No Wetsuit Season Is Here

Even with a thick layer of fog, I was able to surf for 2 hours with no wetsuit, and was not even close to being cold.  The water felt like a lake in the middle of summer (of course, a wake with really big waves.)

So now we see how long we can go until wetsuit season begins again.  Most likely September or even October.

The Decline of the Punchbowl

It's been a long time since I visited the Punchbowl in Santa Paula.  It's sometimes called the best swimming hole in the state.

Before taking other people to the hole, (or any hike) I always make a test run to see if it's still in good condition, or even open.   Today I was scouting out this trail for potential use for a kids' summer camp.

If you've never been, the Punchbowl trail is about 7 miles round trip, on a wide, mostly flat, shadeless, dirt road.

Well, it used to be.

Like always, the trail begins at Thomas Aquinas College.  You have to walk through the campus on a paved road.  The signs directing hikers are actually new-looking.  (I didn't bring a camera, so all pictures today are from the internet, like this one below.)

Once through the campus, things change drastically.  You travel by some shacks, some avacado groves, and some oil derricks.  And friendly signs like this one, which really encourage you to stay on the trail.

Now in the old days, once past this brush with rural America, you were in very dry mountains, hiking beside a very small creek, on a dry, wide, shadeless dirt road.

Right away, though, I noticed that the trail seemed to be much more shady than I remembered, and I was crossing and recrossing the creek.

At one point, I found myself in the avacado grove and had to backtrack.

Eventually I realized something had really changed.  But....I saw tons of graffiti, some mindless, but some were arrows pointing the way.  (Sometimes conflicting arrows....)  So I knew I was on the right track.  I also knew that by following the river, I would eventually get there.  I thought I must be really terrible at trail following, though, because I kept hitting dead ends and backtracking.

Now in the past, the trail went up a rise, but this time, it just became narrower, and I was basically just wading up the river, having to boulder hop, then eventually almost climbing over the boulders.

The graffiti began to say things like "Almost there," and "Keep Going."

Definitely, this hike would not be happening with a bunch of kids.

Finally, I reached the spot called Punchbowl.  Normally, it is a spot on the river with perhaps 15 swimming holes of various sizes, rope swings, water slides, and very clear water.

Today, though, the pools looked really shallow.  A few were dried up entirely.  But worst of all, there was graffiti everywhere.  It looked like the worst freeway wall you've ever seen, just all paint.

And trash.  Bottles.  Leftover Taco Bell wrappers.  Broken glass.

Punchbowl was trashed.

There has always been a bit of graffiti and trash there, but now there was so much it spoiled the whole thing.

I could not find a picture of the graffiti online, but look at this picture, and multiply the graffiti in this picture by 100 or more.

Anyway, as I left, groups began to arrive.  Noisy groups with boom boxes...

I left and was able to find the big wide trail.  But only part of it.  It soon disappeared and it was back to bushwhacking.

Doing some research when I got home, here is what I learned:

 - There were some massive floods in 2005 that washed out the entire canyon, including the dirt road.
 - The trail disappeared.  The forest service did not have the money to make a new trail or road, so what's there now is just a bunch of handmade trails made by people finding their own way.  Hence the multiple trails, dead ends, and general confusion.  (Glad it wasn't just me that was confused.  Read many online comments about getting lost.)
 - These floods also filled in many of the swimming holes with sand, making them shallower.
 - The river also changed course after the flood.
 - With the dirt road gone, the rangers could no longer drive up in vehicles and remove the graffiti and trash.  It began to build.  And now it's been 8 years with no cleanup.

I think another factor is the internet.  I only learned of Punchbowl by working at a school in Ojai one summer.  Entirely word of mouth.  There were no guidebooks on the subject, and the internet did not really exist.  Now, you can google Punchbowl and get specific directions.

It would be nice if they would spend the money and build a proper trail, then station a guard at the gate and just charge admission, followed by a search for spray cans, etc.  Station a couple people at the falls themselves too.  Problem solved.  Except for the shallower water, but that's nature.

But for now, Punchbowl is a no-go.

Coolest Idea Ever

If you read this blog, you may know that I am not really a fan of squeezing bike lanes into traffic, forcing people to share the road with cars, or taking car lanes out of service.  Adds to congestion, is dangerous, and benefits few.

But closing the road entirely on Sunday for a massive bike ride?  That is a cool idea.

This Sunday, Wilshire was closed from Downtown to La Brea for the twice-per-year CicLAvia.  This is when some section of LA is roped off and people are free to bike, rollerblade, or (yawn) walk where cars normally go.

I am still not really sure how to pronounce Ciclavia.  The word apparently comes from "ciclovia," which means "open streets" in Spanish.  The trend was begun in Bogota, Columbia in 1976, which is also the same year it began (without any name) in Cambridge, MA.

Anyway, they took Ciclovia and made it "CicLAvia."  I heard people pronouncing it all different ways today - I guess it's up to the individual, sort of like pronouncing San Pedro, Los Feliz, or Los Angeles itself.

LOTS of people ride in the CicLAvia.  Apparently over 100,000.  It feels a bit like riding in the Tour de France, minus the steroids and frequent crashes.   There are just hordes of people biking.

Perhaps a better analogy would be that it feels like a "bike freeway."  There are people zooming by in two directions in a never-ending stream.  In general people ride in a flow, but some go faster, some slower, some weave, there are a few slowpokes, a few speeders.   Unlike on the freeway, kids are allowed, which makes it extra dangerous as they love to spontaneously turn or change lanes without looking.

However you describe it, it's definitely surreal to be biking down Wilshire Blvd.  You see so many more buildings and have such a better feel for the terrain and your surroundings.

The trip began with some Oscars in front of the soon-to-be Academy Museum.

And, ironically, this cool car in front of the Peterson Automotive Museum.

I was handed a free guide, which proved to be quite informative.

There were loads of food trucks, including this one serving Maine Lobster.  I hope the truck didn't have to drive from Maine.

Passed the Wiltern before too long.

Unfortunately, my bike chain began to get stuck.  It became clear I couldn't pedal anymore, and would have to turn around and walk back, a distance of a few miles by that point.

Luckily, I saw a bike repair shop.  They were fixing people's bikes for free!   (This was true all up and down the route, I later found out.)

There were a few people in front of me, but once they had my bike, a guy fixed it in about 3 minutes flat.  I think next time I will purposely bring a bike in need of a tune up and have them fix it up for free!  (Kidding.)

Back on the road, here's one of the portions where you had to stop.  They draped yellow tape across the road, and then pedestrians who needed to cross went by.  Or, at a few places, cars going north/south went by.  This was at one of the subway stations - note the hordes of people about to start riding coming towards us.

Going by the Westlake Theater.

Downtown you again had to walk your bike, just like at the La Brea endpoint.

Time to succumb to a food truck.  This one got the vote because it was in an Airstream trailer.  (And they were serving Curry Burritos.)

Unfortunately it took a very long time to get the curry burrito.  I had forgotten my rule about food trucks, which is: Don't go to food trucks.  (They take too long.)  The curry burrito was good, however.

A better plan would have been to bike over just a couple blocks and go to a real restaurant.

Now it's time to turn around and ride back.

Lots of cool accessories on the bikes - like this umbrella.

Kids = Dangerous!

Many cool buildings you wouldn't ordinarily notice.

Check out these people who brought an air mattress to relax on mid-ride.

Bullock's Wilshire.  There was more, but I was tired of taking pictures.


Great ride.  The next one is in October and is just in Downtown LA.

Ponte Brolla

Ponte Brolla - a great swimming hole in Switzerland.

Thank You Schools!

Above is a picture of Olympic Blvd during rush hour.  Of course, this was when Obama was visiting and the entire street was closed.

I put this picture here because was the first day of summer traffic.  This week, most schools shut down, and the impact on traffic, especially in the morning, is pretty huge.  I drove down National near Robertson today, at about 8am, and just sailed through.  (Not quite like being on Olympic above would be, but...)

Of course part of this is due to people vacationing, but I feel the schools are what cause the most traffic.

By August, it becomes really deserted....

Century City

There are a really large number of these century plants on the trails right now.  These are giant yellow flowers that rise out of a cactus.  They only bloom after the cactus has lived for 30 years or so, after which the cactus promptly dies.  This is on the Switzer Trail in the San Gabriel mountains.

August = Construction Free Month

I don't know about you, but I am pretty much done with all the construction.

It seems like 50 projects are going on at once.

Now ideally, we would just sit back and enjoy what is here already and stop building more stuff.  Don't say all the development is to build more affordable housing or create a dense urban utopian wonderland where people bike everywhere, don't own cars, and walk to get groceries (somehow carrying 7 bags to their house?)   The real reason is to make more money.

Of course halting construction will never happen, and we do need to repair roads and things.

So what I propose is this: an annual respite from all construction, for one entire month.

This could be held any month, but how about August.  Traffic is already light in August, so it would seem SUPER light.

This means everything, including people fixing up houses, building houses, tearing down houses, fixing roads, widening roads, narrowing roads, making meridians a foot higher, digging up and replanting trees, painting green bicycle lanes....  All of it must stop.....for a month.

But what if there is this important project that needs to get finished?

It can wait.  Nothing HAS to get built.  

I say we start this summer.  It's construction-free August.

Unforeseen Peet's Perk

You may remember that I had a Peet's dilemma: how to transition from using throw-away cups to a reusable ceramic cup.

Unfortunately, the very nice and speedy lady who instantly pours a small coffee (in a cup) the moment I walk in is still doing that.  She seems able to memorize that I want a small coffee, but not able to memorize that I now get it in a reusable cup.  This has happened so many times now, I've basically resigned myself to whatever happens.  Sometimes I get the cup, sometimes she notices afterward, sometimes a co-worker does.

But I began noticing another thing.  I was being charged $1.70 for my coffee.  (Instead of $1.80.)

Now I've watched the price of my Peet's coffee go from $1.25, to $1.35, to $1.40.  (It was $1.40 for a very long time.)  Then $1.50.  Then a few more steps up.  Finally, $1.80.

But it was now going down?  Great!

Or were they just making a mistake?  Kind of an odd mistake to make.

Finally it dawned on me that I was probably getting a discount for not wasting cups.

So now I'll be saving something like 30 bucks a year.

June Gloom is the Best

Not everyone likes June Gloom, but I personally look forward to it.  Great break from all the heat, you don't get so burned at the beach, and the cool breeze is the perfect amount of cool.  Not San Francisco cold, but perfectly refreshing.  It's always a bit disappointing when it sometimes fades away mid-day.

Of course, if it went on too long, it would grow tedious, and when it is foggy in August and September, you feel robbed of your summer, but right now - this June Gloom is great. Hoping it lasts all month.

Menu Mystery

If you've ever been to Jersey Mike's, you probably know that, as subs from a chain store go, it's a pretty good place.

But here is the question:  Where are all the missing numbers?

If you take a look at the menu, you can see the subs are all numbered:

The best of the above is probably #43 (with pickles, lettuce, tomato and pepperocinis added.)  Or perhaps #15 (with provolone only, no parmesan.)   Or maybe even #10, which is on another part of the menu.  (It's the tuna.  On that one, you need to have it "Mike's Way" with tomato pepper spread.)

But if there is a #43, why is there no #42?  And why are the numbers randomly arranged?

My guess is that Jersey Mike's started out as a small place (that much is obvious,) and they had lots of subs, all numbered.  Then, as they became big and corporate, they focused in on the best sellers.

But what are all these mystery subs?  Is it like In N Out where there is a secret menu?  (No longer so secret of course.)

I looked on Jersey Mike's website and even Wikipedia.  Exhaustive research, but no answers.

A similar situation exists at Togo's.

As you can see, lots of randomly organized numbers:

I am pretty much dying to know what happened to all the mystery subs, and what they are/were.

Perhaps someone should go in and order some random number, like a "42" and see if they just nod and start making something.

Before Midnight

So I got around to seeing this movie.

Most reviews I try to avoid, as they reveal the plot.  In fact I try to get to movies about 10 minutes late to avoid trailers for the same reason.

But it's really hard to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of a movie without giving away hints.

What I'll say for this movie is that it definitely continues the tradition of the first two, and lives up to what was started.  (See posts from a couple weeks ago if you don't know about the first two.)

I can also say it must have been hard to think up a sequel and make it "work" and not be cliched or predictable, but they managed to do it.

What is amazing about all three movies, but particularly this one, is the acting.  How they were able to film such long shots with very, very long stretches of dialogue, and make it seem so spontaneous...I do not know.  It is really impressive, and whether one likes the story or not, one has to be taken with the craft.  Apparently, from what I've read, these lines which seem completely improvised and natural were very much scripted and planned out - even fought over.  Perhaps because the two leads had a hand in writing, the end result felt more real.

Anyway the only complaint would be that it leaves you hanging, which is probably intentional.  But in this one, unlike the first two, you really feel like you only got a tiny sliver of the characters' lives.  I could have gone another two hours.

We will have to wait another 9 years for the next one.

Sleepy Dog

Watermelon Story Pt. 2

So there is the big watermelon I purchased.

Would it have seeds?  It was a mystery.

We cut it open, and.....

It had seeds!

Of course, they seemed smaller than I remembered.

The next day, I saw three pallets of watermelons at the new Sprouts on Westwood.  Two of them were seedless.  But over in the corner: seeded.  Like this one, they were all big and long.

So watermelon with seeds is around.  But....fairly rare.