[Leica] Slip Sliding Away....

[Jim at hemenway.com (Jim Hemenway)]

Richard:

Re: your last photo... here's the Grapevine from a different angle:
<http://www.lonejuniper.com/>

The 24 hour set shows some of your snow.

Jim

Richard Man wrote:

> People usually don't associate SoCal with snow, especially when they see 
> SoCal'ers walking around in beachwear during the Rose Bowl or some such, 
> but that's because these people may not know that there is a 4000 ft 
> mountain range just an hour north of LA (probably has to do with the 
> micro-climate and smog in the area too).
> 
> We were going to drive back home from SoCal on Sunday evening. We 
> stopped off at a friend's place and notice that the storms were once 
> again raging. My wife, my daughters, our friends, and even our friends' 
> cat have the good sense to convince me that driving over the Tejon pass 
> at 11PM when the conditions said ICY/SNOW may not be the best decision I 
> would ever made as it might have been my last decision I ever made. So 
> we stayed and crashed (or not crash as the case may be) on the floor and 
> couch. Next morning, after some fine breakfast and 3 kinds of tea. We 
> were on our way! The sky was sunny, the traffic was light, but little 
> did I know that I would almost regret that last cup of tea. I knew there 
> is a Rest Area just about the top of the Tejon Pass, and that is only 
> another 15 mins drive...
> 
> All 4 lane traffic stopped! 2 patrol cars drove by, then an AMT, then an 
> ambulance. Uh Oh, I hope people are OK...
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1419.jpg
> 
> Traffic started to move a bit, first we passed by one half of those 
> Oversize prefab house sitting on the shoulder, it didn't take long to 
> find where the OTHER half is:
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1421.jpg
> 
> Another view, see the snow? Elevation is just under 4000 feet here
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1422.jpg
> 
> Fortunately no one seems to have gotten hurt from what we can see. The 
> ground is quite dry but you can see snow...
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1426.jpg
> 
> Pit stop! Whew! As I said, almost one cup of tea too many. My wife threw 
> couple snowballs at me, almost hitting a couple changing their baby in 
> the trunk of their car. Poor kid might get frostbite!
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1430.jpg
> 
> Once you get to the top of the Tejon Pass, it's a steep decline (4000 ft 
> to probably sea level to Grapevine) to the bottom. Here's a clear 
> demonstration of fog is just clouds low enough to touch.
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1429.jpg
> and more
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1432.jpg
> 
> Finally, we ran past the fog/clouds/snow! Ah, the green mountains (yes 
> this is what we pass for green here, to you Oregonians or other rain 
> forest dwellers) of California during the Winter months. The rest of the 
> year it's mostly brown and dry, semi-arid desert like.
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1433.jpg
> 
> 
> The Central ("we need to take water from everyone so we can feed YOU") 
> Valley and the I-5 Straight Away is in sight. Look at a map of CA 
> (maps.google.com). See that 250 miles of straight line down in the 
> middle? That's I-5. Two lanes of
> - DON'T FALL ASLEEP
> - Close that window and put on re-circ unless you want the "nature" smell
> - Wow, that's a lot of trucks
> - DON'T FALL ASLEEP
> 
> heaven.
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1434.jpg
> 
> Notice the sign on the left indicating a crashpad lane exit for "Runaway 
> Trucks." The stop seems a bit short to me, but I guess no truck has gone 
> over it yet.
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1435.jpg
> 
> Grapevine! Blue sky! Yay!
> 
> http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1437.jpg
> 
> 
> // richard (This email is for mailing lists. To reach me directly, 
> please use richard at imagecraft.com)
> 
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