Trekking the marsh

We went to Torrey Pines State Natural Preserve today, and walked the little-known (to me!) Marsh Trail, from Sorrento Valley to Torrey Pines Road.  And back again.  It's pretty flat, but I was still tired at the end.  Good thing I wasn't driving!

Be sure to click on the thumbnails to see the full-size images.  Unless you are on dial-up!

Here are some of the things we saw!

The Coaster heading north!

It must be high tide!  I don't know what that device with the antenna does.  Water levels?  You can see the highway bridge towards the center, and the Torrey Pines Extension to the far right.

A deer skeleton.

Three pictures of a Harlequin bug.on a Bladder Pod bush.

I took some pictures of bumblebees, but the bees were not visible.  It is a mystery to me, too!

Here we have a crab.

And here we have the crab being crabby.  Actually, this picture was taken before the previous one.  I guess he calmed down.

This is looking up towards a high point of Torrey Pine Road.  I thought the rock formations were interesting.

And here we got a panorama taken near the end of the trail.  A little further and we turned around to head on back.

The full-size image file is around 11 megs

Thanks for reading!

Whoopsie

The "Singing In The Rain" post was supposed to be on the My Bicycle Musings blog. I am too lazy to fix it.  So I made a link on THAT blog to come to THIS blog if they want to see it.  Good enough for the likes of them!

I have maybe three months of pics I haven't been keeping up with.  Should I just post them all on here, with very little commentary?  Or just let you wander around the file folders after I've uploaded them?

Well, here is a panorama from yesterday, April 18th, showing the view from not quite all the way to the peak of Van Dam Peak (which I keep call Van Dam Mountain...), which overlooks the Sabre Springs. 

The panorama was taken at bout 850 feet of elevation.  The peak is 1,038 as far as I can figure out.  We really were not that close, and I was WAY pooped, so we turned around and went off to have lunch.  Oddly, I felt pretty fine on the way back down!

Thanks for reading!

Singing In The Rain

Well, not singing, more of a grumbling.

I rode 4.6 miles (round trip) today, in a light rain, to replace a geocache.  'Cause that is the kind of guy I am.!

I got a bit wet, and my legs were kinda pink when I got home.  I took a warm shower and I feel all right.

A couple of obligatory selfies at the cache GZ.

Well, there you have it, my first post here in a long time. Thanks for your patience!

It Is A New Year, And I Am Still Falling Behinder!

Please remember that these are all thumbnail images, and you can see the BIG PICTURE by clicking on them!

January 4, 2018

Utilizing Dr. Pat Abbott's new book about the geology of Mission Trails Regional Park, we went exploring, look at rocks with new eyes.  These very interesting rocks were mentioned in the book, and are not IN MTRP, but instead are on Navajo Road.

January 5, 2018

Today I went geocaching in that canyon south of H Street in Chula Vista.  There is actually water in the crick right now!  Here are a few pictures I took, mostly at a particular spot with soothing riparian sounds.

Trying to get a good angle on the creek.

Well, that's not TOO bad.  Too many tumbleweeds, though!

Zoomed in on the creek by the tumbleweeds.

This is a few feet east of the tumbleweeds.

Looks like the water is undercutting the bank.  I can't tell what is reflection and what is not.

Is that a trail over there?  I don't think I'd care to walk on that!

January 7, 2018

I went for my first "ride" of the New Year, down to the Costco area to check on something.

Well, there we have some variegated leaves on some mysterious plant.

Upon arriving at home I found I traveled a whole 3.35 miles.  Wow!

January 8, 2018

On an impulse I drove out to Santee to find a puzzle geocache I had solved, and then on even more of an impulse I headed to Poway, of all places, to find another puzzle geocache I had solved, and to not find one, too.  It started drizzling while I was exploring the Poway Creek bank.

January 9, 2018

We had some rain and some wind the past few days.  Four palm fronds fell from the accursed (I shoulda killed it when it was only five feet tall) palm tree.

The jade plant is flowering.

Lots of dead ivy (I hates it!) on the accursed palm tree.  Hey, there's my weather station!

A more better picture of the jade plant.

The orchids, well, at least one of them, have a flower going on.

Is it windy?  Looks windy!

I wonder how much it would cost the landlord to make this accursed tree disappear?

January 11, 2018

Lots of noise today as these two helicopters flew around the area, covering a police chase, it turned out.

January 12, 2018

We went to the Marshal South house in Anza Borrego State Park, this is a sundial there.

The remains of the adobe house.  The adobe is not protected by plaster, so it is melting when it rains.

Here is a panorama I took on the hike returning to the car.

January 13, 2018

This evening we were looking all over for the mayonnaise.  I SWORE I had put it back into the refrigerator, why oh why is it not there, or AT LEAST on the counter.  My daughter finally suggested we check here.

MISC.

These pics have no date, so I'm not sure when they were taken.  This is a ham radio antenna I saw while driving back from Windmill Farms.  I took this image from Google Streetview.  That crooked antenna element, does that throw off the radiation pattern?

I saw this stuff at Windmill Farms, but the image is from Amazon.com.  I wonder how it works?

I saw this image in a forum post on Facebook.  It is of a flooded El Estero lake in Monterey, California.  Unfortunately, it is not dated, but I would say 1940s or early 50s, as Dennis the Menace Playground (opened 1956) doesn't seem to be built yet.  Or it's under water!

Another link to Dennis the Menace Playground, 'cause it was so cool.

Thanks for reading!

New Year

It's 2018, a time fresh new start.  With maybe timely posts?

January 1st

I went geocaching on New Year's Day, imagine that.  Finally got this one, after reading something that gave me an idea on where I could check.  This was a while ago, and I finally got up  here on a quiet day.

Sort of high above La Jolla.  You could hear the ocean, all the way up here!

A panorama from the ridge.  You can see my vehicle parked down there.

January 2nd

I bought a new memory card for my camera.  Getting it out of the packaging was quite a chore.  I pretty much destroyed the container.  I hope the card works!!

Well, here's a picture of the parking garage, so I guess it works fine.

I went to Office Depot afterwards.  I calculated that it would cost me twenty-five bucks for four rolls of Scotch tape and a touch screen stylus.  So I noped right out of there.  I tried WalMart.  I got some generic tape there, but their $2.98 stylus looked kind of iffy.  Even I don't need a stylus with a laser pointer.

Coming back to the vehicle I notice a plastic part hanging down.

I took a picture of the other side, for comparison purposes. Yup, there is some kind of plastic fastener missing.

While I was down there I took a picture of the whatever-that-light-is-called.  Should it have a shield over it?  I don't know.

Well, that's all I got.  You got any questions?

Better Late Than Never, Eh?

Well, all I can say is that December certainly zoomed by!  Here is all the stuff I didn't post!

This one is actually from November, it's a floor outlet in Parkway Plaza mall.  Needs a cover, and some TLC on the cord.

December 7th

Parrots in the trees while I was waling around in La Mesa.

Selfie with Turtle Fur hat, to make some point on the internet...

A nostalgia post for Facebook, it's the notorious Bat Girl in Grantville!

December 8th

Muffler Man in Escondido.

December 9th

Got my replacement after a recall.  Excellent organization, and very prompt!

December 10th

Selfie with book, to illustrate some point on the internet.

December 12th

Out of sequence, 'cause I went to the same place on two sequential days.  I am all mixed up!

December 11th

Didn't find (DNF) the cache, did find a bird's nest.  Two pics.

Pic 2

Panorma with Mt. Miguel to the left, Elevator Rd. and environs to the right.

December 12th

Panorama on the next day, with lots of sun glare!

December 11th

After my did not find I went on to some other caches in the area.  Here I am photographing the inside of a storm drain to see if the cache is in there.  It is not.  It was somewhere else, in plain sight.

December 12th 

Back on the 12th, after I DID find the cache I didn't find on the 11th, I went down to Fiesta Island, at least to start things off.  Found this piece of trash that someone couldn't be bothered to toss in the trash.  Well, neither did I, so there is that...

I checked on my cache that someone reported missing.  I didn't find it either.  All I found was this piece of paper I had put in there.  I guess someone removed it!  So I replaced it!

I took a picture of every cache I found this day, something I never do.  And I'm posting them.  I doubt that anyone will use the pics to FIND those caches.  I hope!

A very pretty day, with birds!

Whoops, this is the right date, but out of sequence.  It's the cache that started the day, the one I couldn't find on the 11th.  It's missing its top.  I put a big rock on top to shed water.  I hope it works!

I left some stickers in one cache.

I had DNFed this one before.  Found it this time!

Still December 12th!!  This isn't were the cache was, but it looked like a likely spot.

This looks like a repeat of an earlier pic.  Well, enjoy it.  This one is not so cropped, I guess.

This is where the one before the last one turned out to be.  I found it on the way back to the vehicle.

I drove the truck over to a new spot, and walk a few hundred feet to get this one.

Then I drove the truck back, parked, and found THIS one!

I went back to the truck and took this selfie out the vehicle window...then I went home.

December 13th (Wednesday)

This was some not-quite-the-end-of-the-year preview I was reminded to look at.  I'll have to get the up-to-date one and publish it.  It only has a couple more books, though.

December 14th

I got an encouraging tip on this one, in Bonita. Back in there somewhere.  I DNFed it before, but I found it this time!

December 15th

This path leads through the dark and mysterious forest.  Who knows what lurks there!

December 19th

A view from the Flume Trail, or thereabouts.

A tube of Ambroid glue, rather used.  I was discussing glues with my dentist.  I thought I'd take a picture of my tube of Goo.  I couldn't find it, so you get this.

A tube of Ambroid glue, rather unused. A little history I ran across on the net.

A panorama from the Flume Trial in Lakeside. Well, actually it is rather higher up than the Flume Trial, it is on the dirt road heading up the hangliding area.

December 21st

What I was reading. 

December 27th

Someone asked me if I knew what one of these were.  I replied with a picture of mine.  Wikipedia article.

December 29th

I thought it looked like what might be the Emerald City out there, but it wasn't green, so I badly 'shopped it to be green.

Glasses for to celebrate the New Year? What?

A slightly different view, but it looks sort of green without my help.

A panorama with too much sun.  I was south of H St. in Chula Vista for these.

The former owner of this shirt apparently did not practice what they preached.

Most of the trail was pretty plain, but this section was cozy with trees.

There was even a bench.  I wish there were more benches on trail!

And a light, for those evening bike rides, I guess.

This is the last picture for this day, but it illustrates the beginning of trail.  I totally walked right past this and didn't realize it for a hundred feed, when the GPSr was pointing behind me.

December 30th

Camellia flowers.

Selfie with me and Robbie.

Selfie with me, Leia, and Robbie back there.

Me and Leia.

Leia and my knee.

I THINK it's my knee.

December 31st

Where's the track? 

Trolley museum in National City.

Bayside Park north, in Chula Vista, looking north.

West

South

I left a trackable at a geocache there.  This amusing log appeared on the trackable's web page.

And, a panorama I took there.

This is at Finney Overlook, behind Finney Elementary, in Otay Valley Regional Park. Very cool spot, nice view!

Lastly, this is a spot in Independence Park, south of H St. in Chula Vista.  What happened to the trail I came in on?

Misc. Dates!

My book reading numbers, December 2017 is short by two.

Saw this on the internet, it amused me. Facebook needs that choice!

There used to be a fun hobby shop in La Mesa.  I found this picture on the internet.

It's winter in San Diego.  I put on my winter shirt, inspired by this post on reddit.

I thought this was pretty funny.  Wish I had made it!

And now for January...