Home > Domestic Diversions > West Coast Wanderings - August 2021

Angwin, California

On August 6 we arrived in Angwin, where Sandie's younger son Lief lives with his lovely wife Janeta, and sons Liam and Jensen, not to mention their golden Lab, Leila. Angwin is located high in the hills above Napa Valley; it's a most picturesque and pleasant area, although in recent years the terrible California wildfires have taken their toll. We sojourned in Angwin for several days, staying gratis in a pleasant apartment, as arranged by Lief with his stepsister Michelle and his dad and stepmom, Arnold and Bethel, who most graciously made the place available. While Sandie spent most of her time visiting with Lief, Janeta and the kids in their little house on Toyon Street, I took the opportunity to wander around Napa Valley and shoot pictures. I also accompanied them to visit the palatial estate on Crestmont Drive owned by Lief's deceased grandfather, Yacob Nashed, which is now in escrow pending its sale. This was a very fortuitous opportunity - although I had visited the house on previous occasions, I had never taken any pictures of it, and this was the last chance I ever would have to make a pictorial record of this extraordinary property for posterity.

61 files, last one added on Sep 16, 2021
Album viewed 89 times

Napa Valley, California

Although the time I spent in Napa Valley coincided with our sojourn in Angwin, I decided to devote a separate album to Napa Valley because the Angwin album was already too large, and because despite their geographical proximity, in a sense they occupy different worlds. Napa Valley is packed with wineries and overrun with tourists come to savor the delights of the grape; Angwin is secluded, serene, bucolic. Although I've been through Napa Valley many times, about twenty years have passed since my last visit and many things have changed; I wanted to record some of the changes as well as a few of the attractions I've missed on previous visits.

31 files, last one added on Sep 16, 2021
Album viewed 63 times

Rees Residence - Stockton, California

Sandie and I visit the residence of two of our favorite people in the world, JoAnn and Doug Rees, in Stockton, California. The visit was arranged by our treasured friend of many years, Diana Howell, who happens to be JoAnn's sister. JoAnn and Doug are longtime litterateurs, and a few years back they purchased an old but venerable house in a pleasant Stockton neighborhood, which house they then proceeded to renew and remodel into a veritable Utopia. They graciously let me shoot a myriad of photos of their property, and I have assembled the best of them here, with the only qualification that the SD card where photos originally resided somehow became partially corrupt, so that I lost most of those shot in the back yard; fortunately the cream of those I shot inside the house have survived.

28 files, last one added on Sep 17, 2021
Album viewed 63 times

Bend, Oregon - High Desert Museum

Sadly, our schedule only allowed us one day in Bend, but at least we were able to fulfill my long-cherished ambition to visit the Bend High Desert Museum, which I had never managed to do during all of my previous visits. The Museum had cosponsored (with Oregon State University) the venue where we viewed the Great American Eclipse of 2017, and our hosts Chuck and Elouise Mattox, who are members, highly recommended it and even furnished the passes for our visit, one of the privileges associated with their membership, in addition to providing us with the benefit of their company (always a delight) on our tour of the Museum. We were not disappointed. We only had one complaint - the Museum is so extensive that we wore ourselves out long before we could see even a large fraction of what it had to offer, so we'll have to go back again...and again...

48 files, last one added on Sep 18, 2021
Album viewed 101 times

An Afternoon in Edmonds, Washington

On the second day of our stay in the Seattle area, Sandie and I, together with Sandie's elder son Nick, visited Chuck and Elouise Mattox's daughter Sarah and her husband Mike at their fairytale house on the shore of Lake Ballinger in Edmonds, Washington, which turned out to be only a few short blocks from our B&B. Although Sandie and I had been to Sarah and Mike's wedding celebration in Bend (2001), we hadn't seen them together since then and we were anxious to renew our acquaintance. Sarah performs as a mezzo-soprano with the Seattle Opera, and Mike is a senior software developer formerly with Microsoft, now with Electronic Arts, Inc., a leading publisher of video games, and they tend to be rather busy people, so I was uncertain that they would have room in their schedules to meet with us. As it turned out, I need not have worried; they most graciously hosted us on the patio of their lakeside residence on a Saturday afternoon, and we spent several hours engaged in civilized conversation of a kind we can only experience with a very few people of our acquaintance (although, to be sure, we visited several of the others on this trip). And the ambience of the setting was amazing. We had a fabulous time, and we're most grateful to Sarah and Mike for their hospitality and their company.

39 files, last one added on Sep 21, 2021
Album viewed 76 times

Fremont District, Seattle

On Sunday, August 15, 2021 Sandie, Nick, Jane and I hopped into Red Sonja and headed for the Fremont District of Seattle. I was bent on visiting two sites in particular: the Fremont Troll and the Statue of Lenin, located close together on North 36th Street. After that, I thought, we could go wherever our fancies took us (that turned out to be the Gas Works Park, to which I've devoted a separate album). In the captions to the pictures presented here I could record only a small fraction of the essential facts available on these famous (or notorious?) attractions; for more adequate information on the Troll, see for example the Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Troll, and for the Lenin statue, a good account may be found at https://seattle.curbed.com/2019/8/27/20830552/seattle-fremont-vladimir-lenin-statue-history.

31 files, last one added on Sep 23, 2021
Album viewed 51 times

Seattle Gas Works Park

Although the Seattle Gas Works Park is properly part of the Fremont District, I have devoted a separate album to it because of the profusion of pictures I shot there; one album containing all the Fremont pictures would be very large and cumbersome. Also, the scenes are very different visually and topically, as you will see immediately.

15 files, last one added on Sep 23, 2021
Album viewed 43 times

7 albums on 1 page(s)

Random files - West Coast Wanderings - August 2021

Another Tiffany floor lamp504 viewsI love Tiffany lamps, and this house is full of them. Note also the trompe l'oeil curtain, hanging at the right of the lamp and posing as a bookcase.

A Plethora of Placards466 viewsReplete with expressions of welcome and amity, not to mention a Beautiful Yard Recognition Award.

A Herculean Labor475 viewsJoAnn and Doug enlisted some highly skilled electricians and craftsmen to help in assembling the chandelier and making it work; it came with some pieces missing, and a number of technical issues had to be resolved. It was an impressive feat to get it working; not many people would have been able or willing to endure such an ordeal, and all the people involved deserve a lot of credit.

Queen Anne Hill541 viewsThe hill is 456 feet high, the second highest point in Seattle, and contains a number of steep streets and pedestrian staircases; it also hosts 3 TV towers..

The North Shore542 viewsDocks belonging to Sarah and Mike's neighbors to the north.

Crestmont house front door449 viewsThe front door of the Crestmont house on the inside

Double Cyclone497 viewsPowerplant for Douglas A1B Skyraider attack plane: Wright R-3350-26WA Duplex-Cyclone 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 2,700 hp (2,000 kW)

Unofficial Car586 viewsI hadn't seen one of these VW crew-cab pickups in quite a while. I failed to check what the rest of the word is that the blue sack is covering up because I figured the owner would think I was trying to steal it and have me arrested.

Last additions - West Coast Wanderings - August 2021

Seattle Gas Works509 viewsThe Seattle Gas LIght company built this plant in 1906 and operated it until 1956, using coal and oil gasification technology..Sep 23, 2021

Capitol Hill501 viewsTo the left (east) of downtown is the Capitol Hill district, a hilly, densely populated area which is a center of entertainment and nightlife, and also of Seattle's LGBTQ community.Sep 23, 2021

Dominant Species514 viewsThe geese ignore the humans, whom they clearly regard as an inferior species, unworthy of their attention.Sep 23, 2021

Eastlake District485 viewsA view of the eastern shore of Lake Union from Kite Hill. The large white structure at center near the top of the hill, is St Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.Sep 23, 2021

Downtown Seattle504 viewsAs seen across Lake Union from the Gas Works Park. On the shoreline, in the center, is the Museum of History and Industry (Mohai).Sep 23, 2021

Nick and Jane on Kite Hill518 viewsI caught Nick and Jane as they were climbing Kite Hill and shot them against the background of the Aurora Avenue Bridge.Sep 23, 2021

City of Waterways515 viewsThis busy waterway is a part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal known as the Fremont Cut. The Canal enables water transport from Puget Sound to (surprise!) Lake Washington, via Lake Union..Sep 23, 2021

Canada Geese535 viewsThese geese are the same ones who show up on the golf course near our house in the fall and spring. The one in front is George, the next one is Georgia, the third is Geoff, then Glenda, and so on.Sep 23, 2021

Debug Info

Debug Output: show / hide

USER: 
------------------
Array
(
    [ID] => 4ee7caffcc6b05067b5243d1713007a1
    [am] => 1
)

==========================
USER DATA:
------------------
Array
(
    [user_id] => 0
    [user_name] => Guest
    [groups] => Array
        (
            [0] => 3
        )

[group_quota] => 0
    [can_rate_pictures] => 1
    [can_send_ecards] => 0
    [can_post_comments] => 0
    [can_upload_pictures] => 0
    [can_create_albums] => 0
    [pub_upl_need_approval] => 1
    [priv_upl_need_approval] => 1
    [access_level] => 3
    [disk_max] => 0
    [disk_min] => 0
    [has_admin_access] => 0
    [group_name] => Guests
    [can_create_public_albums] => 0
    [can_see_all_albums] => 0
    [group_id] => 3
    [allowed_albums] => Array
        (
        )

)

==========================
Queries:
------------------
Array
(
    [0] => SELECT name, value FROM cm_config [include/init.inc.php:177] (0.39 ms)
    [1] => SELECT * FROM cm_plugins ORDER BY priority [include/plugin_api.inc.php:48] (0.24 ms)
    [2] => SELECT user_id, time FROM `i5493328_cm1`.cm_sessions WHERE session_id = 'a272949ae0c35409029e1c10bce1e696' [bridge/coppermine.inc.php:241] (0.23 ms)
    [3] => SELECT MAX(group_quota) AS disk_max, MIN(group_quota) AS disk_min, MAX(can_rate_pictures) AS can_rate_pictures, MAX(can_send_ecards) AS can_send_ecards, MAX(can_post_comments) AS can_post_comments, MAX(can_upload_pictures) AS can_upload_pictures, MAX(can_create_albums) AS can_create_albums, MAX(has_admin_access) AS has_admin_access, MAX(access_level) AS access_level, MIN(pub_upl_need_approval) AS pub_upl_need_approval, MIN( priv_upl_need_approval) AS	 priv_upl_need_approval FROM cm_usergroups WHERE group_id in (3) [bridge/udb_base.inc.php:350] (0.23 ms)
    [4] => SELECT group_name FROM cm_usergroups WHERE group_id= 3 [bridge/udb_base.inc.php:362] (0.17 ms)
    [5] => SELECT COUNT(*) FROM cm_categorymap WHERE group_id in (3) [bridge/udb_base.inc.php:375] (0.66 ms)
    [6] => SELECT aid FROM cm_albums WHERE moderator_group IN (3) [include/init.inc.php:271] (0.35 ms)
    [7] => SELECT lang_id FROM cm_languages WHERE enabled='YES' [include/init.inc.php:334] (0.51 ms)
    [8] => DELETE FROM cm_banned WHERE expiry < '2026-01-29 11:09:39' [include/init.inc.php:448] (1.01 ms)
    [9] => SELECT null FROM cm_banned WHERE ('216.73.216.162' LIKE ip_addr OR '' LIKE ip_addr ) AND brute_force=0 LIMIT 1 [include/init.inc.php:464] (0.57 ms)
    [10] => SELECT rgt, lft FROM cm_categories WHERE cid = 19 LIMIT 1 [include/functions.inc.php:1091] (0.8 ms)
    [11] => SELECT aid FROM cm_albums INNER JOIN cm_categories AS c2 ON c2.cid = category
                                    WHERE (c2.lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15  AND visibility != 0 AND visibility != 10000 AND visibility NOT IN (3)) [include/functions.inc.php:1110] (0.99 ms)
    [12] => SELECT rgt, lft, depth FROM cm_categories WHERE cid = 19 LIMIT 1 [include/functions.inc.php:44] (0.21 ms)
    [13] => SELECT cid FROM cm_categories WHERE lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15 [include/functions.inc.php:49] (0.23 ms)
    [14] => SELECT keyword FROM cm_albums WHERE category IN (19) [include/functions.inc.php:57] (0.19 ms)
    [15] => SELECT p.cid, p.name FROM cm_categories AS c,
                cm_categories AS p
                WHERE c.lft BETWEEN p.lft AND p.rgt
                AND c.cid = 19
                ORDER BY p.lft [include/functions.inc.php:2940] (0.16 ms)
    [16] => SELECT cid, lft, rgt, name, description, thumb, depth AS level, '0' AS alb_count, '0' AS subalb_count
        FROM cm_categories
        WHERE depth BETWEEN 2 + 1 AND 2 + 2
        AND lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15
        ORDER BY lft [index.php:299] (0.73 ms)
    [17] => SELECT aid, title, r.description, keyword, alb_hits, category, visibility, r.thumb, r.owner, depth AS level, lft, '0' AS pic_count
        FROM cm_categories AS c
        INNER JOIN cm_albums AS r ON r.category = c.cid
        WHERE c.depth >= 2 + 1
        
        AND lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15
        ORDER BY r.pos ASC, r.aid ASC [index.php:335] (2.68 ms)
    [18] => SELECT c.cid, r.aid, COUNT(pid) AS pic_count, MAX(pid) AS last_pid, MAX(ctime) AS last_upload, depth AS level, lft
        FROM cm_categories AS c
        INNER JOIN cm_albums AS r ON r.category = c.cid
        INNER JOIN cm_pictures AS p ON p.aid = r.aid
        WHERE c.depth >= 2 + 1
        AND approved = 'YES'
        
        AND lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15
        GROUP BY r.aid
        ORDER BY NULL [index.php:362] (0.82 ms)
    [19] => SELECT count(aid) FROM cm_albums as a WHERE category = '19'  [index.php:663] (1.01 ms)
    [20] => SELECT a.aid, a.title, a.description, a.thumb, a.keyword, category, visibility, filepath, filename, url_prefix, pwidth, pheight, a.owner  FROM cm_albums AS a  LEFT JOIN cm_pictures AS p ON a.thumb=p.pid  WHERE a.category = 19   ORDER BY a.pos ASC, a.aid ASC LIMIT 0,7 [index.php:714] (1.23 ms)
    [21] => SELECT a.aid, count( p.pid ) AS pic_count, max( p.pid ) AS last_pid, max( p.ctime ) AS last_upload, a.keyword, a.alb_hits FROM cm_albums AS a  LEFT JOIN cm_pictures AS p ON a.aid = p.aid AND p.approved = 'YES'  WHERE a.category = 19  GROUP BY a.aid  ORDER BY a.pos ASC, a.aid ASC LIMIT 0,7 [index.php:723] (5.74 ms)
    [22] => SELECT pid, filepath, filename, url_prefix, pwidth, pheight FROM cm_pictures WHERE pid IN (1436,1452,1511,1565,1606,1637,1654) [index.php:758] (1.2 ms)
    [23] => SELECT extension, mime, content, player FROM cm_filetypes [include/functions.inc.php:5952] (0.39 ms)
    [24] => SELECT a.aid FROM cm_albums AS a INNER JOIN cm_pictures as p ON p.aid = a.aid WHERE uploads = 'YES' AND category < 10000 AND (visibility = '0' OR visibility IN (3) OR alb_password != '') AND owner_id = 0 [index.php:877] (0.23 ms)
    [25] => SELECT COUNT(*)
                FROM cm_pictures AS r
                INNER JOIN cm_albums AS a ON a.aid = r.aid
                INNER JOIN cm_categories AS c2 ON c2.cid = category WHERE (c2.lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15)
                AND approved = 'YES' [include/functions.inc.php:1866] (5.71 ms)
    [26] => SELECT pid
                FROM cm_pictures AS r
                INNER JOIN cm_albums AS a ON a.aid = r.aid
                INNER JOIN cm_categories AS c2 ON c2.cid = category WHERE (c2.lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15)
                AND approved = 'YES'
                ORDER BY RAND()
                 LIMIT 0 ,8 [include/functions.inc.php:1878] (5.86 ms)
    [27] => SELECT r.pid, r.aid, filepath, filename, url_prefix, pwidth, pheight, filesize, ctime, r.title, r.keywords, r.votes, pic_rating, hits, caption, r.owner_id, user1, user2, user3, user4
                    FROM cm_pictures AS r
                    INNER JOIN cm_albums AS a ON a.aid = r.aid
                    WHERE pid IN (1577, 1421, 1489, 1634, 1493, 1484, 1371, 1642) [include/functions.inc.php:1894] (1.59 ms)
    [28] => SELECT COUNT(*)
                FROM cm_pictures AS r
                INNER JOIN cm_albums AS a ON a.aid = r.aid
                INNER JOIN cm_categories AS c2 ON c2.cid = category WHERE (c2.lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15)
                AND approved = 'YES' [include/functions.inc.php:1614] (0.59 ms)
    [29] => SELECT r.pid, r.aid, filepath, filename, url_prefix, pwidth, pheight, filesize, ctime, r.title, r.keywords, r.votes, pic_rating, hits, caption, r.owner_id, user1, user2, user3, user4
                FROM cm_pictures AS r
                INNER JOIN cm_albums AS a ON a.aid = r.aid
                INNER JOIN cm_categories AS c2 ON c2.cid = category WHERE (c2.lft BETWEEN 14 AND 15)
                AND approved = 'YES'
                ORDER BY ctime DESC, pid DESC
                 LIMIT 0 ,8 [include/functions.inc.php:1630] (6.92 ms)
)

==========================
GET :
------------------
Array
(
    [cat] => 19
)

==========================
POST :
------------------
Array
(
)

==========================
COOKIE :
------------------
Array
(
    [cpg16x_data] => YToyOntzOjI6IklEIjtzOjMyOiI0ZWU3Y2FmZmNjNmIwNTA2N2I1MjQzZDE3MTMwMDdhMSI7czoyOiJhbSI7aToxO30=
    [a520716e4e1a802c3b699f97dd5ac36c] => 12013a72f4701a8f3a42f93d67d69a89
)

==========================

Event Horizon - Astronomical and Terrestrial Images