Observations from the Road

Some notes about my recent vacation, when I visited usually sunny Southern California.

I had a headache from the morning's decaf white tea, but no problems with the lunchtime Dr. Pepper or dinnertime sweet tea. Is there something to be said for caffeine quality?

I put my credit card in the machine at a Mobil gas station. The machine asked Debit Card >Y/N< ?


Not

Debit Card?
Y
N

where you can pick the appropriate button on the side, but

Debit Card >Y/N< ?

with everything on one line. I couldn't figure out which button to push, so I got gas at Chevron instead.

The trailer of a big rig said "Jesus Christ is Lord not a swear word". Schweet.

At the Getty, there's a sculture called Moving Flower. Designed in the 50's and construted in the 80's, is sits on a small lawn of unkempt grass. It was the grass which struck me. Amid the precisely manicured gardens of the Getty is this tangled, messy mass. I liked the grass more than the sculpture.

DisneyLand! Indiana Jones was closed all day. The corn dogs are large and a bit oily and very good. The re-instituted submarine ride can be scary for little kids. And Captain Eo is still cheesy, made all the more so by the wonderous absoluteness of it being made in 1986. The hair. The make-up. The rainbow t-shirt.

A tip for infrequent visitors (like me): Don't put your bag on the floor when riding Pirates of the Caribbean. It will get wet.

California Adventure! My first time! Toy Story Midway Mania closed. Too tired for Screamin' over California; too long a wait for Tower of Terror (a ride built on my least favorite aspect of a roller coaster - the drop). Soaring over California was well worth the wait, and was the only ride for which we needed a fast pass.

Surprised to see a full service Union 76 station in Venice. Thought such things were extinct in California.

Is that drizzle? You gotta be kidding me!

Only took 1.5 hrs to get from Venice to Simi Valley during rush hour traffic. A pleasant surprise.

Am the proud owner of a Ventura County Library card. Anytime I'm in Simi Valley, I can use the computers at the library.

When the metering lights are on in Simi Valley, they often stay green.

Saw two movies, $3 each. Toy Story 3 (worth the $8.50 I would've paid for a matinee at home) and The Last Airbender (worth $3). The latter was better than I expected. Much to the chagrin of US critics, however, installments 2 & 3 must be made. I need to see how they finish the adaptation of one of my favorite tv shows, Avatar, The Last Airbender.

Goats are not afraid of heights. They are quite comfortable traipsing across wooden walkways 2 stories off the ground. The things you learn when you visit a farm.