OK, I'm trying to pack and leave today for Hawaii when I notice one small problem. Something just doesn't look quite right....
Let's see....snorkel gear, shorts, ballcap, bird....What doesn't belong in this group?
Next post should have a gazillion Maui pictures, including 3,000 sunsets.
So, I cruise up the hill on a beautiful day in the convertible. Perfect day in San Ramon for having the top down.
I get to the top and wander around the back of what used to be a restaurant. I walk to the edge to get some pics and am shooting away. Here's Chevron Park (the dark building in the distance) next to Bishop Ranch (the white buildings.)
So, I'm snapping away behind the old restaurant, when a back door opens and Ms. Saberarahimi, the business manager of Canyon View Dining Hall, comes out. Although her English wasn't so good, and she didn't say exactly this, she clearly indicated, "Hey, what the f#$% are you doing back here?"
So, to get access to photo this,
I agree to take this, along with a half dozen others for Ms. Saberarahimi. The cute thing was that she ran over to the little water fountain and turned it on. She was very pleased when I took a photo of it.
By the way, here's how I got caught -- I see the back window of the Dining Hall and think that this may be an interesting shot. She is on the inside looking out wondering what I'm doing there.
After this, I figure that I'll cruise over to the park to get more shots of flowers. Perfect day for cruising, listening to the Jersey Boys soundtrack, and taking photos.
I get a few good ones and then wander around the park. I'm walking along and see, after living here for nearly nine years, a time capsule!
Check this out. I love time capsules! It opens in 2033, about 26 years from now. I searched the Internet to try to find more info about it, but couldn't find it's contents. Let's all meet here in 2033 to see what's inside this baby.
Time to leave and cruise on back home. I drove slow just listening to the tunes and enjoying the sunshine. (Yes, I took this pic myself.)
And finally, pull into the driveway at home-sweet-home.
Lisa buys me a new camera bag called the Lowepro Slingshot 100 AW (All Weather). Very cool bag; very cool wife. It is perfect (the bag) for carrying my camera and three lenses. I figure that I need to test out it's ability to allow me to quickly change lenses without taking it off.
So I head for San Ramon's Central Park, a rip-off of the NY named park, but it is pretty much in the center of the city.
The park is the ideal place to test out camera gear since it offers good pics everywhere. Always something to shoot if I keep my eyes open.
Walking along, I find this cool grove of trees.
OK, back to the point: Me needing to find something with some action to test how easy it may be to switch lenses. So I wander over to the skateboard park.
The kids love it, but I am surprised that the city would build such a thing. Watch them for 10 minutes and you get two sensations: envy, and regret that you are not in the bone repair business.
The surprising part is that it is completely unsupervised and helmets, pads, or any protective gear are not required! It's the wild west where anything goes and no rules.
So, I am there, as mentioned, to test changing lenses with the new bag, and also to try slowing down the shutter speed for "motion blur." What better way to test both than to watch teenagers go screaming down a near-vertical, concrete slope at breakneck speeds?
I used to love skateboarding a age 15 and my friend Dan Story and I would screw in a small strip of sheet metal onto the backs of our boards. When we'd lean back to do a wheelie, the sheet metal would contact the cement sidewalks and create a rooster-tail of sparks you wouldn't believe. The best part, we thought, was that it would leave a burn mark into the sidewalk that would last for 300 years.
The other fun thing we used to do is to go screaming down the steepest hill we could find, and then just go flying into some hedges or any soft lawn. (We never did this on our own lawns for two good reasons: 1) not enough slope to build speed, and 2) our Dad's would have friggin" killed us for the 15 foot long groove into the lawn.)
So, I sat at the skateboard park (with envy) trying to get the "motion blur." The kids would shout, "Hey, take a picture of me on the death drop!" "Get me on suicide run!"
Then, this little guy showed up with his mother. She made him bundle up with safety gear and hung pretty close to his side. He kept looking at the older kids doing rockandrolls, Ollies, and slamming 180's, 360's, and 5-0's. As you can imagine, it's hard to get off a fat fakie, k-grind, or lipslide with your Mom watching. Also, he's kinda going the wrong way on the board.
I guess I don't understand the kids of today. What looks more fun to you? Walking slowly through this meadow-like area reflecting on how you might do better in school ...perhaps while singing old folk songs with your friends.....
..or impressing your buds with incredible skill and hanging out with super hot, admiring chicks...
The Auto Museum is pretty cool. It houses a vast collection of old and very expensive cars. The Blackhawk Museum is a museum in Blackhawk, California, best known for its significant collection of classic cars. Click here for info http://www.blackhawkauto.org/
It's all done in a classy way and Scott's Seafood provided the catering. We like Scott's since they catered our wedding. Here is the museum's circular staircase to the second floor where there are more cars to see.
Lisa and I came back as ghosts to visit the museum as shown here. Remind anyone of "Topper"? If you are too young to know what this is - congratulations. 
If you've never been to the museum, you should check it out, especially if you like old cars. Several are owned, or were owned by famous people like Clark Gable and William Hearst. All are on display and you can get fairly close.
Here's my friend Phil squishing my wife.
...and Phil's cool wife Sue with Lisa and Gary, our financial planner. Everyone looks pretty happy at the Martini party. I wonder why.
We ate, drank, and cruised around the museum drooling on the cars.
And finally it was time to leave. We just got into our new car (shown here) and went home. I paid a fortune for these whitewalls!
...and of course, the vultures as usual. I have so many shots of circling vultures, I decided that I will only shoot them if they are in a different position.
Also, I like the "photography challenge." That is, I like trying to get the best shot possible and especially the difficult ones. It's fun to experiment with the light and ultimately share the results. This little guy -- a thrush, I think -- was hard to get in the right light and then to crop and expand to be able to see him. Click on the pic as usual.
When walking around, especially in the early mornings, you never know what you'll see by just turning the corner. Check this out: Typical trail just winding around ..... I am always looking for snakes trying to warm their blood by laying in the sun, especially rattlers. In general, you don't want to surprise wildlife; it tends to make them flee, fight, or bite, the last two I do not want to encounter.
OK, so I wind around the trail here, and see the cool egrets. These common birds are, well..common, but always fascinate me.
Other than the wildlife, the other thing that I love is wildflowers! Like almost all outdoor places, especially in the spring, the Sacramento area is filled with beautiful wildflowers. Here, the poppies, which have not fully opened as yet in the morning, sit with the common vetch flowers.
Now, we just need something light to wash it all down....
And, of course, no day is complete without a good start. Is there a better way to start than with a broccoli, cheese, mushroom, tomato, and red pepper omelet? Little English muffin on the side? Strong black coffee?
While a member of only one currently, we sometimes"partake of the grape" on our way home on Sunday afternoons. The Lodi wine area is a rapidly growing region trying to compete with the better-known Napa and Sonoma regions, and their pricing reflects that.
