RenegadeRider

Today President Bush gave a speech at a Naval base in Coronado, CA commemorating sixty years since victory over Japan in WWII. He arrived yesterday. We had heard that protesters would be trying to make his life miserable. We met at a principal intersection in Coronado for an Operantion Thank You rally. We had flags and signs saying things like, " Thank You US Military" and other similar thoughts. Since a large part of the traffic was military Personnel and employees on their way home, the reception was great . The military personnel appreciate it. One car even drove by displaying a license plate reading in part, "POW". We thanked him profusely. While we were there a large black SUV turned left in front of us. The rear window opened and none other than Donald Rumsfeld leaned out, waved and said thank you - to us.

We watched the National Geographic special, Inside 9/11 . It was two separate 2 hour programs telling the story of what and how it came to happen. I think it told the story very well and I reccommend it highly.

Curmogeonly & Skeptical has a good explanation on the history of civilization .

My brother-in-law, Mike is an avid golfer. I never caught the bug. I tried it once, about 45 years ago. I recall a quotation to the effect that golf is a way to spoil a perfectly good walk in the country. Since I enjoyed exploring the woodlands I understand the essence of that quotation. Now, I understand the true reasons even better. See below.

And you wonder why I don't golf!

Our house had been in escrow early in July, but alas, it was not to be. The market has changed here in San Diego and completed sales are taking a lot longer that earlier in the year. We have finally surrendered and have listed the house for sale with a real estate agent. Today was the first open house. We as owners were banished during the event. It might be scary for a buyer to actually meet a seller. Therefore we went driving. Late summer is monsoon season in San diego county with the tropical moisture being drawn northward from the gulf of California. The conditions frequently produce thunderstorm over the mountains. This has been happening for the past two or three weeks. We drove to the mountains to experience the thunderstorms and were sorely disappointed. The storms appeared to be somewhere near the Colorado river and produced mostly overcast conditions with a light sprinkle.

Yesterday I took and passed the FAA written knowledge test for airplane single engine, land, ASEL.

Devils Postpile.

The river.

"I don't like this picture."

Why did Dianne cross the bridge?

Yes! The water is cold!

With our business finished in Reno we returned to San Diego. We stopped along the way at Devils Postpile National Monument near the Mammoth Mountain ski area. The monument is the result of a basalt lava eruption from Mammoth Mountain about 100,000 years ago to form a layer about 400 feet deep. Then about 10.000 years ago a glacier caused the stone to bend as you see in the photo. The area has some beautiful streams and campsites. We may return for an extended stay. We arrived in San Diego Friday PM.

The T-bird near Lee Vining, CA. Doesn't it look like an advertising photo?

We set out again for Reno. This time the T-bird behaved as we had hoped. It even seemed to enjoy the exercize. It was running better when we arrived than when we left San Diego. We stopped for fuel at a truck stop near Victorville. I checked the fluids and while adding a quart of oil noticed that gasoline was leaking from the rear. I suspect that the many years of sitting allowed the rubber fill connection to rot away. We managed to get further down the road without any problem. We no longer filled the tank completely.

We left for Reno this afternoon. We didn't get very far. I purchased a 1968 Ford Thunderbird as a possible "project car" and intend to ferry the car to Reno, where I have garage space and tools for its restoration. My chauffer, Dianne, thought she could drive all 550 mile on her tip-toes. Her tip toe muscles gave out before she traveled ten miles and since it was rush hour, we had a crisis on our hands. We managed to avert citations for cars broken down along side the freeway. I had to backtrack, and then disconnect the toad before setting out for the rescue. I arrived just as a freeway service patrol was placing a red ticket on the radio antenna. We decided to wait and try again in the morning.

Our house in in escrow. After about two months ofholding open houses we have received and accepted an offer for the sale of our house. The escrow is scheduled to close by the end of September, or sooner.

Dianne insisted that I take her out for dinner tonight. OK, OK we went to the beach to watch the sunset. Guess what? With the typical San Diego weather pattern the beach was overcast and there was no chance of seeing the sun. We did, however, see a school of porpoises just off shore. They even surfed, alongside the surfers. I lived on the beach for many years and have spent a lot of other time on the beach. I think this was the first time I had seen porpoises at a San Diego beach.

I am posting excerpts from an email from a friend that recently moved from San Diego to the DC area. It shows her observations on life in a different world. I notice people here, on base, talk a lot about their gardens, which plants are in bloom, and how we need rain . They are not pedestrian friendly, definitely not pedestrian friendly. one woman stopped to allow me to walk from the store to the parking lot and the car behind her started to go around her and just about hit me. I had some profane words for car no. II Californians are in for a shock when dealing with east coast traffic. Slow as heck drivers. the I-95 is the main artery going N and S. Everyone is going N in a.m. into DC. It starts to back up a good 25 miles south of DC. I see the gridlock/parking lot from my on ramp. I-95 is only a 3 lane interstate and it is ugly with all the big rigs. there are yield signs getting onto the freeways, scary!! there is the HOV lanes with 2 lanes for 3 or more they open and c...

Bikers-in-Training