Name This Plant!

In a farm field near my work in Lompoc, CA, these plant are growing. I like to eat these with a bit of mayonnaise. Sarah likes these with olive oil and vinegar.

[CLICK ON PICTURES FOR LARGER VIEW]

Memorial Day

After work, we left Nipomo at for Phoenix heading south on the 101. We drove along the ocean to Santa Barbara, then inland to Los Angeles. We drove east through the desert to Palm Springs, over the Colorado River, and finally into the Phoenix Valley.

As I was driving into Phoenix, several bright lights flashed in my eyes from the side of the road. It was 2 am, and I figured I was hallucinating or the "Mother Ship" had come to get me. I soon realized that in Arizona they have vehicle speed cameras, much like the red light cameras. I was going about 68 mph in a 55 zone.

We arrived in New River at 2:30 am, 570 miles and 9 hours and 30 minutes later.

At about 10 am the next day, I awoke to the sounds of birds and other farm life . I was ready for some coffee; It was ready for the drinking. Mmmm...just what I needed.

Sitting outside I could see mountains covered with cacti and other desert flora. The area around the house had some interesting decorations.

In the backyard, was the strangest camping trailer I have ever seen. It's called a TAB.

Here on the farm, there are many animals. Outside, there are 2 horses, 2 farm dogs, a poodle, and 9 chickens.

Inside, there is another dog (who survived an owl attack), and a bunch of alien looking hairless cats.

On Saturday, I drove to Phoenix and visited my Dad. We did some Father/Son stuff like repairing a clothes dryer. He lives in a beautiful house filled with cats.

The big event came on the night we had mud-oven pizza and homebrewed beer. Sarah's Aunt built the oven from things found in the desert near the house.

The oven was heated up for three hours and then the cooking started. Pizza after pizza was baked. Each one was better that the last. It was all so yummy!

(The picture does not do it justice)

I didn't want the weekend to stop. We left for home on Monday afternoon. We hit holiday traffic in Palm Springs. It lasted for a little over an hour, then we got moving again. We watched the sun set in the smog of L.A. We drove though Hollywood on our way home. The cats were very happy to see us get home. I was happy to get home.

Well, now back to the daily grind.

Best Beer in the World!

This has been a good week so far, and it should only get better. While I am suffering from a cold, I am above it.

Work has been very interesting. At my job, we are starting up a new wastewater plant around the antiquated or old plant. One plant is complex enough, but starting up and running two at the same time is challenging. I love it! I am running all around the plant checking this and that. The computer control system says one thing but in the field it may be different. The best part, aside from the challenge, is that I am on almost equal footing with the experienced guys. At this new plant, they about as much as me when it comes to operating it. For example, I had heated discussions with experienced co-workers about how to operate a system within the new plant. I was trained on it. I started it up and showed them what we all had learned in training. Then they said, "Fine, then you run it" and they walked away. So I operated this unit for the day until it was operating well enough to run on its' own. I enjoy interacting with the engineers and solving issues as they come up.

To top off a good day at work, I shared my latest home-brewed beer with the wife. I designed a mild Scottish Red for our trip to Arizona. She is reluctant to taste my many concoctions (with good reason), but bravely tried it. She took a sip and said, "That is the best beer in the world!" Well, at least that is what I heard. She claims that she said, "That is the best beer you have brewed." Whatever, same difference.

This week, we planted some tomato and thyme plants.

Finally, we are off to New River, Arizona tomorrow for a weekend at Sarah's Aunt's. It is in the desert where humans are not made to live. The only thing out there is coyotes and people who like to watch them chase roadrunners.


We will be treated to mud-oven baked pizza and live entertainment (me). We will drink homebrew, eat, and be merry. It seems more like a retreat than some one's home. I will visit my Dad as well in the Phoenix valley.

Only one more day of work...

Trader Joe's and The Drive-In

It was a week of firsts.

It was the first time Sarah and I went shopping at Trader Joe's. I know, we are behind the times. We just aren't the type for "hippie" foods, or so we thought. My problem has always been that the food is "weird" and the prices are higher at these type of natural foods. But, maybe I have loosened up on this idea that natural foods are "hippie" foods...maybe. The chocolate lava cakes we got made everything ok.

Date night was Friday night. I surprised Sarah with something neither of us had done.

We went to a drive-in movie!

We saw the new X-Men movie at The Sunset Drive-in in San Luis Obispo.
Now that was COOL! Sarah loved it, which means I did too. We had nachos, hot dogs and soda pops. The movie was great and so was the sound. We turned the radio to the 100.7 and watched...

We will do this again.

Oh, if you are wondering, that's a 58 Edsel.

Top of the World

A co-worker and I took an adventure today. I went to a near-bye mountain called Figueroa. It is in the central Los Padres National Forest. It has camping, trails, and some nice views of the valley below. On the California coastal range, this is the top of the world, at 5000 feet.

An abandoned fire lookout:

We met some mountain folk who liked to horse around...