Hello from McKinleyville, CA
Thursday morning , October 31, 2013 (Third travelogue of this trip).
Another quick update.
Yesterday we drove from Grass Valley to the coast via California 20. We then picked up US 101 and plan to take that to just south of Portland. We are staying at the Holiday Inn (map).
The drive here was great. The weather has improved significantly. The drive on CA 20 took us through some very picturesque farming country. We saw a large number of rice fields (they do not appear to call them paddies in the US. Rice farming is quite an amazing process. The fields are flooded and the seed is planted by airplane. A good explanation is found here: (link).
Once we hit 101, we began to see redwood trees. At one point we took a detour called the “Avenue of the Giants”. It is amazing to drive though the thick forest of huge redwood trees.
Our drive today should include the Redwood National Park where the trees should be even more impressive.
We have about 450 miles to travel in the next two days in order to end up in Aurora, OR so that I can visit another friend from the racing world (Bonneville in this case).
That is all of now.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Hello from Grass Valley, CA
Hello from Grass Valley, CA
Tuesday morning , October 29, 2013 (Second travelogue of this trip).
I wanted to do a quick post today. I will catch up on Wendover Airfield in another post.
Yesterday was an interesting day of driving. We turned the windshield wipers on when we left the hotel and had them on virtually the whole trip – about 500 miles. During part of the trip, we hit some pretty good snow. The local TV stations are making a big deal about the big snow on Donner pass. We did see a lot of snow, but the roads were fine. We were not concerned, as the truck is a 4X4.
We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Grass Valley (map). With all my traveling, I build up a lot of points. We are staying here using some of those points. That is a good thing, since the rates are in the $150 range.
In a few minutes I will be heading out to visit a great friend. Steve is the owner of RCD Engineering (link). I first met Steve in the '90s when I was the blower belt representative for Gates. We became good friends and try to see each other when we can. Some folks liken us to twins. Indeed, he is as close to a brother as I can imagine. Tonight, we will probably go to dinner with our wives – both are Pat.
That is all for now.
Tuesday morning , October 29, 2013 (Second travelogue of this trip).
I wanted to do a quick post today. I will catch up on Wendover Airfield in another post.
Yesterday was an interesting day of driving. We turned the windshield wipers on when we left the hotel and had them on virtually the whole trip – about 500 miles. During part of the trip, we hit some pretty good snow. The local TV stations are making a big deal about the big snow on Donner pass. We did see a lot of snow, but the roads were fine. We were not concerned, as the truck is a 4X4.
We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Grass Valley (map). With all my traveling, I build up a lot of points. We are staying here using some of those points. That is a good thing, since the rates are in the $150 range.
In a few minutes I will be heading out to visit a great friend. Steve is the owner of RCD Engineering (link). I first met Steve in the '90s when I was the blower belt representative for Gates. We became good friends and try to see each other when we can. Some folks liken us to twins. Indeed, he is as close to a brother as I can imagine. Tonight, we will probably go to dinner with our wives – both are Pat.
That is all for now.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Hello from Wendover, NV
Hello from Wendover, NV
Sunday evening , October 27, 2013 (First travelogue of this trip).
Well, at least the title is different on this post {grin}.
As I have noted, I have spent almost all of October in Seattle. I taught 5 days last week and flew home Friday evening. While I was flying home, Pat picked up our rented truck. We left Saturday about noon, on our way back to Seattle. Our first stop was in Green River Utah, were we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.
Today we drove a bit less than 300 miles and arrived in Wendover about noon. We are staying at the Rainbow Casino (map). We chose Wendover because the hotels are inexpensive, Pat could drop a few coins in the slots, and I could tour the Historic Wendover Airfield.
During World War II Wendover Airfield was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit that dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. Considering that there has been minimal restoration activity, it is in amazing condition. When I first visited the facility many years ago, I commented that they could whitewash the barracks and replace some glass, and film a WWII movie. This site has good details about the history of the airfield (link)
I hope to post a few pictures and more details. However, it is late and I will only post one photo for now.
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That is all for now.
Sunday evening , October 27, 2013 (First travelogue of this trip).
Well, at least the title is different on this post {grin}.
As I have noted, I have spent almost all of October in Seattle. I taught 5 days last week and flew home Friday evening. While I was flying home, Pat picked up our rented truck. We left Saturday about noon, on our way back to Seattle. Our first stop was in Green River Utah, were we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.
Today we drove a bit less than 300 miles and arrived in Wendover about noon. We are staying at the Rainbow Casino (map). We chose Wendover because the hotels are inexpensive, Pat could drop a few coins in the slots, and I could tour the Historic Wendover Airfield.
During World War II Wendover Airfield was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit that dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. Considering that there has been minimal restoration activity, it is in amazing condition. When I first visited the facility many years ago, I commented that they could whitewash the barracks and replace some glass, and film a WWII movie. This site has good details about the history of the airfield (link)
I hope to post a few pictures and more details. However, it is late and I will only post one photo for now.
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Our rented truck in front of the historic control tower
That is all for now.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Hello from Kent, WA
Hello from Kent, WA
Sunday Afternoon , October 13, 2013 (First travelogue of this trip).
Or, should the title be “Hello from Kent, WA – for the umpteenth time” {grin}
Yes, I am back in Kent and have been for the past two weeks. I was able to fly back for a couple of days (Oct. 4/5), but I am staying over this weekend. I will fly home on Thursday and then fly back on the following Sunday. If you got lost in that sentence, it might be easier to say that I am here most of the month of October.
The good news is that Pat and I will be traveling back to Washington the last week of October and will return to Evergreen a bit before Thanksgiving. During that time, I will teach two classes and we will play tourists for a bit over two weeks. You can't believe how I am looking forward to that trip. We have some neat sightseeing plans and plans to visit two great friends.
When I was here several times before this hectic October schedule, the weather was great. However, it has been quite rainy and cold this month. It sounds like next week will be a little better.
Part of the reason for all of the October activity is that I am getting qualified to teach additional classes at Boeing. Most of the new ones deal with checking for geometrical alignment problems on large machining centers. I have done my audits for two of the classes and will finish the co-teach process next week and the following week.
That will give NTT a lot of flexibility with resources. They are in a bind right now. It will also keep me about as busy as I want to be. Indeed, I am scheduled to do two Boeing classes a month for November through February (as far as the schedule goes right now). In addition, NTT has a very aggressive “public” schedule for the first half of 2014. I suspect they will ask me to do several of those classes as well.
Traveling has always presented a “health” problem for me, as I tend to not be as active, nor do I eat well. I did a mini physical a couple of weeks ago when I was home and the doctor was very pleased with my health status. Obviously we both agree that I need to loose weight, but he did not bring it up. I kind of wish he would have lowered the boom on me {grin}. However, I took the bull by the horns and have been eating healthy salads for lunch, cutting back of my typical “comfort foods”, etc. In addition, I have been riding the exercise bike for 30 minutes most days.
Unless something comes up, I probably won't post again until Pat and I start our “road trip”.
Sunday Afternoon , October 13, 2013 (First travelogue of this trip).
Or, should the title be “Hello from Kent, WA – for the umpteenth time” {grin}
Yes, I am back in Kent and have been for the past two weeks. I was able to fly back for a couple of days (Oct. 4/5), but I am staying over this weekend. I will fly home on Thursday and then fly back on the following Sunday. If you got lost in that sentence, it might be easier to say that I am here most of the month of October.
The good news is that Pat and I will be traveling back to Washington the last week of October and will return to Evergreen a bit before Thanksgiving. During that time, I will teach two classes and we will play tourists for a bit over two weeks. You can't believe how I am looking forward to that trip. We have some neat sightseeing plans and plans to visit two great friends.
When I was here several times before this hectic October schedule, the weather was great. However, it has been quite rainy and cold this month. It sounds like next week will be a little better.
Part of the reason for all of the October activity is that I am getting qualified to teach additional classes at Boeing. Most of the new ones deal with checking for geometrical alignment problems on large machining centers. I have done my audits for two of the classes and will finish the co-teach process next week and the following week.
That will give NTT a lot of flexibility with resources. They are in a bind right now. It will also keep me about as busy as I want to be. Indeed, I am scheduled to do two Boeing classes a month for November through February (as far as the schedule goes right now). In addition, NTT has a very aggressive “public” schedule for the first half of 2014. I suspect they will ask me to do several of those classes as well.
Traveling has always presented a “health” problem for me, as I tend to not be as active, nor do I eat well. I did a mini physical a couple of weeks ago when I was home and the doctor was very pleased with my health status. Obviously we both agree that I need to loose weight, but he did not bring it up. I kind of wish he would have lowered the boom on me {grin}. However, I took the bull by the horns and have been eating healthy salads for lunch, cutting back of my typical “comfort foods”, etc. In addition, I have been riding the exercise bike for 30 minutes most days.
Unless something comes up, I probably won't post again until Pat and I start our “road trip”.
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