Death Valley Christmas

Because Akiko and I weren't spending the holidays with family this year, we decided to spend a couple days in Death Valley. Not very Christmas-like I know, but we did get to see some snow. We were lucky as just a few days before, some of the roads we took had been shut down due to a big storm dumping snow and ice. At the higher elevations around 4,000' it was around 38 degrees F and down in the valley below Sea Level it was at 57 degrees.


On the way there, we made a few stops. this was at Pearsonville.


Living ghost town Keeler.


Just before entering the park.


Some nice earth colors.


The sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells.




Ruins at Borax mining site.

Death Valley Day 2

Akiko had the route through the park's popular sights planned out so we had breakfast and hit the road.


First up, Badwater. At over 280' below Sea Level, this is the lowest area in the Western Hemisphere. And that's not snow, it's salt.


Natural Bridge.


The Devil's Golf Course.


The Golden Canyon.


We saw some really amazing sights as we found out that Death Valley is so much more than just a desert.

Death Valley pt 3: Rhyolite

We left the park and crossed over the state line into Nevada for our final stop, the Ryholite Ghost Town.


In 1908 the gold mining town of Ryholite was the second largest city in Nevada with a population of 10,000 people. A mere 2 years later, the mines had failed and the population had shrunk to just 675 people. Ryholite is the most impressive of all the ghost towns we've visited over the past couple of years. There are still many standing structures and the grounds were littered with rusted cans and other metals.








Then it was back on the road for the long drive to LA.

Working For Jack

Been extremely slow work wise since Aug. so it was nice being busy the past few weeks.
I got to work for a Special Effects shop on the Jack In The Box Superbowl commercial. As usual, I can't say anything about it other than... Don't miss it!

Battlestar Kitten

Kitten Rescue, a great organization that Akiko is very involved with, had an Open House at it's Sanctuary this past Sunday.
Akiko was there for the whole event and I stopped by for a little bit. While there I got munch on some snacks, bid on the silent auction, hang out in rooms brimming with cats (Yeah, I'm a Cat-Guy, so what?) and meet one of Kitten Rescues' donors, Battlestar Galatica's #6, Tricia Helfer.


Tricia was very nice, is definitely a lover of cats and talked to us about filming the final episode of Battlestar and her busy schedule. Of course I couldn't help but ask her how it was to work with Bruce "The Man" Campbell on Burn Notice. Who doesn't love Bruce?

A fun time and worth getting my butt off the Sunday Football couch for.

Rockin' Taryn

My brother sent me this shot of my Great Niece, Taryn, riding on one of the Carousel Rocking Horses that I helped carve back in the late 80's. Nothing like a horseback stroll on Thanksgiving.

Sylmar

Veteran's Park, where we play Disc Golf in Sylmar, CA is where a major fire was started several weeks ago. Called the Sayre Fire, it burned over 11,000 acres and destroyed over 600 homes. With the Disc Golf course in the lower section of the park, the fire started in the upper area and spread rapidly due to 60-80 mph Santa Ana winds. After the fire was contained, the park remained closed for many weeks while the cause was investigated.

We were on hand for the first day that the golf course was reopened, Monday 12/1.
Glad to say that the course was untouched by the flames.


The winds did however snap a few trees, one of which took out this practice basket.
Not so good though was the fact that Gary's Pro Shop was looted while the park was closed. Busted his door, smashed his cash register and stole merchandise. Way not cool.