Chunk's road trip

1. Took a road trip, starting yesterday afternoon. Drove up 395, through the Owens Valley, scene of many family adventures during the 60s and 70s.

This first shot is of the north end of Owens Lake, which, I hear, is receiving water. The Owens Valley was the target of an infamous LA County water grab seventy or so years ago. (Remember Chinatown?)

Does anyone know if they filmed "Bad Day at Black Rock" here? Sure looks like it.

2. This one's from Lone Pine, I think. Mt. Whitney and the "sawtooth ridge," I believe, to the right.

I was up there with the family in 1971 or so. In a thunder storm. Hence the frizzy hair and electrifying manner.


3. Mono Lake, or what's left of it. The water level seems to be lower than ever. Still magnificent, though. Saw Huell Howser there once. He said "golly."


4. The sky at about 7 or 8 p.m. Not far from Mammoth Lakes.

5. This morning, visited the Reb in Squaw Valley. She and Red Emma were busy keeping the poetry thing on track and preparing for the writers. The poets looked dead serious. We had to whisper, and we were nowhere near 'em.

Saw a three-legged dog and a cute little blond girl. Evidently, the girl is the conference's official "cute little kid." She does a great job. She acted all shy.

Briefly met a Cal professor who, Reb informs me, was the country's Poet Laureate back in the 90s. He's been participating in the Squaw Valley conference for decades. Very generous fellow, I'm told. Seemed like a nice guy.

We ate at some fancy-pants restaurant not far from the conference center, which sits at the foot of what locals call "The Mountain." The mountain is an impressive Rock structure that juts upward with great violence and authority. It's like a bit o' Yosemite.

Our restaurant didn't cater to vegetarians, so we opted for the pizza, which had pine nuts and roasted mozzarella that somehow tasted like pepperoni. Seemed perfect for the setting.

There seem to be lots of conferences up there. One of 'em was for wrestling, I think. Another one was for libertines, I'm guessin'. Saw some naked people looking for water in the creek bed. They had to look close. Me too.

Took the tram to the top of the mountain. You can see Lake Tahoe from there. Flags from around the world flew at the very top (see pic), which is over 8,000 ft. Studied a family there who spoke a language that I could not identify. They were beautiful people.

They held the winter Olympics up there nearly fifty years ago. It was scandalous, I'm told, but nobody talks about it. Internationalism has been a theme in the valley ever since.

6/7. Left for the Bay Area at about 3. Ran into some serious traffic around Sacramento. Crossed over the river, which is big. Very cool.

At about 8 p.m., drove into the city, encountering fog. Went from hot to cold in about five minutes. Had to pay $4 to use the toll road (the 80) across the bay. Very impressive. The city looked great in that fog, all squished together and damp and full of life. Makes me wanna be gay.



Fanny's cat Tiger-Ann says "Hey."