Tam’s Think Tank

Back At In N Out, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Another trip for burgers. Have to take advantage of the availability
of good burgers. Yum!

Walking in San Jose, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

So it’s now Saturday. We’ve spent one full day and a partial here and are enjoying the sunshine and the slightly warmer weather. It’s not warm enough for shorts, but it’s warmer than Oregon. Woo Hoo! Our routine goes like this… we get up, have breakfast at Karen’s parent’s place, and then we walk to the nearby Starbucks for London Fog and Chai. Good routine.

Seeing Sacramento, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

The sun was starting to go down when we reached Sacramento. We kept texting Charles, the nephew, as to our possible time of arrival. We got there just about rush hour time. Not fun, but not too bad. Our only problem was that the GPS kept telling us to turn where we couldn’t onto the campus of the University. Apparently the GPS can’t handle the larger complex of tiny streets within a University setting. It was OK, we managed to maneuver without it. Archaic I know, but using our own brains actually worked. Shocking…

Wing, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Here’s the aforementioned wing. We saw four or five of these. We can’t really be sure since we would see some, pass them, exit for some reason, and then see them or others again. Pretty cool though. Huge single wings being trucked somewhere… a mystery location.

Lunch at In N Out, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

We stopped in Redding for In N Out burgers. They have their operation down. Only burgers on the menu. Only three options. Double cheese, cheese, or hamburger. Very simple. We opted for the cheese and chocolate shakes. This is one of the great things about road trips… you throw your normal eating habits out the window and stop for burgers. Yeah road trips!!

Illegal Travel Aids, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

In California you aren’t supposed to have your GPS stuck to your windshield. We are rebels, ours was stuck to our windshield. Shhhhh.

So a few funny things happened on the way to San Jose. First off… we kept seeing these huge airplane wings on trucks. I’ll post a photo in a moment of that.

Another funny thing was the sign… “Are you feeling puzzled? Call 1-800-HIS-WORD”. So, I called. I mean… we were traveling with the GPS, but we did have a few glitches, as one sometimes does, even with a GPS. So… I switched off caller ID and called. Karen was mortified, and said… they will have your number. They will call you back. I was confident they wouldn’t and told her no… I turned off caller ID. So I called. I got a recording offering me help with sermons in either English or Spanish. I had to press one or two. I hung up. But seriously, I felt less puzzled, so that was good.

We then passed a sign offering dirt for sale. I didn’t call that number. We had nowhere to put it anyway.

The last thing, other than just the normal hilarious banter that happens when Karen and I road trip together, was us leaving Sacramento after stopping to visit our nephew who’s going to college there. The GPS was telling us to go one way, and we kept thinking that wasn’t the way. We must have circled like three times waiting for it to “recalculate” when finally, Karen called and asked her dad how to get out of Sacramento going toward San Jose. He was like… take 99 to 4 to 5, etc. Karen goes… that’s what the GPS is telling us. Her dad thought that was hilarious. And really, it was. The moral… don’t resist the GPS, it knows all.

Shasta, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Mt. Shasta was beautiful. The clouds sitting right at the top, clear blue sky, snow on the mountain. Gorgeous.

Rest Stop, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

We stopped in the mountains somewhere, can’t remember where just now, to use the restroom at a gas station. Not a bad view from there actually.

Siskiyous, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

We got up wondering if we’d have too much snow for the rented Jeep Liberty to handle. The forecast said there was a possibility for up to 4 or 5 inches. We had a dusting. No problem for the Jeep, even in 2 wheel drive. Our first stop, as I posted earlier, was Starbucks. Had to get that London Fog and the Chai. A must have for any road trip, not to mention any time we leave the house for any length of time at all.

This was taken as we ventured through the Siskiyou Mountains.  We were in 4 wheel drive for about 10 minutes.  We didn’t really need to do it, but we thought why not… we’d gotten the 4 wheel drive because we thought we might need it.  We didn’t want it to go to waste.  We crack me up.

Can’t Travel Without It, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

We got up and took off just before 7 on Thursday. Our first stop?
Starbucks. From there it was drive drive drive.

I’ll explain more about the drive, the stops we made, and such in
subsequent posts. Now I’ll say this… I’m blogging from my iPhone.
I’m having technical difficulties uploading photos from my laptop to
Flickr. Not sure why… It’s just so. So for now I will be posting
photos I’ve taken on the fly with my phone. Could make for some
interesting, and potentially blurry, posts. I guess we’ll see.

We are almost to San Jose. Seems we did know the way after all. There’s loads to report from our travels today, however considering the fact that I’m a blithering idiot right now I’ll have to rain check my posts on the day. Perhaps tomorrow when I’ve slept and my head is mo longer filled with cotton candy. Perhaps….

… and other sad tales….

There is only one response to this… you run out into your yard, or onto your deck, you throw up your hands, and you scream at the top of your lungs to any and all who might be listening… STELLA!!!!!!

That is what you do.  The end.

Dry Drop, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

I’ve been messing around a lot with tone and color. This one was tweaked slightly toward the antiqued version of it’s former self.

The Bench, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

When I see empty benches, no matter where they are, a part of me always wonders who has been there before me? Since this bench was installed… what’s it’s history? We passed this same bench, on a previous walk in Cathedral Park, and a woman was sitting on it, holding her two small dogs. She and the dogs looked tired. Another time it held an older couple. Several times, several different people or combinations of people and their dogs or kids or other peeps, have occupied it as we passed. If it could tell it’s tale I bet it would be pretty darn interesting.  Man… am I waxing philosophical or what?

 

2, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

I wonder what’s behind door number 2? Monte Hall… do you know? What if, some day, we just wandered up to it and knocked. Who do you suppose would answer? Strange scientists doing secret experiments? A rock band renting the space getting ready for it’s next international tour? A guy making donuts? Elvis?

Monolithic, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

We went to the Home Show today. Two and a half hours of walking around, getting overwhelmed, and grabbing pamphlets. It was fun… tiring, but fun. Afterwards we headed to Noah’s Bagels on 23rd for a bagel dog. If you haven’t had one, try it. I’d recommend the asiago bagel dog. Tasty.

Following the show and the eats we went to Cathedral Park, once again, to walk the pups. They deserved it after being such good sports about spending some time in the car. We kept promising them… don’t worry, you’ll get a walk. We didn’t disappoint. Cathedral Park is a favorite spot for them… loads of good smells and such. Very entertaining if you’re a dog, and not too bad if you’re a human either. We all had a good time.

I took this shot standing under the St. Johns Bridge. I think I’ve taken loads of photographs of this bridge. I never seem to get tired of it.

This is a great book.  It’s a first novel by this author and a heck of a first novel at that.  I thought it was so good I did something I’ve never done.  I sent an email to the author through her website to tell her how much I enjoyed it and to thank her for writing it.  She’s probably gotten loads of email, but I thought why not?  I think if I were lucky enough and talented enough to write a book with writing as good as this I would enjoy hearing that someone enjoyed reading it.

So… do I think the writing in this is worthy of praise one would give it’s subject matter?  Probably not.  There’s only one, or is there, Shakespeare.  But it is very well written.  Some phrases so good I read them aloud to some of my co-workers.  Plus, it was compelling, and especially interesting, if you’re into Shakespeare at all.  If not… it’s a good romp of a book with a bit of mystery and mystery solving to boot.  I guess what I’m saying is, I liked it.  I liked it very much.  I’d recommend it.  Highly.  Check it out.  You probably won’t be disappointed.

I admit it.  I ran her over.  Not an actual person named Barbie, so quit reaching for the phone and 911, no… the doll.  She was sprawled out, looking just like a crime scene, in the middle of the road.  I couldn’t stop in time to avoid her and really don’t know if I would’ve if I could’ve anyway.  What I’m really disappointed about is that I couldn’t stop to take a photo of her.  I was picturing how I’d do it, no pun intended, getting down on hands and knees trying to get the most realistic angle.  The problem wasn’t that I didn’t have a camera with me.  The problem was that I was on my way to a meeting and couldn’t stop, didn’t have time.  Sad.  A picture would’ve been good.

So there she was… sprawled out, face down, in the middle of the road.  I wondered, how did she get there?  Was there some little girl or boy out there missing their Barbie, not knowing where she was or how she’d gotten away?  Was she dropped from a passing car or from a kid’s bike as they sped along?  Was someone off on the side of the road doing a little experiment trying to see if anyone would stop to render assistance to her?  I don’t know.  There was a guy passing by, walking, who didn’t even look at her.  I thought it sort of sad.  Not even a tiny glance in her direction.  What was she?  Meaningless?  Come on…. a plastic girl has feelings too.  Right?  Am I right?

Ah well… I will never know her fate.  Never know what might have happened to cause her to be there in the first place.  I’ll never know…. I wonder if it’ll haunt me.  The picture of her, in my head, forever branded there.  The horrifying site of face down Barbie.  Probably not.  But if it did… wow… I shudder at the thought…

Sauvie Island, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

This and the photos that follow were taken yesterday on Sauvie Island. We had a really nice time wandering about out there. I’d recommend it.

Rough Road, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

It wasn’t actually that rough, but the sign made for a good shot. You can also see the funky valve/spigot thingy. I know… so technical.

Derelict, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Not sure what the deal was with this building, it was empty, but had these huge rusty pipes coming up out of it toward and then under the road. Went to a couple of big valve type things on the other side of the road. Also don’t know what’s with what looked like some sort of elaborate fish traps crossing this body of water, but all told it made a cool photo.

Winter Afternoon, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Like I said previously, it was lovely out. Who could look at this and not be awed by what’s right there in front of us. We are so lucky to live in such an amazing and magical place.