Cheese (Day 16) - 20 Days of Chill

Up until this past year, I'd only ever known P.J. was through the Internet.  I used to write a blog entitled Electronic Breadcrumbs, which was all about geocaching.  I believe this is how we first met, and when I got tired of writing that blog, I created this one and he eventually followed me over here.

Last summer, he went to a lot of baseball games, 75 of them in all.  I really love baseball and I think in my best year, I probably went to no more than about 20 games, so 75 is an incredible amount.  Anyway, his last three games were out here in Southern California late in September.  He flew in Saturday morning and attended the Dodger game that night, then he and his friend drove down to San Diego on Sunday morning and I met him down there and we met for the first time.  We then to the train from Qualcom Stadium to downtown San Diego and took in a Padres game at Petco Field, the first time I'd been to Petco.  Monday night he went to Anaheim to see the Angels play and then flew home.

This story, however, is about where he ate.  Since he's not from around here, he'd never been to In-n-Out.  If you live in Southern California, or have lived in Southern California, you know what In-n-Out is.  Best burger place ever.  Consistently good.  When my son went to England to study abroad, we stopped at the In-n-Out to get his last meal before leaving the country.  That's where this photo was taken.

So P.J. and his friend went to In-n-Out Saturday night and ordered standard fare.  I think he Tweeted about it and got a response back from one of his followers something on the order of, "Did you order off the secret menu?"  THERE'S A SECRET MENU???

So needless to say, we went to In-n-Out Sunday night after the game.  On the drive up there, we'd talked about the secret menu and other things related.  They ended up in one queue and I ended up in the other.  I did my standard order, "Cheeseburger, extra toasted bun, whole grill, fries and a medium drink."  The server didn't bat an eye, although extra toasted buns and whole grill are not on the main menu.  I know I've never seen whole grill on the secret menu.  P.J. wanted something a little bit more "out there" so he ended up ordering fries "Animal Style."  That's fries, with special sauce, grilled onions and cheese melted over the top.  Delicious, but not really good for my waistline anymore, so I usually don't order it.

There server was very entertained by their order.  You could tell they weren't regulars, because they stumbled over their order, but it was fun to watch. Regulars rarely stumble and if you click on the secret menu link I've posted, there are plenty of things that still aren't listed there, including the two I usually order.  

Now, I think I want to go to In-n-Out and order a order of fries Animal Style and have them hold the special sauce just to see what they'd do.  Cheese and grilled onions on fries sound good all by themselves.

For more stories about Cheese, click here.

Miracles do happen

In 2002, which was early in my geocaching, I got into travel bugs big time.  One of the travel bugs I created was the Cucamonga Railroad Cacher - The Travel Bug Limited.  It was a caboose from my collection of HO scale model trains that I have stored in my garage.  I attached a travel bug tag to it and let it go, hoping that it would meet its goal of traveling on scenic railroads around the country.

Back then, most caches were fairly good sized and would accommodate this size of bug.  But as the hobby has evolved, the caches have gotten smaller and so it's more difficult to put this traveler in a geocache.  There were periods of inactivity, due to the cacher having it for a period of time until they found a large enough cache in which to place it.

But the caboose did travel throughout California.  It got to ride on the Napa Wine train and the Skunk train in Northern California.  Eventually, however, the travel bug disappeared.  For the most part, I'm resigned to that happening anyway.  Once you release something from your possession, you're at the whims of whoever next picks it up.  If it's someone new, they might keep it, or not know how to log it, or the person just might be spiteful and decide to throw it away.  There are a variety of reasons why the travel bug disappears, including the cache gets washed away in a flood.  Yeah, that's happened to a cache that one of my travel bugs was in.

So, in July 2005, the travel bug was listed as missing.  Someone actually took it in April 2005, but never logged it out of the cache it was in and when the cache was archived, the travel bug got listed as missing and I'd lost another one.  Or so I thought.

This afternoon, I received an email from geocaching.com telling me that my travel bug had been found by a cacher named cdbass who found it along an abandoned railroad in Ithaca, New York.  As you can see from the small photo cdbass posted, it's the original caboose that I let loose almost 13 years ago.  Oh, the stories this little caboose could tell.  Where has it been all this time?  Who took it and when and how did it get to New York?

As far as I'm concerned, it's just cool that it's resurfaced after almost 10 years of being missing.  Let's hope it gets to travel long and far in the future and eventually return safely back to California.

Baseball

Now it's already fall and I really haven't written much about what happened this summer, so you're going to get a retrospect view of different things that happened to me this summer.

This summer was really a whirlwind type of vacation for me for the first time in a long time.  It seemed like I had things happening all the time and just when I was done with one thing, another thing got planned.  Not all the things were pleasant (most medical procedures aren't), but it's safe to say that I passed those with flying colors and am now moving on to rectify the things that were in the grey area, health wise.

Summer, for me, actually started Memorial Day weekend.  I went up to visit my daughter and her fiancé.  My middle son was up in the Bay Area that weekend as well, so we ended up taking in a Giants game at AT&T Park in San Francisco.  We rode the train in, barely making it to the station on time, but the ride worked out well as we had seats.  As we made our way closer to the ballpark, the train kept getting filled with more and more black and orange.  I felt like alien, this Angel fan that I am.

As you can see from the first shot, I didn't do a very good job of raising my daughter to be a local team supporter and so she's become a Giants fan.  Nothing much I can do about that as she's a big girl and can make her own decisions.  I blame it on TV.  Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Now hear me out on this one.  I'm not a fan of watching baseball on TV.  Whenever my daughter has taken me to games at Angel stadium, we always go early.  My daughter says, "It's like a religion to him.  He has to see batting practice or the experience isn't complete."  And that's right.  I like watching batting practice.  I like watching the players warm and and play soft toss.  I like to watch them stretch and loosen up.  It's all part of the game.

TV doesn't offer that.  For the most part, not all, but for the most part, TV presents a duel between the pitcher and the batter.  With TV, you don't get the pleasure of watching the players adjust with different pitches.  You don't get to see the center fielder shade a batter to left center and make subtle adjustments throughout the at bat.  TV doesn't cover baseball well in my opinion.  And so, because of that, I never watched baseball on TV and my daughter has glommed on to the Giants as her team.  Yeah, part of that is her fiancé's fault since he's a die hard Giants fan, but if I'd watched more baseball, she probably would be a better local sports enthusiast.

Now if you're going to talk football with her, she definitely has her passions, or at least she knows which teams to really hate.  Her fiancé has learned that if the Cowboys are playing well, it's just better to turn the TV off, because she really hates the Cowboys, just like her dad.  I couldn't be more proud.

The baseball game that weekend was a lot of fun.  I went to three games this summer, far more than I've gone in the past couple of years combined.  I didn't realize how much I missed the game.  I suspect that in the upcoming years, I shall be returning to different stadiums to enjoy games more than once every couple of years like it's been in the past.

Photo Blogging Challenge (June 2014): Vehicles

Well, once again an entire month has passed and I haven't written anything about anything and yet I have a wealth of material to write all sorts of pieces.  It's a good thing P.J. puts out his monthly challenge, otherwise I wouldn't be posting anything here.

The month of June has closed and last month's challenge was vehicles.  In reality, I wasn't sure if I'd see 5 different kinds of vehicles over the course of the month, but I figured I'd give this a go.  Many times, I'll not even think about the theme and then when it comes time to put the post together, the photos just jump out at me.  That's pretty much what happened this month.  Dictionary.com identifies the word vehicle as 

"any means in or by which someone travels or something is carried or conveyed; a means of conveyance or transport: a motor vehicle; space vehicles."

I decided to take this literally, which means you're going to see some traditional kinds of vehicles and some non-traditional vehicles as well.  So, without further ado, here's my contribution to the theme of vehicle.

1.  Train show

Nearing the end of the school year, I was approached by one of my students who gave me some tickets to a model train show which was held at the Ontario Convention Center, just south of our school.  Model train owners take their vehicles very seriously as they strive to make realistic layouts in which to run their trains around.  This engine was being run on a modular layout, which means each module had to conform to certain standards so they would all connect together to form one large layout.

2.  In flight

I will be the first one to admit, that I just got plain lucky on this shot.  There are times when I want to believe that I'm a great photographer, but I know my craft and skill pale in comparison to many other photographers I've seen on Flicker and elsewhere.  The wings of the bee are the vehicle in this shot and I've been hoping ever since I took this shot several years ago, to replicate it.  I have had varying degrees of success over the years and I finally was able to get this bee hovering near the flowers.  

The trick is your depth of field and a fast shutter speed.  You need a fairly large depth of field to make sure everything stays in focus and you also need a fast shutter speed to slow down the beating of the bee's wings.  I felt, with this shot, that focus was more important and so the wings are just a blur, but I got the bee hovering near the flowers, so I'll count that as a victory.

3.  30s era Packard

I love old cars.  If I had an unlimited supply of funds, I think I'd own several different cars from various time periods.  But I'd own them so I could drive them around.  Nothing's more depressing, I think, than to know that people own classic cars like this and then they just keep them housed in warehouses or in their garages for only themselves or a few select friends to enjoy.  

I think half the enjoyment of vehicles like this is the stares you can get as you drive around town in a car like this.  I know I'm very guilty of doing that exact same thing.  I've pulled out my camera from time to time to take photos and I've had people actually slow down so I could get a good shot of their car.

A couple of years ago, when my son and I were camping in Zion National Park, there was a group of car aficionados who belonged to a Franklin car club.  They would drive their cars around to promote the club and to enjoy their cars and for others to enjoy them as well.  That particular year, they were doing a circle tour of southern Utah and northern Arizona.

I spotted this 30s era Packard in the parking lot at out local community center when I went to vote in early June.  I didn't have my camera with me when I went to vote, so I voted, went home, then came back and it was fortunately still there.

4.  Abandoned truck

In early June, I helped a friend with his trek on the John Muir Trail.  I'm not in shape to hike 211 miles in 14 days, but I was willing to help him shuttle his truck up to the exit point for the hike and then take him around to the starting point in Yosemite National Park.  

After we dropped off his truck at Whitney Portal which is at the base of Mt. Whitney, we then worked our way up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, camping near Mammoth Lakes, CA and Lee Vining, before camping the last night in Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite.  

One of the days was devoted to geocaching and sightseeing.  One of the places I'd never been before was Bodie, CA, which is the official historic ghost town of California.  It's located out in the middle of nowhere off of Highway 395, close to the California/Nevada state line.  The ghost town is kept in "arrested decay" meaning they don't let things get too bad that they collapse.

As I look at this shot,  you can't help but wonder what kinds of stories this old truck could tell.  It's not conveying anything today, cargo-wise, but it probably helped someone out in the town of Bodie many years ago.

5.  Friendship

The vehicle for this shot is the Internet.  This is my friend Steve on the left and that grizzled old fart on the right is me.  Steve and I met in the fall of 1984 when I started teaching at Cucamonga Middle School, so we've now known each other for 30 years.  

About 14 years ago, Steve left the school and moved to Visalia, California to pursue teaching at the community college level.  Had this happened 100 years ago, the friendship would have probably ended.  Postal service might have conveyed some letters back and forth, but we probably would never have seen each other again.

Because of instant communication now available to us, friendships like this can continue on.  Through my travels around the state, mostly while camping, I've been through or near Visalia enough times that we've been able to see each other several times.  I can count four times for sure: once when my son and I were camping in Sequoia National Park, once when I was taking my daughter up to school in Stockton, CA, once when my wife and I were coming home from Stockton after visiting my daughter and this weekend after I finished helping my son move into his new place in Merced, California.

Steve and I have maintained our friendship via email, and will continue to do so in the future.  I spent an hour and a half with him and his lovely wife Joan Monday afternoon having lunch while we caught up on what all of our kids were doing.  It might have been longer, except that Steve had a class to teach at his school, but I'm sure there will be other opportunities for us to get together again in the future.

And that's my addition to P.J.'s photo blogging theme of vehicles this month.  Please stop by his blog page and see how others interpreted the theme vehicles.

Photo Blogging Challenge (February 2014): Red

So it occurs to me that I need to blog more often than once a month.  My last post was for this same photo blogging challenge on the theme new.  This one is on the theme red.  The photos I posted for last month's theme, I thought were rather good, yet I only received 2 comments about them.  It's kind of disheartening when that happens which may be a contributing factor in me not writing more.  

The other reason is February has been an incredibly busy month for me.  I participate in our school's Shakespeare club and our performance happens this Wednesday during school hours and then again on Thursday evening.  Seeing middle school kids memorize Shakespeare has always been amazing, even more so when I get involved in the process and it takes me forever and a day to get all of my lines down.

But on to this month's theme - RED

I really haven't thought about the theme that much this past month (Sorry P.J.), but when I looked at my shots I came up with six that I think will work quite well with the theme, so here we go.

1.  "K" Line
A couple of weeks ago on the 365 project, I was pushed to take a shot of some real live trains.  I'd been posting shots of the model trains when I went to the Great American Train Expo in January and my push partner wanted me to think bigger.  Coming home from a geocaching trek out in the desert, I stopped at this overpass in Colton, as it's right on the edge of a huge rail yard next to Interstate 10.  This shot ended up being one of the ones I posted for that particular challenge.  Many people at 365 weren't quite sure if it was a real shot or if it was another model train shot.  I assure you, these trains are huge, nothing that any of us could pick up by hand.

2.  Monorail Red
Back when I was in college, I worked at Disneyland.  It was one of those great summertime jobs that worked out well with my schedule while I was in college.  People always ask me where I worked when they find out I worked there.

I worked on the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes, Mike Fink Keel Boats, worked one Christmas and New Year's on Pirates of the Caribbean and the last summer I was there, I worked on the Monorails.  

Each ride had its own special appeal and you had a different thought process with each ride.  Someone asked me once if I ever went back to work at the park, which ride would I go to and without hesitation, I would choose the canoes.  I don't think I really appreciated it at the time, but when you think about it, there's not too many places and/or jobs where you can get an 8 hour workout and get paid for doing it.

When we went to the park a couple of weeks ago, I told them I had worked on the monorails and they asked whether I wanted to see the new look of the cockpit.  I'd driven the old Mark III monorail and this was the much improved Mark VII.  The driver now has the ability to go through an array of video displays keeping tabs on each riding compartment, including a rear display.  One time when I was driving, the train ahead of me broke down and I had to park my train over the motor boat cruise for about 20 minutes or so while they tended to the train in front of me.  Those cameras would have come in handy since one of the guests inside my train decided to jump out.  I'll never understand why people will do such stupid things in order to "save" themselves five or ten minutes of time.

3.  The Happiest Place on Earth
As noted above, we went to Disneyland over President's Day weekend.  My daughter flew down with her friend and she took me to Disneyland for my birthday.  Needless to say, it was one of the best trips I've had to the park in recent memory.  When we first entered into the park, we headed over to City Hall, so I could get my birthday badge, which I wore proudly the entire day.  I don't care how old you are, it's always nice to get birthday greetings from total strangers.  I started to seek out other people who share my day and wished them a Happy Birthday as well.  I don't think I should be that amazed in once sense, but it was quite fun to notice all the people who share my birthday.  

Later on, the younger set decided they all wanted some kind of hat to commemorate the occasion and a stop at the Mad Hatter's shop next door to Alice in Wonderland was in order.  Both my daughter and her friend got matching Minnie Mouse ears that they wore proudly throughout the rest of the day.  My son bought a Peter Pan hat and later in the day a small child even called him Peter Pan.

4.  Upland Station
Last weekend, I took the Metrolink train into Union Station on a reconnaissance mission.  At school, I run a photo club and the teacher across the hallway runs an art club.  We've talked about taking a field trip into downtown Los Angeles on the train for both clubs and we wanted to scout out locations ahead of time.  Since the plan was to leave from the Upland station, we met here Saturday morning.  While I was waiting for her to arrive, I walked around and took some photos, catching this one of the station and the light clouds in the sky.  I thought the red tile roof worked as a nice color contrast to the rest of the shot.  I submitted this shot and the Monorail Red shot to the Yahoo weather app as well, but neither one was accepted.  

5.  Go for Broke Monument

Located in the Little Tokyo district in downtown Los Angeles, the Go for Broke Monument highlights the contributions of all Nisei veterans of World War II. Most of these veterans were interred in concentration type camps for the duration of the war, yet still felt the need to enlist and serve their country of birth, the United States of America.

The memorial includes the names of all who served with the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service (MIS), 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion.

Old Glory just looked awesome from this angle.  I almost wished I'd brought my wide angle lens along on this trip, but I think this shot worked out well, even though it's kind of tight overall.

Well, that's another month of shots posted for the theme.  Please stop by P.J.'s blog to see other takes on the same thing by wonderful photographers.  And, once again, please comment below.  I really won't bite.