Seeking Higher Elevation

What a beautiful day it was - the temperature was just perfect. A good time to visit California. The morning found us at the Channel Islands National Park Visitor's Center and on the beach looking out at the islands. You can take a boat trip and see them, but we couldn't spend the whole day here. Maybe another time. The Park VC is on the Ventura Harbor, and it has a nice marina and downtown area. The beaches right in the city are wonderful and clean. We were amazed at the size and quality of the farms in the area. Evidently, they grow a large crop of strawberries here. The Channel Islands can be seen in the background of the picture of KR on the Ventura beach.




As we headed inland from the coast, we hit I-5 by Lancaster and took a jog north into the desert. There was a point where all the freeways kind of came together and we hit the perfect "spot" for Mike and Matt's Freeway Semi Game. The record had been 12 and I shattered it with a never-to-be-eclipsed 23. It was as if my whole life came together in the perfect moment. The trucks even sensed it and everything seemed to slow down for a moment so more trucks could come into view. Eat your heart out Matt.....23.


The landscape changed dramatically as we headed into the Mojave Desert. We passed the huge aviation center at Edwards AFB and China Lake. There was a jetliner graveyard there, where they store older commercial aircraft for possible future use and parts. It is very dry out there and a good place to store them so they won't deteriorate. Jon, I saw a good business opportunity for you along the lonely road to Lone Pine. Nothing else for miles and it is for sale! A bed and breakfast. When we first passed and then turned around to take the picture, there was a buzzard in the tree. That is the picture I wanted, but by the time we got back he had flown away. ARRGGHH! A bed and breakfast perhaps? There is a nice dry lake bed at China Lake to enjoy. And they could always go on a day trip to the Salton Sea.


In mid-afternoon, we finally entered the Owens Valley, the scene of the famous water dispute between the City of Los Angeles and the locals. In the 1920's and 30's, LA bought all the water rights and most of the land in the area, and then built the LA Aqueduct, diverting the Owens River into LA for water. Owens Lake has since dried up and it has of course stopped most development in the area since that time. It is a high-elevation valley, but truly still dominated by the Sierra Nevada to the west. Mt. Whitney, the tallest point in the Lower 48 dominates the skyline. The air is very clean here and it seems you can reach out and touch the mountains. We visited Manzanar, one of the bigger Japanese internment camps. They have recently redone the site and the exhibits are first class. Very sobering story. We ate dinner and stayed in Lone Pine. It is an old Hollywood movie town (mostly old westerns). The restaurant where we dined was full of pictures of stars that had passed through during filming. When we were checking into our hotel, the lot next door was filled with Paramount vehicles, as they are to begin filming a movie called Ironman here next week. It will star Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow.