Category Archives: Out & About
Friday Flower Fiesta (5/24/13) — From the campus of San Diego State University
Schools are getting out for the summer, and this weekend is Memorial Day weekend, the official start of Tourist Season in San Diego.
Today’s Friday Flower Fiesta comes from the campus of San Diego State University (SDSU). A couple of years ago the campus seemed to have undergone a transformation that made the campus into a botanical garden. Right now it seems pretty barren since 32,000 students have taken off for a couple of weeks before summer school starts, but that makes it easy to walk around taking pictures without having to clone people out of the pictures!
Flowerus orangii
Flowerus yellowii
Flowerus unknownii
Flowerus whoknowsii
Begonia
Ice plant
Confused poinsettias
Hollyhock
Iris
Iris
Aloe
Clivia
Coral tree
Rose
(This might be my #1 rose picture)
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I can recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
If I wasn’t dirty before……..
Following are four flash videos taken at the San Diego Zoo on May 17, 2013, when I was with Bryan and Liz Flint. They are from Houston, and Liz is an old blogging friend whom I first met online in 2008. So don’t despair if you’ve known someone online for several years and don’t think you’ll ever meet them in person. It can happen!
We’re dirty!
Bird or fish?
If I wasn’t dirty before…….
Ummmm, good!
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Have fun while waiting for the train to go by!
In my little hometown of Kingsville, Texas, the main railroad track ran through the center of town next to the main north-south highway, splitting the town into east and west.
A huge Missouri Pacific Railroad freight yard was at the south end of town, so when long freight trains were being put together, they could block downtown intersections for thirty or more minutes.
Seems it always occurred when one was in a hurry to get to the other side of town for something.
Since my granddad and dad worked for Missouri Pacific, I learned how to have a little fun watching long freight trains, and I’m going to teach you the same thing today.
Each freight car, regardless of what type it is — box car, flat car, tanker car, etc. — usually has at least one date on the car, telling you when the car was new, built, rebuilt, and sometimes even painted:
The date could be just about anywhere on the car depending on the builder, the rebuilder, or the painter. The next time you and the kids are stopped at some railroad tracks waiting for a long freight train to go by, have some fun! See who can find the oldest car on the tracks.
Of course, I have to leave you with a video from my train chasing this past week with Bryan and Liz Flint. Liz is a long-time blogging buddy that I first met online in 2008. This is a 29-second video of a northbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner just north of the Old Town Transit Station and passing over the San Diego River.
P.S. If you’re waiting for a passenger train to go by, well darn it, wave at the people on the train. There will be someone like me on the train who will wave back!
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
A short visit to SeaWorld San Diego
Some pictures and two flash videos from a recent visit to SeaWorld San Diego.
Polar bear
Great Blue Heron (a visitor to SeaWorld like me!)
Emperor Penguin
Sea Turtle
Flamingos and Manta thrill ride
Sea turtle
Stonefish (can you find one of its eyes?)
Turtle Reef without the turtles
Flamingo lagoon and Manta thrill ride
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Under way!
A couple of years ago, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau announced that San Diego County had surpassed Arlington, Virginia, as the nation’s largest military outpost.
They announced that there were something like a quarter of a million active duty military personnel stationed in San Diego County — Camp Pendleton, Fort Rosecrans, 32nd Street Naval Station, Marine Air Corps Base Miramar, North Island Naval Station, and more.
If you are interested in military stuff, the best time to visit San Diego is during Fleet Week in October.
Fortunately, if you can’t make it during Fleet Week, not to worry because Fleet Week is a whole month!
If you can’t make it during Fleet Week, there is still lots to see and do. You can drive through Camp Pendleton’s 125,000 acres on Interstate 5. From downtown San Diego you can see nuclear-powered aircraft carriers like the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson at North Island Naval Station. From 32nd Street you can see the 32nd Street Naval Station and the dozens of ships that are docked there at any given time. Visit the USS Midway Museum downtown and see not only the Midway but dozens of lovingly restored military aircraft.
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)
USS Midway in San Diego, California
One of the best places to watch military ships come and go is Cabrillo National Monument. It’s at the end of Point Loma and overlooks the entrance to the San Diego Harbor.
This past Friday I was playing docent for Bryan & Liz Flint who flew
in from Houston. We wound up over at Point Loma where we
happened to see a submarine being pulled out of the submarine
base by two C-tractor tugboats:
While Bryan & Liz explored Cabrillo National Monument, I was taking videos of the submarine leaving San Diego harbor:
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Self-portraits
There is some sort of challenge going on somewhere about self-portraits.
Here are my two entries, although since since I only know that it is a “challenge going on somewhere,” I’m pretty sure I have no clue where somewhere is.
Thus, I’m pretty sure I’ll not be able to enter my self-portraits.
Alas, if my WordPress readers LIKE them, then I’m a winner!
This second self-portrait is a video. Turn the audio off before watching and see if you see me. If you don’t, watch it again with the video on because I tell you in the video where I am.
There is a monitor at the upper left of the video which shows you the view from the front car of the train that comes along in the center of the video.
The video was taken this past Thursday while I was with Bryan & Liz Flint at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum which claims to be the largest in the nation and one of the largest in the world. Bryan & Liz are railroading friends from Houston whom I met online in 2008 on my previous blogging platform (July 2008 to January 2012).
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
World’s largest lemon, the lips, and going with your feelings
Just south of where I live in La Mesa is Lemon Grove.
Lemon Grove was first settled in 1869 by sheep rancher Robert Allison. Other settlers followed — vegetable farmers, and sheep and poultry ranchers.
In the early 1900s, the citrus industry was booming, and many of the Lemon Grove farms and ranches were converted to citrus groves, mostly lemons but also oranges. Sadly, there’s not a single lemon (or orange) grove left in Lemon Grove, California.
It was at that time that the community became known as Lemon Grove, and on July 1, 1977, the name was made official when Lemon Grove incorporated as a city.
As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,320 spread out over 3.88 miles, giving the city a population density of a whopping 6,500 people per square mile. It doesn’t feel that dense when you go over there.
In 1930-31, Lemon Grove was the center of the first successful school desegretation court decision in the history of the United States. The case resulted from the Lemon Grove school board deciding to build a separate school for chilcren of Mexican heritage.
On January 5, 1931, Jerome Green, the Lemon Grove Grammar School principal, under instructions from school trustees, refused to let Mexican children enter the school and directed them to the new school. Children previously had been instructed by their parents to return home if they were sent to the new school. Ultimately parents refused to send their children to the new school, resulting in a boycott since they were not allowed back at the Grammar School.
In the court case that resulted, the judge ruled that children of Mexican origin could not be segregated under the laws of the state of California because they were “of the Caucasian race.” Thus laws allowing segregation of “Oriental,” “Negro,” and “Indian” children did not apply. The case is known as the “Lemon Grove Incident,” sadly making it sound rather minor and incidental.
I had not explored Lemon Grove in several years so I found some old things still around and some new things that had popped up.
First up is one of my favorites, the lips on the hillside at Lemon Grove Avenue and High Street:
The story is that in 1977, a teenager named Stephen Garcia painted the indentations in the boulder to look like lips. Technically, the “Lemon Grove Lips” are located just a few feet in La Mesa, but the City of Lemon Grove maintains the lips as a piece of public art. The red paint is that used by the city to paint street curbs, officially calling it “curb red.” Occasionally the lips get hit by vandals who scrawl graffiti on them, but within hours the City repairs the damage.
Next up is the world’s largest lemon:
The world’s largest lemon is located at 3361 Main Street in Lemon Grove, California, adjacent to the tracks for the Orange Line of the San Diego Trolley. It is about ten feet wide and six feet tall. There are a dozen lemon trees planted behind the large lemon but they are not doing so well, at times looking like they are on their last root.
When I was searching for information on the large lemon, I found a site providing address, directions, and hours. Under hours, it said “Always visible (Call to verify).” I’m trying to determine under what conditions something that is ten feet long and six feet high might not be visible…………lol
Just down the street from the world’s largest lemon is the Grove Pastry Shop:
I have been by the Grove Pastry Shop dozens of times, but I had never been around to the left side. I found a beautiful and pleasant surprise, four murals depicting the history of the Lemon Grove area:
While I was walking around taking pictures, I had this feeling that I was being watched.
My wise old grandmother always said, “Go with your feelings.”
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat
and I approve this post!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Caring makes you a better person and the world a better place
I went to public schools — grade school in Brigham City, Utah, and Kingsville, Texas; and junior high and high school in Kingsville. Then I went to a public university, Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Although I never had children (never wanted them), if they had existed, they would have gone to public schools because I think public schools do a better job of actually proving to children that there are good and bad in anything. If you go to an elite, private school, all you get exposed to are elite, private peers. Who wants that? I need variety in my life!
With no children, and no desire to serve on a school board, I do have an interest in what our public schools are teaching. I think John Green said it best about why he has no problem paying school taxes:
Just a block from me is the Harriet Tubman School:
Even though it’s only a block from me, it is in San Diego, not La Mesa.
I’m a big history buff so I know who Harriet Tubman was. She was born Araminta Harriet Ross and is known as an African-American abolitionist, a humanitarian, and a Union spy during the Civil War. Although she was born into slavery, she escaped and, during the Civil War period, made 19 missions to rescue more than 300 slaves using a network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.
Did you get that? The Underground Railroad! It should be obvious to many of my readers that when I found a book in our school library titled something like “Harriet Tubman & the Underground Railroad,” well, I had to read it. Satisfied my insatiable thirst for both history and railroads!
As I was walking home from Pep Boys today (three blocks from me), I walked by the Harriet Tubman School. It is an elementary school and I was intrigued by some sort of art that had been placed above the auditorium entrance. As I got closer, I could see that it was tile art. Looks like this:
Looks like a mess to me, but I suspect it was done by K-5 students. Perhaps if I were to study it longer, I could make something out of it.
As I continued to walk by the school, I saw some interesting hangings on the fence and went to take a closer look. Here are some of the dastardly stuff that this school is teaching its students (ack!):
I’m thinking that the teachers at the Harriet Tubman School might be able to teach our politicians a thing or two. Then again, maybe it is too late to help politicians.
As I was stepping away from the fence, a young woman came out of the door with several books under her arms. I was pretty sure she was a teacher. I walked up to her and asked, “Are you a teacher?” She said, “Yes.” I said, “Thank you” and walked away. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, but I could feel surprise and happiness exuding from the body behind me. I think I made her day.
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat
and I approve this post!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Track warrants and the Hobart Railyard
My ride on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner from San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot to Union Station in Los Angeles ranks as the best train ride I’ve ever been on, made specifically memorable by the engineer, who just happened to leave the door open to the cab and didn’t mind talking with me during the trip.
One of the interesting items I learned about were track warrants. Track warrants are issued to grant a train’s use of the main track between two points, and sometimes at specific times. The main track warrant used on my trip was a Form B. The engineer, Tim, gave me one:
A Form B is used most often when there is track maintenance going on. It would be a good idea if a fast-moving train didn’t run over any maintenance workers or their equipment, so the train engineer asks permission to move on the main line.
Since the engineer left the cab compartment door open, I stood for the whole 2h45m trip watching us roll on down the track. (I felt like I was a student back at Texas A&M University where students stand for the whole football game.) I was able to see what was coming up and get some really good videos, better than I’ve ever gotten before. The engineer also graciously told me what was coming up, where to point the camera for good pictures, etc.
One of the most exciting areas was the BNSF Hobart Railyard in Commerce, California.
Hobart covers 245 acres and is the largest intermodal freight rail yard in the nation. Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in a container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (rail, ship, and truck) without any handling of the freight itself when changing transportation modes. It reduces cargo handling and improves security, reduces damage and loss, and allows freight to be transported faster. So when you see a long train of containers, as in the picture below, those containers have, or will be, additionally transported by ship or truck.
More than 1.5 million containers move through the Hobart Railyard each year. On my trip I got two videos of us going through the Hobart Railyard, one with our northbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner meeting a southbound Pacific Surfliner, and another with three intermodal trains, lots of containers, and several idling engines in the Hobart Railyard.
As many times as I have made the San Diego/Los Angeles trip by rail, I never knew how fast the train goes. In some areas it is approved for 90 mph. The fastest I saw the speedometer get to was 92 mph. Here we are at 87 mph:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
The shortest railway in the world
One of my primary goals for National Train Day 2013 this past Saturday was to ride the Angels Flight Railway.
Angels Flight Railway claims to be the shortest railway in the world, at 298 feet.
It is a funicular system, also called an inclined or cliff railway.
Usually they are railways in which a cable is attached to a pair of rail cars to move them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.
In the past, every time I have gone over to 351 S. Hill Street in the Bunker Hill District of downtown Los Angeles to ride the train, it was either out of service or decommissioned.
The original Angels Flight Railway opened in 1901 as the Los Angeles Incline Railway and connected Olive Street to Hill Street. Here’s what it looked like in 1903, courtesy of Wikipedia:
It was closed and dismantled in 1969 as the Bunker Hill District underwent redevelopment.
The first time I tried to go was in 1968, but it was closed temporarily for maintenance. I tried again in 1978 without knowing that it had been permanently closed.
In 1996, it was rebuilt about a half block south of its original location and reopened on February 24. I attempted to go in 1999. Alas, closed for maintenance.
I tried again in 2004 without knowing that, in 2001, it had again been permanently closed due to a fatal accident relating to poor engineering and construction of the new track and haulage system.
Finally, on March 15, 2010, it was reopened and has been operating ever since except for a brief period from June 10 to July 5, 2011, when excessive wear on the cars’ wheels resulted in all the wheels being replaced with custom-made steel wheels.
This year is the first time I’ve tried to ride it since it reopened in 2010. Even though it’s just a one-minute ride, it was a lot of fun.
Transport fee is 50¢ each way. If you have a Los Angeles Metro TAP card, it’s only 25¢ each way.
Following are the three videos I took of the Angels Flight Railway. The first is a view from South Hill Street. The second is going up, and the third is coming down. If you just want to watch one of them, watch Video 2, going up.
I should also say that I learned how to delete and add audio files to video files with my new video software, Corel VideoStudio Pro, and found some great Internet resources for royalty-free music, to be disclosed in a future blog post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
