A Toast to Well Done and Spectacular

   
     These recent photos are evidence of what we've been waiting for.
   Frequent readers of this space will recall my devout love for Big Sur. It is the part of California that hooked us and tickled our imagination for years. Eventually time and life conspired and led us to make a retirement move from Indianapolis to a place where we knew no one. We knew we loved the California central coast.

    Until 18 months ago we came and went freely on the spectacular Pacific Coast Highway to the legendary Big Sur.
     Highway 1 is our primary road, but about 25 minutes north the road was closed by the largest landslide in California history.
     The frame below was shot on May 22, 2017 by John Madonna.

Photo by John Madonna for Cal Trans

  That is some 6 million cubic yards of slide material. As you can see it buried Highway 1 under 40 foot of debris and created a new peninsula on the rugged coast line.

   It took heroic effort by Cal Trans engineers and workers and the John Madonna construction company to re open the iconic highway. It was a $54 million project. An average of 20 workers began each morning at 5AM and many of them worked 100 days before taking a day off. It was hard and dangerous work and the land continued to slide.

   In the before and after composite published by the San Luis Obispo Tribune you can see the historic change.

May 2017

July 2018

JuxtaposeJS

Photo Credits: Before John Madonna After CalTrans

     While those of us who lived 30 to 40 minutes south were denied access to our beloved Big Sur and were forced to take the 101 to Carmel or Monterey, those who lived there were devastated. 

     Work, school, commerce, and the commutes were shattered. To go anywhere required hours long journeys via arduous and dangerous mountain roads.

    But traffic flows again.

   The two frames immediately above show the Mud Creek area and the new stretch of road just opened.  For a sensational short drone video link here to see Joe Johnson's masterful work.

   I've been fortunate to drive many of the world's spectacular mountain, wilderness and coastal roads. Highway 1 from our Cambria home to Big Sur excites and gives me joy as much as any. As my friend Jim, who introduced Big Sur to us all those years ago says "It never disappoints!"

   Being back in the magic area was a good cause for a lunch and toast to our love of Big Sur and a "well done" to John Madonna Construction and Cal Trans workers.

         See you down the trail. And I hope that means that sometime in your life you'll drive Highway 1 through Big Sur.

    

NOT OUT OF THE BLUE

     While many Californians remain cut off and isolated in Big Sur, CalTrans continues work on slides, drop offs and building a new bridge. 

      These are challenging times for those who live and work in the Big Sur region. Others are also suffering a withdrawal from visiting one of the planet's beauty spots. We feature a few more frames from our Big Sur file to salve our unease especially as we begin to measure a more menacing cut off-in this case from normalcy and that dateline is Washington.

after watching the blue

      The coast was not perfectly clear but less occluded than the scene from Congress.  A point of reference here-I am  fortunate that I drive the Pacific coast.

         The sun and the big blue contribute to saturated light,  long views and a framework for clarity. It is a perfect place to let the mind ponder the madness wrought by the heathen fool who rambles in the White House eating ice-cream and watching Fox News while fouling American democracy.

the "lech" enabler

         A couple of thoughts about his enablers....

His friend and a man who must share some of the blame is dead. People will speak nicely of Roger Ailes. But his legacy deserves not a shred of respect. Ailes, who was a Trump confidant and advisor was, like the president, a sexual predator. He was forced out of his castle because his sexual harassment and tawdry behavior caught up with him. We can hope the same will be true for the dirty old man who desecrates the presidency.

       But Ailes did something else evil. He almost singlehandedly created news by flavor-political flavor. Back when he worked for that other paragon of honesty, Dick Nixon, Ailes began to dream of a network where the news was spun by party line, propaganda! When he labeled Fox News-fair and balanced-he shoved journalism into a direction that is diseased. 

        Ailes was not a journalist, he was a con man, a true propagandist. He made a fortune. He had power but in the end it all crumbled. We are sorry for his family, but his true demise occurred when the Murdoch's tossed his lecherous and deceitful presence out of Fox. 

the other enablers?

      There's a little story with a huge significance. In 2016 California Congressman Kevin McCarthy, now House Majority Leader said he thought Donald Trump was on the take, being paid off by Vladimir Putin. The tape reveals that House Speaker Paul Ryan, immediately cut off the comments and told assembled Republicans those comments were "family matters" and were never to be reported. They hadn't been, until the tape surfaced. 

      Maybe McCarthy was only joking, but in the context of everything else we've learned, how do you know? What is most troubling is Ryan's order to shut up. It is symbolic of his spinelessness in dealing with the trump madness. 

      There are many Republicans who I have known personally and professionally. They are or have been office holders, high government officials, advisers and strategists at the federal, state and local level. Many of them are troubled not only by the despicable and ruinous behavior of the president, but by the lack of courage of the men and women in the House or Senate who could begin to rein in the man child who now even the most ardent of conservative and republican analysts and writers have begun to savage.

      Some of their own party and certainly many Democrats have said the spineless will pay. This is a full season of investigation now and the facts will come out.

remembering a more vibrant time

    See you down the trail.

      

DO YOU JUST STORM THE OFFICE? & AFTERNOON MELLOW

HOW ABOUT AN OLD FASHIONED PUNCH IN THE NOSE?

    For those of you who riddle life's frustrations with the  old chestnut "WWJD-what would Jesus do?" or who seek a Taoist path of "going with the flow," my questions are out of your comfort zone.  

      But growing up on the south-side of Muncie Indiana taught a direct course of action gets results. My ire is simply one of a chorus who legitimately ask are there any thinking people who manage or supervise in CalTrans? (For readers outside California, CalTrans is the agency responsible for highway planning, construction and maintenance)

      Since last year a 25 mile stretch of iconic Highway 1 north of Cambria to the Monterey County line has been the object of puzzlement, frustration, controversy and anger. It's been the cause of broken bones and windshields. We can attest to the windshield issue. Bicyclists have been injured.

      Caltrans resurfaced the road and they blew it. Man, did they ever?!

      Apparently because it was cheaper, they used a larger than normal crushed rock in what they call a chip and seal repaving.  The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports the rock they used was twice the size of normal.  

       Twice the size?!  Hello CalTrans?  Anybody with a measurable brain wave in there? Did the Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins personally look at, approve or maybe even think about the implication of that?  Did anyone called a supervisor ever take their brain to work during the long repaving project?

       You probably know the Pacific Coast Highway is one of the most visited, scenic and bicycled roads in the world. Since the idiot job was first done, bicycle riders, clubs, organizations, federations and race planners have all tried to reason with Caltrans over how they have practically ruined a highway.  Caltrans, to whom we give hundreds of millions of tax dollars so they can maintain our highway has put on one of the best shuck and jive, obfuscate, divert attention bureaucratic bull shit Stepin Fetchit fests in history.  Sorry, I apologize to Stepin Fetchit (Lincoln Perry)  and his fans. Though controversial his laziest man in the world character made him a millionaire. Unlike Caltrans, Perry had talent. Caltrans is foot dragging because they are real fools.

       What are they doing about it?  Studies, they say they will do.  Analysis and comparisons, they say they will do.

      How about dragging your public dollar paid fannies out to the road where you can walk it, drive and bicycle it?  I suspect the rough ride might even jigger on a synapse or two in your apparently dimwitted and certainly intelligence starved cranial cavity, which I hesitate calling a brain, because so far there has been no evidence of such higher  function.  Other than to collect your salaries that we paid while you have tried to ruin a highway and evinced nothing but arrogance since, that is.

     Well, the battle is being stepped up.  A Chamber of Commerce, hotel and motel owners, travelers and visitors bureaus, antique car owners and their associations, even organizers of the public service Best Buddies bike ride are chiming in.  Business owners say they are in jeopardy of loosing seasonal income.

     County government representatives and state assembly men are getting involved.  As one county supervisor who has been on this for months told the Tribune, Caltrans response has been "frustrating?"  Frustrating?  How about like something from cold war era Russian government.

     So, back to riddling questions. How to get through to these dunderheads?  Reason seems to be a skill set they are not capable of.  Back on South Ebright Street, back in the cinder alley, we found that a few rounds of bare knuckle logic could work wonders as a motivational device and behavior modification.

      But, let me take a few deep breaths, look at the rolling green mountains and cobalt blue sky and trust that enough citizens, groups and local government officials can, figuratively, draw a little blood from Caltrans and get them to repair their mess.

AFTERNOON MELLOW

    See you down the trail.

SOME BRIDGE TO SOMEWHERE & THANKS FOR THE AWARD

MORE ENGINEERING MARVEL

     For a couple of years now Cal Trans has been building 
a new span along the majestic Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur.  Building the bridge while also tending to the routine rock slides and washouts.  
     If you desire confirmation of our ability to engineer and design, drive the famous Highway 1 from Cambria to Carmel.  It is evidence of intellectual capability that provides a 
route to put us right in the middle of and exposed to some 
of this planet's greatest beauty and awe inspiring scenery.
     The new bridge, scheduled for completion next year,will up the ante.
     Thanks to my daughter Kristin who grabbed these frames
as we drove through the work zone.

   As you can see this new span will elevate the road grade providing an even more spectacular perspective.

 The work of generations of engineers and builders are 
appreciated by those of us who enjoy scores of views that
are breathtaking. Highway 1 is a national treasure.

  Driving Highway 1 should be on everyone's bucket list.

I'm flattered and honored.

    While traveling I was alerted to being given an ILLUMINATING BLOGGER AWARD by CJ at Food Stories Blog

     CJ is a nurse with a personal interest in food and nutrition which you can learn more about on her blog. 
     She is the originator of the  Illuminating Blogger Award that you can also read more about at the second link.
     CJ asked that I share information about myself.  I am a 
devoted foodie.  I love food prep, dining, discovering great chefs and sharing an evening of food with friends.  
     If I could change one thing about the near perfect American Provence (the Central Coast) it would be to add the savor and aroma of those great little bistros and restaurants that dot the south of France in wine country and in the small mountain villages and towns.  We have marvelous dining in Cambria, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, but those charming little local places are missing in our rolling mountain wine country.
      Thanks CJ.  
     I share this ILLUMINATING BLOGGER AWARD by nominating
these blogs


http://oddballobservations.blogspot.com/

Bruce Taylor aka The Catalyst-loves food, cats, music and has a unique view and sense of humor. He's made me laugh for decades. He is also a certified political and blues junkie.

http://thechubbychatterbox.blogspot.com/

The Chubby Chatterbox is an extraordinary writer and artist.

He is superbly entertaining and his blog is a bright spot in the blogosphere.

http://vinylstats.blogspot.com/

Frank is another superb writer and astute musicologist.  I've 

been taking his lead on music for decades.

http://skfigler.com/

Steve is one of the renaissance men of the Central Coast.

A talented writer with a great concern for words and how people use them creatively and politically.

http://lightbymorning.blogspot.com/

Mollie writes with sensitivity, personal reflection and an exploring spirituality.  The twin daughter of a life long friend, Mollie represents the best of her generation's personal blogging. 

COMING TOMORROW

   A long way to go and an odd location for Foie Gras-now endangered in California.

    See you down the trail.