The future is ALMOST now…or what’s normal in the SanFran Bay area is freaky everywhere else

You know you’re in Silicon Valley when… Didn’t happen to run into any of these in while attending my friend’s 50th wedding anniversary in the North Bay (i.e., north of SF) but as SOON as I got south of San Francisco …. BOOM… these suckers seemed to be everywhere …. Google’s beta test versions of self-driving cars (i.e., the car drives itself) … there are testers seated in every vehicle who are there to make sure it doesn’t do anything stupid or kill anyone, but for the most part these cars are driving themselves.

They’re easy to spot because of the radar type things on their roofs.

Welcome to the future!!!

That said, I wasn’t there but a day when I noticed one of the “hiccups” in the system of these new cars… as of today, they drive like your 80-year-old grand mother… in particular the one in the upper right hand picture was in the left turn lane and took for bloody fucking ever to make up its mind that it was in fact safe to make the left turn.

I’ve seen this happen more than a few times now, and then I heard a TV commentator talking about how drivers in the south bay are starting to get pissed off at the Waymo’s blocking traffic in left turn lanes.

The pics I took while NOT driving, were taken on a quiet suburban street in Sunnyvale, not far from Google headquarters… outside the home of my friend where I was staying for about a week or so… Every day, almost like clockwork… this Waymo showed up, would pull to the side of the road, stand there for a bit, then go on its way. One day I ran out (grabbed the pics) and got the girl inside to roll down the window. I asked her WHY were they doing that. She said, “I have no idea, the car does what it wants to do, I just sit here and take notes.”

A few days later I went to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View California and saw this display on the topic, about the not to distant future (hopefully) where they’ve managed to test all the bugs out and fully self driven cars are ready for prime time (a future that I for one look forward to, as I’ve never been one to drive for the fun of it).

A new (to me) sound technology I’ve never seen in a museum before.

Spotted this innovative sound management system that I’ve not seen anywhere else at The Computer History Museum in Mountain View California. I talk about it as part of a blog post about that museum, but I think it’s worth its own mention (and not buried in something much longer).

If you look carefully at the picture below you’ll see a woman watching a video in the middle of wide open space… this is pretty unusual although you might not realize it… normally movies are presented in cordoned off areas where the acoustics can be easily controlled. What’s even more unusual is from where she’s sitting the sound is completely clear and distinct, almost to the extent that it was like wearing headphones … or as though it were the only sound in the room, like in a movie theater. YET, from where I took the picture, you can only barely hear what she’s listening to at all.

How you ask? Well… look above her head and you’ll see there is small white square hanging from the ceiling… That’s where the sound came from… Now, logic dictates that it’s some sort of directed speaker that produces very directed sound waves. As in, she can hear it loudly and distinctly without it annoying someone a few feet away (where I was standing). From there, it merges into a sort of white noise created by the various soundtracks all running simultaneously but without the effect of cacophony of sound, like you get in other museums.

You can’t see it, but right behind me was a different video, with the same set up, with its own sound track, that in no way interfered with the experience the woman in the above picture was having. Now let’s face it, I go to a LOT of museums and I’ve never seen this technology in use before. I have no idea how much it costs but I hope to see it a lot more regularly from now on. It rocked…

Pacifica State Beach, California

Meeting up with an old friend I haven’t seen in years…. I will say this about the Bay Area… if you don’t like the weather drive 15 minuets, it’ll change. I was staying at the home of another old friend in the South Bay area, and drove north to Pacifica, which is right next to the ocean. We met at her home, had a long chat and then walked the TWO blocks (yes life is hard for some people) to the sea-side.

The temps in Sunnyvale (which is in the South bay) were 77 F when I left about an hour ago, here in Pacifica it’s 64 … this difference is because of the fog that coats the place almost none stop during the summer months

There was a group of whales out there— we kept seeing multiple poofs of water as they spouted….. and then I saw the whale’s back out in the distance, for just a second… and we kept watching and then saw jumping whales and their heads as they tried to scoop up the fish and then their tails when they dove back in—- but it was so far out in the ocean that I seriously doubted that my little iPhone camera picked up anything — and it didn’t

Just at the edge of the seashore was this statue:

Captain Don Gaspar De Portola
born in Balaguer, Catalonia, Spain
First Governor of California
Founder of San Diego and Monterey
Discoverer of the Bay of San Francisco on November 4, 1769
Presented by the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia
The Honorable Jordi Pujol on November 5, 1988
To the People of the State of California
The honorable George Deukmejian Governor

Me and my old friend, believe it or not we used to wear the same size clothes

That said, on the way back, my Subaru saved my life again today… was tired, driving home from Pacifica, didn’t notice cars in front of me on the highway suddenly slowing down, my car threw on the brakes and set off alarms, I threw the brakes on harder…. a tour bus was on the side of the road with the door to the luggage area completely open blocking a lane of traffic….

And then, when I got home to my friend’s house, where I’m staying… I found the family in bathing suits… “we’re going to go hot tub, care to join us?” My first soak in a hot tub in about a year — life in California is so hard

Western Folklife Center: Elko, Nevada

Located in Elko, Nevada, a gold mining & railroad town located off of Interstate-80, is the Western Folk-life Center is designed to promote the cowboy heritage and way of life through their songs, storytelling, poetry (for those who don’t know, Cowboy Poetry is THING) and artwork. It is also the location for the yearly (approaching its 35th anniversary) National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and competition…. six days of poetry, music, dancing, workshops, and exhibits all of which are based in tradition but focused on the modern/rural West.

You first enter into the gift shop, which constitutes almost a quarter of the space, and actually has quite an impressive collection of items. Around the outer edges of the store you’ll find areas devoted to Cowboy poetry, music, and art, as you expect….Plus some handicrafts, including beauty products and other ranch produced handicrafts…. but the entire center of the shop???Jewelry! Lots and lots of jewelry — cause well… profit margins…. alongside the gift store is the art gallery. The guy in charge told me that they always have visiting exhibitions in this space… which switch out every few months. While I was here they had an exhibit about the art of Basque sheep herders (a different sort of cowboy) — and their art forms, including carvings, some of which date back to 1900, that are carved into local Aspen treesbecause these tree will ultimately die, a married couple had gone around collecting rubbings of all the ones they could find.

This was followed up by a small display about Basque improvised Poetry. Here they give them a topic and they have to come up with a poem on the subject … which was won by a woman for the first time last year

Then there was a permenent display, of the movie why the Cowboy sings…. only its the 16 minute version

Looking online I found the PREVIEW of “Why the Cowboy sings” (1.24 min)

As well as the Full 56 min movie — but no 16 minute version

After this the docent showed me their western bar… it was not specially made, they found it in a mining camp in a tent and brought it here

Some examples of Cowboy poetry:

This website shows last year’s “Best of the West” show, which is a yearly performance at the Poetry Gathering, which exhibits some of the best of modern Cowboy music. While this video on the event, gives you an idea of the full breath and depth of it:

Cemetery in a roundabout: West Des Moines, Iowa

Currently situated in the middle of the intersection at South 88th Street and Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines, Iowa (not far from I-80), lies the Huston Family Cemetery. It was named for James B. Huston, the patriarch of one of the first families to settle in Dallas County (in the 1840’s) and the LAST person buried at the plot (in 1889). The cemetery is unusual in that it now sits in the center of a roundabout in what was once a rural area, but that is no only about a mile away from a Costco, and as there’s already been one instance of a drunk driver driving through the site, it might end up being moved — although there is some talk of moving the roads instead.

The area which I’m fairly sure was completely rural a few years ago (like the other grave in a middle of the road I visited in Indiana) is to the graveyards detriment being developed REALLY quickly, according to the locals I spoke to … so much so that — like I already said– there’s a Costco about a mile directly down the road (with a gas station, which I filled up at).

The Huston Cemetery consists of 19 graves that date back to the late 1880’s, and are located near to The family’s original home — which is still standing nearby. The home is HIGHLY historical, as it was once a stage-coach station, a tavern, the local post office AND a stop on the Underground Railroad. The family patriarch, James B. Huston, was the first attorney in Dallas County (where the graves are situated)

According the city’s website, the first two former slave girls, both named Harper, who apparently had “died on their way to freedom” were the first individuals buried there — although this is conflicted by a report from another site, which claims the two girls were part of family that was on its way to Kansas to become part of John Brown’s raiders. They were followed by James Huston’s wife, Nancy Hill Huston, and six of their children, all of whom died young — so there’s a sad story to be told from these stones.

Route 80’s Little America Travel Center: Little America, Wyoming

I have always really loved the Little America Travel Center just off of Intestate 80 west of Green River, Wy; and I have stopped here many times over the years. When I first discovered it, it had been recently renovated and stood as an oasis of green in the desert of western Wyoming, serving up decent food at very reasonable prices. It USED to be impressively shiny (ultra clean bathrooms, everything worked, etc) … it isn’t anymore — but the food is still cheap, if you can get any

The “newish” building… I didn’t take pictures of the bathrooms because mom’s were changing babies in there, but their roomy and have powder rooms

That said something has happened to it. The bathrooms aren’t AS well maintained as they used to be, and this part of the travel center was understaffed — or at least that staff that was there was less “motivated” to do anything other than their assigned tasks, so that point of sale counter for stuff from the store had TWO people working the cash registers (but standing there doing nothing)….

…while the cash register/kitchen for the food area, with its $0.75 ice cream cones ($1.55 if you get the bigger waffle cone), $2.95 grilled cheese sandwiches and it’s $5.75 1/3 lb cheese burgers… i.e., where all of the customers were going… had only one open register and an understaffed kitchen… so that those lines were impossibly long… etc etc.

During the time period I was there, the line extended out the door

I talked to the two staff members working the essentially unused counter, saying I had intended to get my lunch there, but not with such a long line… and they suggested that I cross the parking lot over to the side of the travel center that handles the truckers — in this case a completely separate building from the one that services automobile traffic (check out the length of the line below, it averaged zero to three people)

So I did ….only to discover a smaller building — less tourist junk, and more stuff truckers might want to buy — like a rotisserie chicken … with a grill line that averaged three people in line maximum instead of 20-30 — with only slightly different food options (the auto side was had fancier options, and stuff for kids, like chicken strips and potato wedges… but what was offered was at the same prices

When I tried to pay for my grilled sandwich the tap mechanism did not work, and the girl who was working there made a snide comment about how “it was old is just like everything else around here.”

That said, the serving size for the waffle cone ice-cream on the trucker side seemed to be twice as big as what they were giving out the customer side

Iowa 80 – The World’s Largest Truckstop; Walcott, Iowa

On interstate-80 in Walcott, Iowa, you’ll find Iowa-80, which is about four times larger than the average truck stop and as such is advertised as “The World’s largest Truckstop” (their’s no verification to their claim). That said, while its primary focus is on the diverse needs of truckers, it is definitely worth a stop to the average automobile driver on the Interstate 80 … if only because of some of its surprising attributesI used to drive through this truck stop on a semi regular basis back when I lived in San Francisco… and always used to be highly amused at the diverse selection of goods

This is the doorway automobile drivers first walk through, and it’s goods aimed at tourists

A large section of the “tourist” area is devoted to veterans and their families, and has pro-military bumper stickers and a display of military medals.

Many years ago I bought a collection of a different (and funnier) version of the “when it has to be destroyed” bumper sticker — which I STILL have on my car — only the original version was a variation on the FedEx advertising campaign, “when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight“… I was sad to see this newer version of the sticker had removed the world “overnight” and hence destroyed the joke.On this same level of the store you’ll find their 24-hour all you can eat buffet restaurant, “Home cooking” (with ala cart options), a HUGE food court with a wide selection of fast food options (plus more shopping choices and a game room) — but none of this is the surprising parts… for that you have to check into the levels of the place (and its multiple floors) that cater to the truckers.

So for instance, while showers and a public laundry are normal services at truck stops (in addition to what this sign shows there’s also a TV lounge and a library upstairs, again, kind of normal for truck stops), what I’ve never seen before is one with a barber, dentist and chiropractor before… and I’ve stopped at more than a few over the years … nor have I seen one that has a theater with a constant stream of movies (although in this day and age that’s much easier to pull off than it was the first time I stopped here, over 20 years ago). While I was there they announced that the movie resident evil was going to start playing in the upstairs movie theater.

Then if you walk towards the Truckers entrance to the building (on the other side, and down a level), you’ll find another GINORMOUS super-store that has everything the discerning truck owner might want from basic comfort items that anyone who spends a lot of time in their car might want, to the ones someone who actually sleeps there might need:

To stuff that ONLY a trucker might be attracted to, in order to “Pimp out his truck” including different colored steering wheels, fancy chrome sidings and exhaust pipes,

multicolored lights and the obligatory sexy lady to put on your truck…. what’s kind of cool is that door of that yellow truck (which I SHIT YOU NOT, is sitting on a rotating floor — look at the ground beneath it, that continually ROTATES) is left open so that anyone can climb up and sit in the truck if they like… including children — although I didn’t see anyone actually do it.

One of the cool things they have down there is a customization “while you wait” shop that can make anything from bumper stickers to customer embroidered hats or shirts with any image you bring to them as photograph.

Also, if you have the time, in a seperate building BEHIND the Truckstop, you’ll find a museum dedicated to Trucking — I didn’t have time this trip, but intend to go there next time.

Echo Canyon Welcome Center Rest Area, Canyon & Trail; Utah

I don’t normally bother stopping at Information Centers, but Echo Canyon is a one of the most historically important locations in the westward expansion of the United States. It’s a natural pathway/pass located about half way between the grasslands of Wyoming and the Great Salt lake desert of Utah. This was a route used by (progressively) animal migration, Native Americans, the wagon trains, the Mormon pioneers of 1847, the stage coaches, the Pony Express, prospectors, the railroad (who still uses it today), the countries first transcontinental telegraph line, The Lincoln Highway and today Instate 80.

The pass, looking eastbound, railroad tracks on the left, I-80 on the right

This is one of the nicer rest stops on I-80. The bathrooms were clean, and there was a nice but a bit steep up-hill walk to the monument that will get your blood pumping after a long drive, and teach you a bit of history.

What’s interesting to me is the condition of this sign about The Road to Zion (along side the building itself, bottom of the hill) — one of the historic to America trails that I’m increasingly interested in traveling along. To put this in some sort of context for folks who are unfamiliar with the church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, i.e., the Mormon Church — is a wide collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a man called Joseph Smith in the late 1820’s. The nickname for the group is derived from their adherence to the Book of Mormon; Mormon being the name (I THINK) of the Latter-day Saint/narrator (??) of much of the text (I’m not Mormon nor have I any sort of expertise about the religion, so forgive any mistakes I’ve made or feel free to correct them in the comments). Anyway, the largest/richest segment of the church — and the part most politically recognized, is the one that owns the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City — and is also a politically powerful demographic (so that on numerous occasions Mormons have campaigned, albeit unsuccessfully, for the office of President of the United States — with Mitt Romney being the most recent). As such, they arranged (and rightly so) to have their migration trail included as one of the very first recognized trails of the National Historic Trails System… only to have the above sign placed at strategic locations all along said Mormon trail to Salt lake… only ALL of these signs have turned out to be highly NOT-archival (i.e., covered with a plastic coating that degrades rapidly in the elements); and all of these signs are at this point between difficult and impossible to read as result, let alone photograph; and every one of them says the same generic thing — none of the ones I’ve seen so far say anything specific about THAT locations’ specific importance to the trail… other than it’s part of it. What I don’t get, is why the church hasn’t offered to pay to have them all replaced with something better and more meaningful.

This is so far the ONLY sign I’ve seen offering up any discussion of Eisenhower’s involvement in the instate system of highways

It is also a favored spot for train enthusiasts,

My pics of the rail-line that also passes through the gap

as is shown by this video I found on YouTube:

Thunder Mountain Monument: Imlay, Nevada

The Thunder Mountain Monument was NOT a place I found via a road-tripping website, rather it grabbed my eye while driving from Elko to Reno, Nevada on Interstate-80, causing me to dive out the very next exit and doubled back — good thing I did

The place is kind of impressive, and reminds me a great deal of Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia According to wikipedia Thunder Mountain was declared a Nevada State Historic Site in 1992

Passed these two on my way out of the monument and back to the highway… asked if I could take their picture and she said, “sure, he loves to ham it up for a camera”

Golden Gate Bridge & Muir Woods: San Francisco Bay area, California

Hello from SF. After Pennsic I spent the last two weeks road tripping across America on I-80, in large part so that I could attend the 50th wedding anniversary of two dear friends (and former employers) of mine, up near the north/east end of Maine county (north of San Francisco). I had booked an Airbnb up as near to the venue for the party as possible, a local restaurant called Rancho Nicasio (apparently they’re popular for weddings too) — which I have got to say put on an impressive event.. and then made plans to stay with various friends who lived down in the south bay (which is about an hour and a half drive south of the party).

The next day I intended to take advantage of that location and go to Muir woods, which was one of my favorite places back when I used to live in Marine, only to discover that just a few months ago they instituted a reserved parking rule. You now have to book your visit 90 days in advance!!!! Either that or you have to do it 5 days in advance which means you’ll only get access to the handful of spaces that they’ve held back. The night before I got on-line and found that ALL the spaces were booked up till 4:30 in the afternoon.

That said, APPARENTLY, probably because Muir woods was someplace I went to every few weeks back before iPhones were even a product (I think I was still using palm pilot back then) — I do not have any digital photos of the place:

So instead I was like, “oh, I’ll just stop by the Golden Gate and get photos there… but normal daily fog (especially in summer when the air is hot and water is cold) had rolled in a bit early and very thickly (it was just noon, usually it wouldn’t be quite this thick till 1 or 2pm)… so I didn’t bother taking the time to pull over, and this was all I managed to snap:

So I am posting photos from a 2005 visit (which apparently I do have a few of — would have taken them with a digital camera) but back before the selfi was a thing:

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