towns of California's Gold Country. This artery of history tells the story of our modern state. Get off this road and you find even more, mysterious places. Many that time forgot, such as when we went to the almost-ghost town of Hornitos.

Today, we're making the circle around the upper hills of Amador county, from Jackson, to Volcano, down through Fiddletown, and ending up at the wineries of the area.

Watch the Video!

Not long after I turn off the highway, I see a bramble of blackberries on the side of the road. Luckily, there's a nice pull out where I can park and go over to see if I can find any to pick.

Wild blackberries abound on the sideroads throughout the state.  You have to be very careful because they grow in big thickets, full of thorns. Also, poison oak is a close mimic of the blackberry plant so you need to be extra cautious to be sure that this painful plant is not growing within it.

Gingerly, I look through the thorns and find enough ripe blackberries to fill my bowl while also snacking on these tart but sweet fruits.

I give Letty and Tim a few to taste and we move on.

We come upon the town of Volcano where not much is open besides the bakery.  It's a pretty little place with old building situated in a tree-filled glen.  Letty and Tim are not wanting to go through the trouble to find a wheelchair accessible parking spot and then have to get him out and back in so we move on.

Fiddletown is even smaller, the one business we'd want to stop at, another dessert emporium, is closed because they've got a booth at the county fair this weekend.

The road eventually empties us back out in the Shenandoah Valley where we stop in to see the friendly folks at Sobon Winery. I give the lady at the counter a couple of my blackberries and she gives me a thank you and a small glass of wine.

A mixed case later, we're off to the other end of the valley to have a picnic at Story Winery.  It's always nice to visit with the staff here and have another excellent meal under their shady oaks among the old vines.

The rest of the day is spent swimming in the pool at the hotel before eating some pizza from the local Pokerville Market.

In the morning, we check out and head down highway 49 for some more Motherlode car touring. From the almost empty New Melones Reservoir, we head through the famous frog jumping town of Angel's Camp, followed by Sonora, before coming down from the hills to highway 99 and home.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

MacGyvering the Garden

We call my wife Momgyver because she's always coming up with little solutions for problems that pop up. Today, I did a little Dadgyvering in the garden.

Inspecting my spray patterns, I noticed that the water was going right over the top of my onion plant. I tried to get the leaves of that bougainvillea to cover the sprayer but it would not stay there.

No problem, I got this little fly swatter someone gave us that is completely useless for killing flies but it makes a great screen to catch the water and direct it to the onion's roots.

Also, easy propagation...

When a branch breaks off the plumeria, instead of throwing in in the green waste can...

...just stick it in the ground or a pot.

After filling with potting soil, I stick the branch in.

Watered in, it will soon sprout and become a new plant.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

A Weighty Harvest Indeed

There are so many tomatoes on our plant that it is weighing it down and blocking my son's access on our path. It's in a cage but the cage is no match for this vigorously growing plant that's full of fruit. 

What a wonderful problem to have! Let's see what I can do.

I take a couple of stakes, push the cage up against the wall as hard as I can, and pound the stakes through the cage and plant to hold it up to the wall as best I can.

Eh, it's not perfect but at least it clears up a bit of the path.

It also helps to pick off some of that fruit that's weighing it down.

I'll also get some chiles and cherry tomatoes while I'm out here.

And the basket holding today's harvest looks like this.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

A Fair Time in The Motherlode

You would think, that being in the middle of one of the state's oldest wine producing areas, that the county fair would sell wine.

You'd be wrong.

At least when we're there, the wine bar is closed. Beer and margaritas are free flowing, however.

We're at the Amador County Fair in the heart of California's Gold Country in Plymouth. We've been wanting to come here for years.  A few years ago, we had a trip planned but work got in the way. Last year was another attempt but a large forest fire in the area made it a no-go.

Finally, we're settled in to the great Shenandoah Inn and we're set to go.

Watch the Video!

It's a small fair, two hours will pretty much get you through everything.

It's got great displays of 4H raised animals like sheep, cows, and goats.  Horsemanship competitions are going on in the arena throughout the day. A midway full of rides awaits the adventurous fairgoers.

After deciding we'll probably have the fried calamari as our fair food later, we head to the back of the grounds where hobbyists have restored tractors and engines on display.

A small steam engine runs a wood shop complete with lathe and drill press while other smaller engines just sit there running and popping,  awaiting something to use they're power.

One gentleman has hooked his up to a hand-pump and is recycling water from a bucket on a trailer. When I ask his why he did this (it obviously has no practical purpose) he said simply, "because it's fun."

A giant boiler, with smoke that can be seen over the entire fairground, runs an historic lumber mill via steam power.

Pieces of furniture sit on the lawn nearby, products of the lumber produced here.

The sawdust is recycled and used as bedding in the animal barns while the trash wood is cut up and burned in the boiler.

We have our calimari (just so-so) and a couple of beers while we check out our haul of freebies from the exhibit halls. The shady trees of the beer garden make a nice place to watch the parade of antique tractors go by.

Afterward, we go across the street from the fair to Amador 360 to taste some wine and even buy a case.  A very nice dinner at Taste, an incredibly delicious restaurant in downtown Plymouth, caps the day.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved