I’m back in San Diego after leaving mid-week when UCSD closed as a result of bad air quality from the wildfires. UCSD, La Jolla, and downtown were untouched by the fires, and only indirectly affected due to campus and road closures, and concern for those who were evacuating. Sadly, the community-supported agriculture program where I get my bi-weekly produce box, Be Wise Ranch, suffered severe damage. The home of the owners, Bill and Melinda Brammer, was completely burned down! They also lost their green house and office, but are looking to rebuild and will even begin produce deliveries again this week (October 29).
Apparently, this year’s fires were not nearly as devastating as the 2003 wildfires. Nearly twice as many homes and nearly twice as many (combined) acreage was destroyed in 2003 compared to this year. Nevertheless, the damage caused by this year’s fires includes 7 deaths and more than $400 million in firefighter costs; the city is expecting $1 Billion in disaster relief. (Can’t recall exactly where I first got these numbers.)
After UCSD decided to close last week, I flew to Mountain View a few days earlier than planned. I made good progress on my work, visited with folks at PARC to discuss upcoming research plans, and finally spent a wonderful weekend with Leif. Leif and I started by flying to Portland, OR, to visit with old friends (Wingo and Mormon). We were given a whirlwind tour of the city, had some enjoyable meals, and even had time to visit Powell’s bookstore, which was conveniently located a block away from our nouveau-industrial(ly) themed hotel, the Ace Hotel. By mid-day Saturday, we began our road trip back along I-5 in Oregon and 101 in California. The drive was so beautiful! Oregon is experiencing full-on fall weather, so the air was crisp, the leaves were turning, and the hills were lush and green. (Despite these differences, the landscape along I-5 in Oregon reminded us somewhat of the central valley in California.) Once we made it to Northern California, though, the Redwood forests dominated the landscape. There was some heavy fog (as expected) right along the coast, but the Elk Prairie Campground, where we camped (in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park), experienced mild, clear weather. Sunday morning we went for a hike among the Redwoods and saw a heard of wild Elk eating breakfast in the meadow. (We were within 10 feet of them–it was both scary and cool!). We stayed on 101 the rest of the way through California, hoping to make it to the Golden Gate bridge just before sunset. Unfortunately, traffic in Santa Rosa delayed us by 20 minutes of our goal, but we ended up having a delicious dinner at Cha-ya, a new vegetarian (vegan) Japanese restaurant in the Mission, followed by homemade ice cream from Bi-Rite. It was an excellent weekend. I’ll try to upload some photos soon…
Be well, friends.
