Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Cali

My Saturday noon to Sunday noon 24 hours with J1 was great. It was nice to catch up, hang out, swap music, talk books, eat out, shop, and.. enjoy some scenery.



The highlight was sitting on a rock (on a spot ergonomically designed by God for my butt) in the riverbed of the Kaweah River, eating grapes, brie, dates and butter toffee peanuts, in the 62 degree sunshine. Lovely. Thanks, kitten!



On our way to the river, we stopped for ice cream, and noticed something across the street. A big ol' sign, and some little animals near it... hm.



Kinda makes a guy wonder what exactly IS "gourmet" about that jerky. Woof?



Before and after the 24 hours with J1, I had a few hours to myself as well, and it served to remind me of things I had forgotten about that part of the country. To wit:

1) It's dry. I walked across the hotel lawn in the shade of a huge oak at about 9AM, and caught myself, thinking "dummy, your shoes are gonna be soaked!" Um, no. There's no morning dew on the grass. Too dry. :) But that's also why cool old cars hold up so well.





2) There are poppys EVERYwhere. Which is great, I love poppies, but.. some are the big, showy, blousy, overblown kind. Like some women you see in Vegas. ;) Not my favorites.



I prefer them bright, lovely, fresh, natural, unpretentious.



Flowers, I mean. But you knew that.




3) Diversity rules. In the McDonalds where I had breakfast there were about 6 different nationalities represented, and almost as many languages spoken. I did a double-take as one kid reminded me of J2.





And across the street was a billboard advertising a local bank with free checking (cheques gratis), and the lead line was:

Cero. Nulo. Nada.

And in the restaurant... Mickey D's Sweet Tea.



All this combined to tell me: "Hun, you ain't in Minnesota no more." ;)

So after hugs and kisses with J1, and a quick burger at my favorite fast food joint (In & Out Burger),




it was off to cool and WINDY Las Vegas, for some hopefully cool but NOT so windy conference speakers. :P


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