California Dreaming

 Jann and Laura decided that seeing Mickey Mouse would be worthwhile. So they invited Marissa and me to go with them. 

Marissa and Laura after landing at John Wayne Airport.

We flew F-18 simulators. 

I asked the guy at the front desk if there was a hangar I could fly through (a favorite thing to do on flight sims) and he said No. So I asked the employees in the back, and one of them said There's a building. I'll get you there. 

Turned out we were simulating a dogfight over Dubai. Just after we started, the guy in the control tower said over the radio David, turn right, towards the coast. When you get there, turn left, parallel to the beach. See that building? That's what you're aiming at. 

As I got closer, I realized there was an open triangle thing at the top. As I was getting close, he said You'll have to bank to about 45° to fit through. I aimed just right of the opening, and banked left and yanked up to zoom through without hitting. 

Then he directed me back to the dogfight. That was fun too.

We went to the Fullerton Arboretum, and enjoyed a leisurely stroll.

This is called Devil's Walking Stick. See if you can tell why.

It took two attempts to see dolphins. On our first try, it was way too windy and wavy. But they gave us rain checks, and this was our second try. We were on a catamaran named Catallac.

This is a Risso's Dolphin. It is a relatively rare sighting according to Captain Larry.

It is the largest species of Cetaceans that is called a dolphin. The scarring is from fighting with its buddies.

These are common dolphins. 

Larry said there can be up to 5,000 individuals in a pod. We saw about 20.

Waves on the jetty in the harbor.

Los Angeles Angels game. We decided the pitch clock really kept the game going. We got Cracker Jack.

These beetles were flying all over the place. They were so big, I at first thought they were cicadas. But no.

We spent quite a bit of time in Down Town Disney, even before we went to the parks. Breakfast at Starbucks, shopping, etc.

And then we went to Disneyland..

.. and saw Woody

.. and Boba

.. and Fennec

.. storm troopers (none of which could hit us), and more.

We rode Mr Toad's Wild ride, and all the old things. Peter Pan, The Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World.

And got stuck in Radiator Springs Racer and had to get rescued. As I was taking this, he was saying Put your camera away. For your safety.

Then we went to California Adventure, and enjoyed everything but the Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission:  BREAKOUT! because the wait was 2 hours.

We liked the little shows, like Dr Stranger, here.

Second day at Disneyland, and we were pretty tired. Here we are right before giving up and going back to the hotel.

Sleeping on the plane home.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. 😁

At the Point

 Another Memorial Day weekend, and another Point Fest.

Pete, giving Jeff some love.

Ben's Naboo Diplomatic Barge. 3D printed. Not too successful flying, but it looked cool.

This is what we come for.

Waiting out the rain.

Pete hadn't flown since moving to Oregon. 

But he had fun, fun, fun.

Jeff's little chuck glider conversion.

Paul, on a low pass.

Will was there too, and Mark and Brigham and Olive.

Brice's vintage Scorpion.

Flying out over the valley.

I had designed and built a new plane, but I didn't get any pictures of it. Here's a video.

Next year in Europe?

Snakes

 Brett has a little snake hunting trip he does every year, apparently. This year, Jann wanted to go too. Just to see.

We had to get there early, so the snakes wouldn't be active yet. So we woke up at 4:30, and got to Brett's at 6:00. We met some friends of Brett, and drove to Spencer, and further east, to some private land. Left the cars, and biked in some of the way.

At the end of our bike trip.

Hiking parallel to Rattlesnake Ridge.

East fork Rattlesnake Creek.

At this point, Brett pointed up. We needed to hike to the top.

It took me a while. My back was killing me, so walking was not easy. Climbing was worse. It got steep. They waited.

Brett poked around until rocks started rattling.

Fishing out the first snake.

Brett would pin the head, and someone else cut it off. It was still pretty chilly, so the snakes were not fast.

Headless snake.

Brett's friend Matt offers it to Jann to hold.

She finally did. They poked around at the top of the ridge for a while, and then hiked down a bit to see if they could find more.

I stayed up top to rest, and found this...

...which Matt had planted as a joke.

Anyway, turns out that as the day warmed up, the snakes started pouring out of every nook and rock. They started to get so feisty that Brett finally said they should get out. Turns out that the place the snakes were most active was the same place we hiked up just a little earlier.

One hour's worth of hunting.

Who wants to go next year?

Mother Goose, Mother Goose, This is the Silver Fox

 Jake called be before Christmas, and asked if I'd help him make a plaque for Grandma and Grandpa. He had given me some plum wood earlier, and some barn wood, and had a vague idea of what it should look like. I drew it up, cut it out on the laser, and set the inlay.

Figures cut out of old barn wood.

I etched recesses in the plum, and set the barn wood cutouts in.

There were more foxes than geese.

After finishing.

Hang it up!