On The Fly

Little Lakes Valley “ Merde ! It’s only been five miles. My legs are dog-tired from carrying this backpack.” was the comment I mumbled inaudibly while hiking yesterday to begin the full regiment of training for this year's Sierra adventure.  Lori led the way for my first full backpack training exercise, “We need to get you out more these next few weeks; your trip is less than one month away.” “Wow, you’re right. How is it that all that work I’ve done, bicycling and hiking, is not enough? This getting older is a bitch!” We were hiking the Calavera Hills Nature Preserve in Carlsbad. I wanted to climb close to home to try out the new backpack. Granted, the 513-ft. Mount Calavera is not really a mountain at all but rather a 22 million-year-old volcanic plug—a mass of volcanic rock that solidified in its vent and feeding system millions of years ago. It is an excellent training area. This year, our intrepid team will explore  Little Lakes Valley,  nestled i...

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of or remember the futuristic design of the 1950s dubbed the Googie architecture movement? Stay with me; you may be surprised. Entering Las Vegas, Nevada, from California on Arrowhead Highway/Highway 91, now called “the Strip,” you can still find remnants of roadside America from its motoring past. One of the not-so-ubiquitous treasures is the Diamond Inn Motel ,  built in 1940. While visiting Las Vegas at  Mandalay  Bay, I was delighted to discover two historic landmarks, “The Sign” and the Diamond Inn Motel. Well, to be honest, only the sign is designated as a historic landmark. But they are both worth a look just to get a glimpse of Las Vegas’s history. You can discover this quaint roadside business if you have the pluck to make your way from your room through the modern monolith hotel/casino maze and can actually get outside for an early morning walk.  Admittedly, I’m an early bird; I was out the door by 5:15 ...

True Blue Dodger fans cheered as team Koufax and team Lasorda battled (well, not exactly a battle - more of a friendly romp in the park) to a 3-3 tie on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium in the Old-Timers’ Game . When asked in the pre-game interview, “How is team Koufax going to approach this game?” Cy Young winner and starting pitcher Orel Hershiser said, “We just want to get through two innings without an injury.” Among the Dodger greats in attendance were Ron Cey, Fernando Valenzuela, Don Newcomb, Tommy Davis, Dusty Baker, Davey Lopes, Eric Karros, Steve Yaeger, and Shawn Green were announced representing members of the World Series Champion Dodgers from 1955 and beyond. With sharp line drives former MLB short stop, Nomar Garciaparra, and center fielder, Steve Finley, for team Koufax recorded base hits and drove in two runs. And after the first inning were in the lead 3-2. The crowd roared with laughter in the bottom of the first when manager Tommy Lasorda stom...

They were one of the biggest-selling groups of the 1970s. “No fewer than ten of their singles went on to become million-sellers, and by 2005 combined worldwide sales of albums and singles well exceeded 100 million units.” This musical duo was the Carpenters, from 1969-1982 the rich full melodic voice of Karen Carpenter filled the radio airwaves. Recently a post on FaceBook inspired me to dig out my old vinyl LP record collection. Little did I realize that the pure joy of music would reignite a spark in my soul of innocent delight that comes from quietly listening and watching a record spin on a turntable. After purchasing a new turntable with a USB connection, and reconnecting my old Harman Kardon amplifier I played a record for the first time in over 25 years, it was Superstar written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell. This Richard Carpenter arrangement became the duo's third No. 2 single on the Billboard Hot 100. Like a warm, gentle rain in the springtime cascading...

“Captain Fantastic raised and regimented hardly a hero, just someone his mother might know.” - Bernie Taupin. In this episode - Captain Fantastic . . .   1975 was my first full year of college; like most teens, music was my world. The ideals of our small midwestern town of Cuba, Illinois, were being reshaped by a record, at least for me. For those who don't remember, 1975 was the year the album  Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy  was released; music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. Hundreds, maybe thousands of hours were spent with that album spinning on turntables while studying that grotesque album cover. During the 1970s, many records spun on home stereo systems and radio stations throughout the world that brought artists like Elton John to your town. LP Record albums with flashy covers were the delivery vehicle for music, lyrics, album art, and what parents considered wild ideas in the minds of the baby-boomer generation. In hindsight, music had...

Photo's Robert & Orasa Weldon In the world of gemstones, people desire rarity and beauty. There is no better  way to achieve both of these goals than with nature’s treasure, a fine spinel. Once distinguished as history’s most under appreciated gemstone, spinel’s eminence is rising meteorically. Spinel is a magnesium aluminum oxide occurring as octahedral crystals in a wide range of colors: red, orange, purple, pink, blue and black. Red spinels range from pure red to a purplish-red, not unlike the color of ruby, a gem with which it was sometimes confused. Today, collectors praise it’s rarity and pay enormous prices to obtain it.. The earliest known use of a spinel gemstone was in 100 BC, as an ornament on a Buddhist tomb in Afghanistan. It is believed that the first known systematic mining of spinel was in Afghanistan, around 750 AD. Some 500 years later, the Venetian merchant, Marco Polo, was to travel through the region, likely filling his pockets with the red g...

Wrigley Field, Chicago On April 23, 2015 Chicago Cubs fans will celebrate 101 years of Wrigley Field, could this be 'next year'? Click to see video on YouTube . During the dog-days of summer baseball fans come to the stark realization their team has been mathematically eliminated from the pennant race. And the chant begins again, “Wait till next year.” Cub fans have been waiting since 1908. Yes, believe it, 1908 was when the Cubs won their last World Series. Way before television, long before radio, and by a fluke of what baseball fanatics call Merkle’s Boner. For those not familiar with the story, now that I think of it, not many people I know today were there to witness the twist of fate that allowed the Cubs the opportunity to win the National League Pennant that year then the World Series. The heated race for the Pennant came down to the Cubs vs the New York Giants. It was the bottom of the ninth, with two men out, two men on base, and the score tied on...

I've never known my friend to be in better form, both mentally and physically, than after we returned from our adventure in Hawaii.  Hercule Peridot, like all great artists lived for arts’ sake, the chase. His mental acuity was heightened when engaged in the science of deduction or traveling the world to renew old friendships. His reputation as a gem expert and personal shopper was growing even more quickly from the blog posts of our adventures that apparently were capturing the attention of many gem enthusiasts. I’m Adamas Bontemps. Peridot and I had returned home a few weeks ago and I was back to my early morning routine - chronicling our travels. This morning, while tickling the keys on my computer, I received a FaceTime notification to chat. An image of a turquoise door appeared on my screen, [Incoming video from 1740 Tsavorite Lane]. It was Peridot. Magically, the front door opened and Peridot appeared on my computer screen. He was impeccably dressed; a fine sil...