A man and his dog

I keep my camera at the ready when I’m driving so if you ever hear of California passing a law prohibiting photography while driving, you’ll know who it’s directed at.

This old guy was driving an old historic vehicle down the street the other day. I made a U-turn to catch up with him and eventually was able to get a picture while at a red light.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
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The most accurate weather forecaster in history

I love going to museums because you never know what you’re going to find there.

In June 2012 I discovered the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum in Vista, which is where I found one of the greatest and longest-serving inventions ever:

Anyone know what that is?

My wise old grandmother had many of them in her gardens.

They always were 100% accurate!

That, ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls, cats & dogs, is a weather stone.

Here is how it works:

For more on the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum, see this post: The finest junkyard ever!

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Make a splash on the SEAL!

Sometimes, in order to see the best of San Diego, you have to leave the driving to someone else.

The first time I remember hearing about driving was when our family was driving home to Brigham City, Utah, from Salt Lake City one snowy, dark, winter night. Dad was tired and mom offered to drive. After pulling over and switching seats, mom proceeded to take us on down the highway. I don’t remember how long it was, but mom was driving when we skidded on some ice and spun around, coming to a stop at the edge of the road, which happened to be a cliff with a long drop-off to the canyon below. Fortunately, the guardrail, while damaged, did its job. Dad said something about how things go bad when you leave the driving to someone else. He might have said something about women drivers, but I’m not going there……………….

I’m here to tell you, though, that you should make a Splash on the SEAL and leave the driving to someone else.

SEAL tours are unique in that they start on land, either at Seaport Village or the Star of India, drive around to Shelter Island and then into the water. Going into the water is a unique experience itself; it just doesn’t seem right. They will motor around San Diego Bay for a while and take you out to see Mother and Father Nature’s seals and the submarine base before driving up and out of the ocean and back to your starting point.

The whole narrated trip takes about 90 minutes and costs only $36 for adults, $19 for children age 4-12, and free for children under age 4.

If you buy your tickets online, there is a discount.

Reservations are required but you cannot make reservations online. You’ll have to go to Seaport Village or the Star of India to make your reservations. The Star of India stop is seasonal — “seasonal” usually means during tourist season, about Memorial Day through Labor Day — so I’d recommend making Seaport Village your point of origination. Besides, if your ride is more than 30 minutes in the future, there is megastuff to do at Seaport Village and Marina Park.

A walk around Marina Park or through Seaport Village provides you with beautiful views of the Bay, the Coronado Bridge, Coronado, and downtown San Diego, as well as shopping and dining.

Some of what I saw when I made a Splash on the SEAL:

Most of the kites are demonstration kites from the coolest kite store ever, located at Seaport Village just steps away from the flying kites. Except when the kite store is closed, there are always kites flying to keep the children (and your inner child) entertained.

San Diego County has the free world’s largest concentration of military personnel, so it’s highly likely that you’ll see military helicopters, planes, and ships when you make a Splash on the SEAL. By the way, SEAL stands for “SE And Land” tour.

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)

I got that submarine picture with my 300 mm lens; the tours are only allowed to get within a certain distance of military vessels.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

The rest of Heritage Park in San Diego

If you want to see what you missed before you see the rest of Heritage Park, visit Temple Beth Israel in San Diego’s Heritage Park.

Following are some pictures of the rest of the historic buildings in Heritage Park and a little snippet of information about each building.

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The following is the doorway on the Senlis Cottage, a house built for Eugene Senlis in 1896. Senlis was an employee of Kate Sessions, San Diego’s pioneering horticulturist. The picture also is a self-portrait.

The Senlis Cottage did not have water, sewer, electricity, or gas, common amongst the working class people of the period.

The Sherman-Gilbert House, Stick-Eastlake architecture built in 1887:

John Sherman, cousin of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, hired architects Nelson Comstock and Carl Trotsche to build the house. Sisters Bess and Gertrude Gilbert bought the house in 1892 and proceeded to bring internationally famous entertainers to receptions in their home, including dancer Anna Pavlova and Arthur Rubinstein.

Bushyhead House, an example of Italianate architecture, built in 1887 for Edward Wilkerson Bushyhead, an early San Diego sheriff, chief of police and San Diego Union newspaper owner:

The Burton House, a Classic Revival style home built in 1893 for Henry Guild Burton, a retired Army physician:

The Christian House, Queen Anne architecture built in 1889 for Harfield Lakefield Christian, founder of an early San Diego abstract and title company:

The McConaughy House, Stick-Eastlake architecture built in 1887 for John McConaughy:

John McConaughy founded the first scheduled passenger and freight service in San Diego County. His four-horse passenger stages and six-horse freight wagons operated between San Diego and Julian, a gold-mining community at the time. Now Julian is more famous for its apple pies; I can highly recommend the peach apple crumb and the cherry apple crumb pies. Sadly, after buying Julian pies almost every weekend since 1999, I don’t have a single picture of one. I’ll have to remedy that this weekend!

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Just 12 more days to visit Butterfly Jungle at Safari Park!

Butterfly Jungle opened on March 16 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido, California.

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It’s only open through April 7, so if you intend to go, don’t want until the last day. There is timed entry to Butterfly Jungle. I got there the other day at 9:00 and the wait was already 30 minutes. By the time I left at noon, the wait was 2½ hours!

Here are some pictures from this year’s Butterfly Jungle:

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Time to go back to school?

I have a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from Texas A&M University (Class of 1977).

Although I have never worked in a field where I could put that degree to practical use, I still have a great appreciation and admiration for trees.

I used to think I understood trees, but after a recent trip to Ocean Beach, I’m not so sure:

I’m sure the seed for the hardwood tree was carried high up into that palm tree by a bird.

What I don’t understand is why the hardwood is growing.

I guess I should go back to school and update my degree.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

It’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen!

I went to the San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering yesterday at Petco Park.

Might as well use Petco Park for something worthwhile since the Padres don’t know how to use it!

I had to park four blocks away, not far from this mural:

I’m pretty sure it’s the biggest mural I’ve ever seen.

There are tall buildings here that have large murals on them, usually on the side of the parking garage, but they are rarely more than three stories tall whereas this one is 6½ stories tall!

It is on the southeast corner of Imperial Avenue and 16th Street:

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When I got home and pulled into the parking space, there were thirteen mourning doves at the feeders and making themselves all at home in my plants:

Inevitably when there are mourning doves at the front feeders, Zoey the Cool Cat is on the office desks stalking them.

Usually she can be seen from outside but I didn’t see her anywhere.

I knew something was wrong.

Then, as the last mourning dove flew away, up popped some ears and eyes from behind the computer monitor:

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Temple Beth Israel in San Diego’s Heritage Park

San Diego has a population of 1,322,553 (2012 estimate), making it the eighth largest city in the United States and the second largest in California. The area was the site of the first visit by Europeans, specifically Juan Cabrillo of Spain in 1542, on what now comprises the west coast of the United States. Presidio San Diego and Mission San Diego were founded in 1769, making it the birthplace of California. San Diego became part of Mexico in 1821 and, in 1850, part of the United States.

So where are all the old buildings? One would think that there might be a few buildings that are at least 200 years old. Not. Perhaps they were destroyed by earthquakes or washed out to sea in the winter rains.

The few really really old buildings that are left can be found in Heritage Park’s Victorian Village.

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Heritage Park comprises almost eight acres dedicated to the preservation of Victorian architecture in San Diego. Most of the buildings in the park were marked for demolition after World War II during a San Diego building boom. Fortunately, some people, including some government officials, with vision and a sense of history paid for the acquisition, relocation to Heritage Park, and restoration.  The buildings in the Park include Italianate, Stick-Eastlake, Queen Anne, and Classic Revival architecture styles.

One of the most beautiful buildings in the park (in my opinion, of course), is Temple Beth Israel.

It was built by Congregation Beth Israel and opened in 1889; first services were held on September 25, 1889. Reflecting church styles of the late 1800s, it was San Diego’s first synagogue and quite often served as the temporary home for other religious congregations before constructing churches of their own.

Temple Beth Israel is open to the public daily from 9:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. unless there is a private event since it is also available for bar mitzvahs, weddings, and public meetings.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
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If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Looks mighty uncomfortable

When Zoey the Cool Cat gets into some of her contorted positions to take a nap, I often wonder just how comfortable it can be.

Seems other creatures also like to get into awkward positions that look mighty uncomfortable:

That’s a young flamingo from last year’s brood.

The flamingos at the Zoo are busy building their nests for this year’s brood.

Here are a bunch of nests from last year:

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

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Model railroading at Walter Andersen’s Nursery in Poway

Both my dad and granddad worked for Missouri Pacific Railroad in Texas, and since most young boys love trains, I was a very lucky young boy. I still remember riding in the engine or in the caboose the five miles from Kingsville to Bishop, and back. Little boys don’t get those kind of train rides anymore!

I’m still lucky because I live in an area that has lots of trains — Amtrak, Coaster, Metrolink, Sprinter, and the fire-engine red San Diego Trolley.

If I get tired of watching the big boys cruise the County, I can always go to Walter Andersen’s Nursery in Poway and watch the smaller model trains.

What?

You go to a nursery to watch model trains?

Yes. Yes I do.

Walter Andersen’s Nursery in Poway has one of the best model train setups because they use real plants and the water actually flows — in streams, over waterfalls, and under bridges:

The model train layout covers 4,459 square feet. If that was a house in Poway, it would sell for about $1.1 million! Construction required 60 tons of rocks and 600 cubic yards of fill dirt. It uses 7,000 gallons of water and four pumping stations, 45 switches, and about 7,400 feet of wire. There are 15 bridges. For those of you into bridges, the bridges include a Suspension Bridge, King Post Truss, Queen Post Truss, Through Truss, Curved Through Truss, Curved Deck Girder, Chord Truss, Curved Chord Truss, Flat Top Truss, Curved Open Through Truss, and a Deck bridge.

If you want to see the best model railroad in San Diego, head on out to Walter Andersen’s Nursery at 12755 Danielson Court in Poway.

If you’re a guy, and it’s highly likely that this will be an outing for the men and boys, buy some flowers for your honey while you’re there! Roses work nicely to show how you much you missed her and were thinking about her.

If you’re a woman, stop inside, at the back of the building, and buy your man a garden railroad!

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Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!