Homeless Follow Up - It Looked Like A Raid

 I mentioned the homeless lined street in Venice last night near Gjusta's.  Today after running various errands, I did a loop to the beach on the way home and passed the street where all the homeless were.  And it looked like a raid.

In Anchorage, the police go through homeless camps along the bike trails and clear everything out.

And here were Hazmat and garbage trucks and people high-pressure- hosing down the sidewalk.

Didn't look good.

But along Rose Avenue all the belongings were piled up on the sidewalk there.  It went way on down the block.

So I pulled over between two parked cars and asked someone what was happening.

They're cleaning the street.  They do it every Friday.

Sometimes things aren't what they seem to be. 

[Feedburner problem, going to repost this to see if it gets through.  Sorry for those who've already seen this.]

Gjusta A Nice Dinner With Friends

Friends suggested we go to dinner at Gjusta's.   When they described its location, I realized I'd read about it and even biked by it once on my way back from the beach to my mom's.  The LA Magazine article had said:

"Located just around the corner from the Google's Venice headquarters, the view of Gjusta from the street is rather unremarkable, a white-washed warehouse with a set of accordion-style windows along its front. Step inside, however, and you'll find yourself in a massive kitchen space, illuminated by large skylights that wash the room in sunlight."

No, I hadn't saved it.  I just looked and found it again.  That piece was October 30, 2014 and it said the visited it on its second day open, so it's just under a year old.  But my image was that this was where well paid Google employees went for breakfast and lunch.  Translation:  Probably very expensive.  (In the end the bill was less than $20 each and we were all full.)

I remember the article had said there's no sign telling you it's there and so at the time I took down the address to find it.




Well, see that little white paper tacked onto the door?  It's as close to a sign as there is:

My first thought when we stepped inside was 'rustic.'  There's a huge counter with food from desserts to pastramis and lox to exotic salads and pizza.  And there's bread.

On the left is, obviously, pizza on the bottom.  On top nearest is a salad made of what they called sunchokes, but I know as Jerusalem artichokes.
We had some and it was very good.  There was also a potato and beet salad.


We were determined to go to the beach today after I went through my mom's mail.  I got through as much as I could stand - I'd like a law passed banning robot phone answering - and reluctantly drove.  I'd rather go by bike, but it was going to be dark on the way home and I'm still timid about street riding at night, especially with J.

So we got a couple of hours in at the beach.   I got to do a little body surfing, though the surf was small and choppy and came at different angles.  But even so the water felt wonderful. It's definitely warmer than it was when I was growing up here.  Once I dive under an incoming wave, I lose 50 years with the rush of the water all around me.  It's fabulous.  And when you catch a wave it's heaven.  If I had to pick a way to die, it would be in the surf.  I still remember body surfing on Bali in 1968 during a Peace Corps school break.  The surf was perfect and when we were resting on shore, my friend said he'd been worried about sharks.  My reaction was, that the surf was so good, it would have been a perfect way to go.  Then a coconut fell between us and I thought being killed by a coconut was not the perfect way.  Anyhoo, I thank my parents for moving to California when they did and ending up near the beach as a kid.



We ordered our food at the counter and got some table space in the back outdoor patio.  It was a perfect place to be with good friends and sit and talk. 


This is a peculiar and changing neighborhood.  The street that runs into restaurant has homeless tents and belongings along the sidewalk on both sides.  Remember, this is a block a way from the Google Venice headquarters.  There's also a huge Gold's Gym across the street.

I don't normally take pictures of homeless without permission and I don't like to ask so I rarely have pictures, but you can't identify this guy trying to sleep across the street from Gjusta's.

I did google after we got home to get a little more background and found that Bon Apetit magazine listed Gjusta, just this August, as number two in its list of America's Best New Restaurants.



In an odd twist I also learned that we ate at their sister restaurant nearby at a friend's suggestion last July. 

Sunsets Good Here, But Wish I Were In Anchorage With The Pres - Plus Notes From Harding's Visit In 1923

The Santa Monica pier as the sun sets.

I'm spending my days going through closets and drawers, calling government agencies and companies, and trying to get an evening beach bike ride.  Well, it's been so hot that around sunset is the only time it's reasonably comfortable to go ride.  And last night the sunset and the balmy cool air almost made up for not being home.



It was Sunday, so there were lots and lots of people on bikes, foot, skateboards, segways, and something I noticed for the first time today, a segway like vehicle that looks like a skateboard moving sideways, just feet, no handle.  (I just checked - it's an IO Hawk, you can see a German video of it at the link.)

Palms at Venice Beach

But I'm sorry I'm missing the big day when a US president comes to Alaska for a meeting on the Arctic.  I won't miss the street closures, but given his gift to Alaska  - renaming Mt. McKinley to Denali - and all the attention to climate change, this first visit to Alaska of a sitting President since 1923 is a pretty big deal.


Obama's trip compared to Harding's
 
But President Obama's trip to Alaska is going to be a whirlwind three day tour whereas Harding took a leisurely two week vacation in Alaska after a cross-country speaking tour to San Francisco.  From SitNews, July 23, 2003:

"So the Hardings set off on the rail trip to San Francisco, where they would board the U.S. Navy transport the S.S. Henderson. It was smooth sailing en route north, with card games for the men, jerky silent movies enjoyed by everyone, books to read and plenty to eat and drink, in spite of Prohibition.

The first port of call was Metlakatla where Florence [Harding] was startled by accomplished Native Alaskan musicians in their bare feet playing for the presidential couple! They visited the grave of the world famous Anglican missionary, Father William Duncan. (Future President) Herbert Hoover, Harding's Secretary of Commerce, was personally interested in the call at Metlakatla. Hoover's uncle, the man who had raised him after the death of both his parents, had been an Oregon Indian agent who later traveled to Metlakatla to study Father Duncan's unique methods with the Tsimshian people. The widower uncle, John Minthorn, had married a Metlakatla woman.

Mrs. Harding was also given a salmon in Metlakatla on July 8.  They also visited Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, and Skagway.  They got to Seward on July 13 and took the train to Anchorage.

"From Wasilla to Willow the President himself drove the train while the First Lady sat in the fireman's seat." 

The President drove in the golden spike to ceremonially complete the Alaska Railroad in Tenana and then to Fairbanks to open the agricultural school.  I'd add that the party spent the night in Talkeetna. 

They returned to Seward and this time stopped in Cordova and then a stop at Sitka on July 23.   And ate the shellfish that some say caused Harding's death barely a week later in San Francisco.

Photo of Harding in Valdez - from White House History

There was also a stop in Valdez according to White House History where the above picture was taken.


You might also find this link interesting:  LaVern Keys recalls President Harding's visit to the new college on July 16, 1923.

Mystery Solved - It Was Kardashians

Tuesday was our first night in LA.  We were already in bed.  A little after midnight.  Loud booms.  There were clouds, but thunder?  I didn't think so.  And it kept on and on.  Guns?  Bombs?  More like fireworks.  I looked out the window, but couldn't see anything.  Don't know of any holidays that call for fireworks in late August.  So, we forgot about it. 


But today's LA Times had a story that seems to explain it all. 

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe will present a motion Tuesday calling for an investigation into a loud midweek fireworks show, reportedly at a boat party thrown by Khloe Kardashian, that angered thousands of Westside residents.
The eight-minute show shined brightly in the sky above Marina del Rey and could be seen as far as Venice and heard in Redondo Beach.
For many residents, the midnight fireworks display early Wednesday was an unwelcome surprise that caused chaos in their households. Children were roused and dogs were left shaken.

Work, Then Play

Spent the morning on the phone doing things like negotiating with Verizon to put my mom's  tv on hold, but keeping the phone and internet.  Cell phone reception in here is terrible and I need the internet when we're here.  Also cancelled her supplemental insurance and arranged for reimbursement for the two months they've taken through their 'easy pay' system.  I don't like any system where someone else is taking money out of my account until I say stop.  Also stopped by the bank to give them some more paperwork.  Everyone was very polite and helpful, which makes it easier to go on and do the rest of these chores. 

We had lunch with friends and then started the second attack on my mom's room.  We made the first attack last July before we left, but there is still so much we hadn't seen yet.  Like this self-defense tear gas permit.  Never knew she had this.

Also found an old invitation to a baby shower for my wife.  And lots of purses and necklaces.  And pens.   Readers, recycling and reusing are both great, but if you haven't used it in the last five years, consider starting the process of giving away, selling, or tossing.  Rubber bands, I've learned, have a short shelf life.  Paper clips last much longer. 

I didn't mention it's hot in LA.  And it's humid.  Hot and humid didn't use to happen in LA.  And it's supposed to be warmer for the next two days.  I was feeling sticky most of the day and needed a break. 

We got to the beach just as the sun was going down. 


I went down and tested the water.  It's almost always chilly when you do that here in LA, but after you catch the first wave, it's fine.  This time it felt only refreshingly cool.  So I got rid of my shirt and watch and went to get unstickied.  It was fantastic.  The surf was not very big and just rolled gently down.  Easy to catch, and even though it was breaking close to sure, it was just deep enough not to scrape the sand.  Body surfing a few waves was heaven. 

I watched others enjoying the small, but catchable surf  as I dried off.

Then before it got much darker,  we walked back to La Fiesta Brava for a little Mexican food.

Now, let's see how my Achilles tendon reacts to the sand walking and sandals.  It's been fine for a couple of months now.  No problems walking, though I still know it's there, and I'm not running yet.  That may be a thing of the past. 

Tomorrow more garbage bags to give away and throw away, plus consolidating the things to keep this round in smaller piles. 

Traces Of A Life

People's lives tend to be put in brackets of birth date to death date.  Inside those brackets we list basic facts like parents, spouses, kids, employment, and other key achievements or events.  But a life is made up of much more than that and I've been going through the traces of those other things in my mom's life.

There's so much I could write about but there are things my mom wouldn't want on the blog, so I'll just do a couple of examples.

The deer and the squirrel sat on my mom's night stand when I was a little kid and probably longer.  I don't know when they got put away.  I'd forgotten all about them until I found them wrapped up in the back of a drawer.  They're small.  The squirrel could sit on a quarter.  But they were part of our life together, a connection we had over these little animals. 

Another little piece is this temporary pass that was in my step-father's belongings.  He was a good friend of both my parents (and my father continued to have good relations with my mom and step-father after they divorced).  I'm not sure what meaning this particular pass had.  But it's interesting as a connection to the man and to a bit of documentation of history. 

Below is the back of the pass.

Here's part of Thailand Peace Corps Group 19's picture when we got to Thailand and just before we headed off to our assignments in 1967.  My mom wasn't particularly excited to see me off to Asia then, but she never let on until we talked about it much later. 

This is a shot from near the water at Venice beach the other evening.  We finally were able to get some time together, just sitting on the beach enjoying the surf.  There were more dolphins out there.  My mom and I also had a beach bond much of which developed at Venice beach.  She was still using her boogie board in her 70s.  And there are a couple still in the garage. 

And here's a picture she had in her room of my brother Glen, who died in a work accident at age 23.  That had a huge impact on my mom, but she kept working and helping others. but went to the cemetery every week to give him new flowers.  It's actually a picture I took and developed, including burning in the picture of him surfing in the background.  That was before photoshop when you could doctor pictures in the darkroom. 

There's also wedding pictures of my mom an dad, her wedding ring, and thousands of other little things. 

LA In Disguise

LA is pretending to be a tropical city.  Grey cloud cover and humidity that's making the 76˚F feel like 90˚.  We got as much as we could out for garbage day, borrowing space in the neighbors' cans where we could.  But we haven't made a dent. 

But I needed to clear my head a bit so rode down to the beach before it either started raining again or got too hot. 

At my turn around point, I noticed black figures in the surf.  Just as I realized they were dolphins, not surfers, another guy stopped and speculated they might be orcas.  But if there were that many orcas (at least twenty scattered around) I think it would have been a much bigger deal.  And when he suggested the water was warmer than usual, I pointed out they like the waters of Alaska.  So, I'm saying dolphins, and this picture of Monterrey Bay dolphins supports my conclusion.

I was just going out for the exercise, so I had my pocket camera with me, not the good one that would have made those black dots individually distinguishable.  Clicking on the picture will help a bit.  You can see how grey a day it is. 




And there was also some excitement on Rose as a film crew was somehow doing its thing without really blocking traffic too much.  I promised myself I could remember the name I saw on some of the vehicles, but all I can remember is Down Under, which was the mnemonic that was going to help me remember.  It's two words, one of which is either Down or Under.  I'm guessing it was something with Under. 

A Break From The Political Stuff

Yesterday I posted some pics of the surf from Venice Pier.  The surf was up and they're worth a look of you didn't get to see that post because of all the election coverage. 

Just before I got to pier, I stopped at the skateboard plaza on Venice Beach and got these pictures.  The better camera (than my pocket Powershot) really does make a difference. 

No Matter How Much Damage Humans Do, This Much Won't Change

Big waves this week.  From Venice pier this afternoon.

More Venice Pier posts:  Here's Pier Review and  Pier Review 2 with some big waves.   And more waves from Venice Pier with my better camera.  And finally Rafael catching a great white shark from the end of Venice Pier.

Catching The Power Of Art In Action In Venice And Selfie Wall

I passed to people painting the power box for the traffic signal at Lincoln and Rose, so I rode back to ask about what they were doing.

 

Blair Abney is in the green hat and Ian Soto is working on the other side.  They told me it's part of a program to let artists paint various traffic signals. And he went through his paper work and showed me this letter.  It didn't have the name of the group, but it did show permission to paint the boxes at various intersections, including Lincoln and Rose.  Blair can be found as Peachie Paws on Deviant Art and Ian as Mongoose Jack. ([Blair sent me the link.]  I'm leaving the link off until I'm sure because there are different Mongoose names at Deviant Art, and nothing exactly Mongoose Jack.)

The wording does seem a bit odd - the head of the Department of Transportation "approves [a] request" from a city council member, as though the city council didn't have the ultimate power over the city's department of transportation.  Rather than 'approving' it seems he should be "happy to carrying out the council member's request", or, if necessary, pointing out the regulation that is in the way.  I know nothing about Selwyn Hollins*, but it seems a pompous way to respond. 

I did google traffic signal box painting and got to The Power Of Art's website.  I also found their business plan which included their mission statement:

"The Power of Art’s mission is to enable artists, organizations, and everyday people to paint murals on traffic signal boxes and in crosswalks on more than 4,000 street corners in Los Angeles. The vision of Power of Art is to unite and inspire Los Angeles’s artists, organizations, and everyday people by giving them the opportunity to leave their creative mark on history through artistically transforming their communities. "

The art on the box above isn't quite my style - a little to Disneyish.  I like this sort of stuff to be a little edgier, but a lot of people like this as well.  And it's better than a plain box. 

A mile later, when I got to the beach, I passed this selfie wall which gives people a place to take selfies with a bit of a smirk.

According to @The MostFamousArtist at #selfiewall, this was completed March 12.  



*When I write something like "I know nothing about . . ." I, of course, then have to see what I can find.  Here's a very brief bio.

Coney Island, Venice Beach, Santa Monica Airport, And LA Rain

We flew down to LA right after the film festival ended and slept most of Monday. But I did get in a bike ride down to Venice beach. There was some sun, but mostly clouds.


There were some, but not too many, boardwalk vendors.  I'd been thinking about the Venice Boardwalk after seeing the film Coney Island:  Dreams for Sale at the festival.  It was about a developer who bought up a huge chunk of Coney Island real estate and was planning to build some big hotels and a mall.  Local folks rose up in protest, but were only modestly successful in their efforts to scale the development back.  The area wasn't zoned for large scale residential, but people in the film speculated that a hotel could and would be converted to condos eventually and the development would destroy the quirky kinds of shops and the unique community at Coney Island.

Venice Beach has, at least superficially, the same kind of quirky shops and community, and it's also right at a beach.  It doesn't have an amusement park, but there is a small one on the Santa Monica pier about a mile north.

The movie, which, by the way, was the runner up in the documentary category, got me thinking about whether the Venice Boardwalk was a likely target for developers like Coney Island and what protection there was for this strip along the beach.  I guess the people in the area need to be alert for people buying up property - making sure they aren't fronts for some giant developer.  This is one part of the southern California beach that is still wide open to anyone.

It also got me to thinking about what happened in the November election in Santa Monica where there were two ballot initiatives.  One, from the jet owners and airport interests to require a vote of the people of Santa Monica before the airport could be curtailed or closed down.  The other, in response, was to require a vote only if there were plans to develop the airport, but not to put in park or recreational activities.

It turns out the private jet and airplane folks' initiative (D) lost (58.8% to 42.8% and the park initiative (LC) won (60.2% to 39.8%.)  There were only 24,053 people who voted for Measure D and 500 more who voted for LC.  I'm not sure how many registered voters Santa Monica has, but in 2005 there were 60,000.








Over night it rained somewhat.  California still needs lots more rain to make up for the long period of drought and more is scheduled tonight.  Here's one of my mom's epidendrums after the rain - the red flower, not the leaf.  This is two pictures photoshopped together, with some playing around with the leaf.  But not too radically.

The epidendrums are tiny (about the size of a quarter) orchids that bloom in a bunch of ten or fifteen.

Back On Bike, Feels Good

After wearing the boot for a month, I can finally get back on my bike and get some exercise.  I'm starting gently.  The tendon feels ok, but there have been lingering new problems with other parts of the heel.  I'm guessing from the boot.  Had to work a little harder and breathe harder, but better than I expected after a month.  Fortunately, it's easier here in LA where we're visiting my mom, who's doing well.











Sun was just starting to set when I got to the end of Rose Ave where it hits Venice beach.  Sorry I couldn't stay longer.  Catalina was clear across the water.   Turned around and went home.  Didn't want to push things.

"a tiny, but vocal segment' and LA Bike Lanes

A July 17, 2014 (yes, I'm trying to catch up on a backload of unfinished posts)  Los Angeles Times article, chronicled the problems of carrying out the LA bicycle plan. 

Last week, City Councilman Gil Cedillo announced he is halting work indefinitely on northbound and southbound bike lanes planned for a three-mile stretch of North Figueroa Street, despite an aggressive two-year campaign by cycling advocates.
Cedillo said he feared the loss of a single southbound car lane would slow emergency response times of police officers and firefighters on Figueroa, which runs roughly parallel to the 110 Freeway. He dismissed cyclists as a tiny but vocal segment of the population.  [emphasis added]

It's always a 'tiny but vocal segment' that gets things done.  These are the folks who care enough to work hard and get things done through the political process.  It's often these 'tiny, but vocal segment' folks versus the tiny, but rich segment who have the money to influence politicians.  And it's only a "tiny but vocal segment' when they oppose you.  When they are on your side it's "democracy in action.' 







Here's the 'bike lane' I ride on part of my route to Venice Beach when I'm at my mom's.  It doesn't even have a line to separate the bikes from the cars.   If it did, there wouldn't be enough room for the cars.  It's a dance between drivers and riders.  It's only about 3/4 of a mile stretch like this with lots of stop signs so the cars are going slowly. It's the most direct route.  But I have to be constantly watching for car doors that could open in front of me and I pray that the drivers aren't going to clip me.


Here's what it looks like from the bike. 

The article sums up the opposing sides:  

Bicycle advocates have long argued that the addition of dedicated lanes can achieve multiple goals: spurring more people to take up cycling — and reducing the number of cars on the road — while calming traffic in a way that cuts down on accidents and keeps drivers within the speed limit.
Opponents argue that too few bicyclists are on the road to justify the loss of so many car lanes and the suffering that comes with lengthier commutes.

I'd say this was a pretty narrow view of things.  The real problem is that transportation infrastructure in LA (and elsewhere) was created for the automobile.  Trolly tracks in LA were pulled out in the 50's to make more room for cars.

Bikes need to have their own, car-free, paths.  Not simply for recreation, but for transportation.  They do in the Netherlands, and to some extent in Anchorage and Portland and other places.  And along the beach at Venice and Santa Monica.

Below is the dedicated bike lane along Santa Monica beach.  No motorized vehicles.  (Well, that's not completely accurate - people ride rented Segways there too.)  There's a separate path for pedestrians, though there are parts of the path where there are both pedestrians and bikes.  This path is full of bikers of all ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds.  People like to bike.  And they will when it's safe.

If there were lanes like this that all over LA (or fill in whatever city) that riders could use to commute, there'd eventually be a lot fewer cars on the road, a lot less space used up for parking, a lot less carbon fuel used, and a lot of people who'd get good exercise on a daily basis.  

Making bike lanes on streets built for and still dominated by cars will always be a poor way to go.  It's a makeshift adjustment that leaves cyclists in mortal danger and pisses off drivers.  In already existing cities, my guess is that eventually some streets will become bike only routes, with a lane restricted to cars that live or deliver on that block.

Without exclusive bike routes, cycling can only grow so much.  Biking in traffic is for those who still believe in their own immortality or are knowingly risking their lives to be pioneers for future generations of non-motorized transportation options.

Not everyone can ride a bike to work.  Not everyone can ride a work every day.  But a lot more people can than do.  Some of the barriers are mental - it's not part of their mental habits to think about biking to work.  But most barriers are bad infrastructure - like sketchy bike lines that suddenly disappear and don't deal with the need for cars to make right turns and don't really separate cars from bikes.  

Tents, Trailers, and Vans

Making movies (and other entertainment) is big in LA.  Here's what I saw riding to, along, and from the beach Wednesday and Thursday. 

The Cirque du Soleil tents are up just north of the Santa Monica pier right along the bike trail.  And yes, I did some photoshopping because the grey sky was just too boring.  And the whole picture was a bit faded.  

Here is the tent for the ISFA (Independent Spirit Film Awards) which will happen Saturday, March 1.  This tent is on the bike trail about a quarter mile south of the Santa Monica pier.  And you can see on this picture why I played with the sky in the first picture. 

And at Rose Avenue hosted these trailers  for a commercial they were filming on the sand.  Those are bags of ice melting in the lower right. 

And less than a mile up Rose inland (this picture was taken the next day) there was another film crew at Superba restaurant. 

 

And this less commodified form of art was parked on Rose too.

Gonna Be Hard Going Home - The Beach, Then Spanish Lessons [UPDATE: Fire and Film]

LA weather isn't helping me prepare to go back to Anchorage.  The picture is from yesterday afternoon at Venice Beach.  The temperature was back in the low 80s again.  The air was clear.  And on Monday, the beach wasn't too crowded.  The surf was much lower than it was Saturday when I biked with B. 

It was a good chance for J and me to relax a bit and catch up after her quick trip to Seattle to see our daughter and Z and the others.

On the way home we stopped at La Fiesta Brava to pick up some Mexican food for

Spanish Teacher and Chef

dinner.  The chef wouldn't let me speak English.  And forced me to dredge up my 50 year old junior high school Spanish.  I could tell him that "Mi Español es muy malo" and I could understand most of what he said, but the one saving grace of Thai and Chinese is that you don't conjugate the verbs.  I couldn't remember how to do past tense or future at all.  Another employee there said that the customers who come every day have learned to speak enough Spanish to do all their ordering and chit chat in Spanish.  I believe it.  As bad as I was, I still am surprised at what still lives in my brain.

As I juggled the bags of take out on the bike ride home, more words began to emerge - things I could have said.

Here's the card - for good food with free Spanish lessons.  



I'm hoping we can find a little more time at the beach this afternoon, though  so far I'm inside prepping for class on Friday in Anchorage - my first for credit UAA class since I retired.  I'm looking forward to it.  It's the capstone class, so it only meets six or seven times over the semester, but there is lots of consultation with the students.  In the past I've always known the students, but not this time.  There will be other faculty helping.  We also have some errands to run before we leave tomorrow.  But it's too nice a day not to hit the beach once more, even if just for an hour. 


UPDATE Tuesday 5:30pm (PT)  - After doing our errands, we biked back to the beach about 4pm today in time to see smoke billowing up somewhere north of the Santa Monica pier.  Two planes were bombing it with water then turning around and going out to sea to get more water.  We never saw them getting the sea water - they disappeared at a certain point - but from maybe two miles away we could see the water being dumped.

The fire was to the right of the photo from yesterday.  The plane disappeared from our sight against the mountains where they start to go down to the lest.

Right near us on the beach was a film crew.  A guy was standing in trunks with a gal in front of him.  She'd put out her arms and move like she was falling.  I couldn't figure it out as they did it a couple of times.  But then the last time someone threw a bucket of water on the woman as she was 'falling.'  That's when I saw they were standing on a surf board on the sand.  I'm assuming they were getting them and the sand in the background.

I forgot my camera at home so my fire shot - below - is from Santa Monica Patch which seems to have gotten it from KCAL - 9.  The report says it was just a brush fire, but if they hadn't been bombing it every three or four minutes, it would have been more.  From our vantage point much further away, there was lots of brown smoke that was blowing out to the ocean.  The temps were in the 80s today and the humidity down below 10 percent - with red flag fire warning for all around the LA area. 


Tomorrow we visit an old friend in Portland for a few hours before continuing on back home.