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I'm back!
That was an awesome vacation.
We really blew the budget on this one. Except for one square dance event next spring, which has been booked since 2006 or so, this is probably our last chance to take a big vacation in years.
Here's the short form, 'cause really, vacations are way more fun to do than they are to read about.
- Call a square dance (A2 through C3B)
- Go to the Hollywood Bowl, have a picnic in a box seat, and see the Peking Acrobats (review: WOW)
- Fly to the Bar Ten Ranch and take an ATV down to a beautiful overlook more than half way down the canyon depth
- Fly to Las Vegas (er, thunderstorms, oops), shower off all the Canyon grit, and see the V Variety Show
- Fly to Daggett, drive a bit, and tour the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (review: DOUBLE WOW)
Every one of these things is hugely recommended. The Peking Acrobats' show run in LA is over, but the Bar Ten Ranch is open and is full of wonderful folk. Definitely see the V theater before they rip down all the Middle Eastern facades and make the Golden Mile mall look like every other steel/granite/neon mall in the United States. And if you ever, ever get a chance to tour Goldstone, if you have the tiniest spark of science-nerd in your heart, jump at it. The tour is free and the guide is both delightfully knowledgeable and wonderfully friendly.
I've been out of Internet connectivity for a few days. Apologies to anyone waiting for e-mail replies. I mostly won't catch up on LJ either.
We really blew the budget on this one. Except for one square dance event next spring, which has been booked since 2006 or so, this is probably our last chance to take a big vacation in years.
Here's the short form, 'cause really, vacations are way more fun to do than they are to read about.
- Call a square dance (A2 through C3B)
- Go to the Hollywood Bowl, have a picnic in a box seat, and see the Peking Acrobats (review: WOW)
- Fly to the Bar Ten Ranch and take an ATV down to a beautiful overlook more than half way down the canyon depth
- Fly to Las Vegas (er, thunderstorms, oops), shower off all the Canyon grit, and see the V Variety Show
- Fly to Daggett, drive a bit, and tour the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (review: DOUBLE WOW)
Every one of these things is hugely recommended. The Peking Acrobats' show run in LA is over, but the Bar Ten Ranch is open and is full of wonderful folk. Definitely see the V theater before they rip down all the Middle Eastern facades and make the Golden Mile mall look like every other steel/granite/neon mall in the United States. And if you ever, ever get a chance to tour Goldstone, if you have the tiniest spark of science-nerd in your heart, jump at it. The tour is free and the guide is both delightfully knowledgeable and wonderfully friendly.
I've been out of Internet connectivity for a few days. Apologies to anyone waiting for e-mail replies. I mostly won't catch up on LJ either.
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Damn. A few years ago, I was right by Goldstone, when I was driving from Death Valley down CA-127 to Baker, and I didn't remember it was there. Of course, I would have had to arrange a tour in advance. I'm sure it was awesome, but the similar place I really want to see is the VLA in New Mexico.
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The visitors center is "nova episode"-grade, and there's a short film; you can actually walk right up into the shadow of one of the antennas, which is more interesting. They're upgrading the whole thing this fall (all new antennas and data paths and data crunching hardware - right now, the antennas are all connected to *waveguides*, they're going to fiber) and I'd hope the visitor center gets some attention as part of that - but none of that will change the amazement of driving over a ridge (that area doesn't have *hills* really, just plains, ridges, and mountains) and seeing a whole bunch of antennas *very* far away...)