Long Beach, CA

Greetings again from the other side of our continent.  We enjoyed beautiful 85 degree weather while exploring today - this time the Port of Long Beach, CA.  What was once a sleepy sister to LA began to grow up with oil in the 1920's and the US Navy during WWII.  Our exploring today involved the balances needed between growing global industrialization and the need for safe haven for humans.  To do this we took a tour of the Port of Long Beach (next door to the Port of LA) via a harbor cruise then went through an ethnic neighborhood to see the impact of that heavy industry on the quality of life there.

 Cranes, cranes and more cranes...

 Just some of the many cranes within the Port of  Long Beach used to offload cargo from overseas.  The white cranes are part of the pier that offloads the largest boats in the world, mostly coming from Asia with goods for bound for us purchase.

Anchored within the port are some US Navy re-supply ships as well as two giant rocket launch and satellite control ships used for equatorial launches of commercial satellites.

Is this MaryAnn or Ginger, and where's Gilligan?

Investigating the erosional processes of waves

Checking air quality in a neighborhood next to the port facility, an oil refinery , a rail yard and a truck depot.
Airborne particulates numbered in the thousands.

Checking air quality in a neighborhood far from the port facility though in the heart of a commercial corridor.    
Airborne particulates numbered much less.

Following our tour of Long Beach, we went up to Pacific Heights which overlooks the Pacific Ocean.  The pieces of land jutting out into the ocean are called marine terraces and they're created from weathering forces of waves against the shoreline then the land rises due to tectonic activities.

Coast Starlight

Today was our first train ride! We boarded the Coast Starlight (train #11) at 7:30 a.m. in Sacramento and arrived in Los Angeles's Union Station at 11:06 p.m., 15 1/2 hours later. Along the way, we looked for relative locations of industry, energy types used, and apparent natural resources that are being used by humans in both urban and rural areas. We noted their latitude and longitude and wrote down their distinguishing characteristics.

Photo by Bob Morrill

As we were stopped waiting for a bridge to open so we could cross the San Francisco Bay, Frick and Frack had a chance to "hang out" with our students back at Lynnhaven Middle School in Virginia Beach. While it did not work out perfectly (we did not have wifi access on the train, so we had to use the phone, and the sound, both volume and quality, left much to be desired), we were able to answer a couple of questions and talk about the trip so far. Eli asked what we had learned and Mr. Prochilo told him about our visits to the pumping station and farm yesterday. And former student, Alli, surprised us with a guest appearance. The students then went on to their graduation party on their last day of middle school!

Photo by John Bois

Another highlight of the day was getting to wave hello to John Bois, our former computer specialist extraordinaire, who met us at the intersection of Highway 25, just south of Gilroy, garlic capital of the world. Angie Bode was also there to welcome us to her hometown of Gilroy, as they stood by the side of the track and waved. John and Angie were returning from a trip to Disneyland!

Photo by Ami Warner

Finally, on a more serious note, our train was involved in an accident, striking a pedestrian trying to cross the tracks in front of the train in Oxnard. Fortunately, the pedestrian was not killed and was taken to the hospital for treatment of her injuries. Incidents such as this should make us mindful of the great gift life is and we should appreciate it more than we often do.

Quo Vadimus

Post Script:  The problem with being the first one with the news is that you don't always get it right. The update on the woman "hit by the train" is that she wasn't actually hit by the train, but rather was knocked down by a gust of wind from the train and suffered only minor scrapes. The official report from the Ventura County Star:

A pedestrian suffered minor scrapes when the gust of wind from a passing train caused her to fall while walking near railroad tracks Friday night in Oxnard, officials said.

The incident was reported at 8:10 p.m. on Oxnard Boulevard about 700 feet north of Gonzales Road. 

The pedestrian suffered some minor scrapes in the fall, Oxnard police said.

I apologize for my grevious error. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Quo Vadimus

The Man in Black

Before we leave Sacramento on a train tomorrow morning, I have to pay tribute to one of my favorite singers, Johnny Cash. Folsom Prison is just up the road from Sacramento and there aren't too many train songs better than "Folsom Prison Blues." Enjoy.

Quo Vadimus

A wild and crazy ride!

We spent the day traveling all over the Central Valley of California. Frick and Frack rode in Sandra's van with Ami, Tina, and Calena. We were joined by Mike Wade and Brandon Souza of the California Farm Water Coalition (farmwater.org / #farmwater). The state is responsible for 2/3 of the fruits and nuts, 1/3 of the vegetables, and 1 out of every 5 gallons of milk produced in the United States. 

We toured the Jones Pumping Plant, where Jake Oxenrider explained how the massive pumps work to provide water for agricultural use to sustain this vital part of the California economy. The Sacramento Bee's headline story yesterday was "California's economy rises to 6th globally." Imagine, a state with an economy larger than all but 5 countries (one of those being the United States) in the world!

Cannon Michael of the Bowles Farming Company (http://www.bfarm.com/) took us out to his fields and showed us the canals (top photo) that provided part of the water for his diverse crops, like his tomatoes (bottom photo). More stories on Mr. Michael and his remarkable operations can be found at http://www.cultivatecalifornia.com/bowles-farming/ and http://pimacott.com/?p=169.

This evening, I got to enjoy a carrot, freshly plucked from the ground of Mr. Michael's farm. I haven't been on an actual farm since I was a child, when little Jemmy Madison showed me around his daddy's farm at Montpelier. Boy, how time flies.

Quo Vadimus

Water Day

Awesome day today - close to 12 hours in three vans covering over 400 miles of California's Central Valley.  Followed the Sacramento River down towards it's delta to view the Jones Pumping Station which lifts water from the delta almost 200 feet so as to supply water for agricultural, urban and wildlife water to parts of the Central Valley further South.

Coming from VA with our rivers flowing from the Appalachians (James, York, Rappahannock, Potomic) to ChesBay, I gained an entirely new appreciation for the waters that flow to the sea.  Here in CA, lives, business, the economy and families completely depend upon water.  And since CA has been in a drought for upwards of 6-8 years, serious concern goes into what/when/where & how each farm is going to produce.
Another trek further down the Central Valley, we stopped at one of the original farmsteads in CA.  Dating back to before CA was a state, our host from Bowles Farms explained how today's farmers are living and dieing because of "water rights" and who has/has not got the right to waters in the valley.  Completely new to me was the fact the State Water Boards dictate how much water a farm is allowed.  This then impacts what the farm can produce, and if not profitable, the farm folds.  Along with loss of food produced, family farms & migrant workers lose out and possibly leave agriculture altogether.

 

After a very eye-opening day, we jumped into the vans for a 3 hour tour of the Central Valley, all the while seeing farms growing the produce we eat in our cafeteria or buy at Kroger, Food Lion and Sam's/BJ's.  Lettuce, carrots, melons, pears, tomatoes, apricots and even almonds.  We headed North back towards Sacramento and our rooms in time to watch the Cavs pull out game 6 to force that game 7 finale.

California State Railroad Museum

Arriving in Sacramento around 11:00 a.m. gave us time to spend the afternoon exploring Old Sacramento. One of our stops was the California State Railroad Museum, where Frick, Frack, and our new friend, Ami, got a chance to view a variety of locomotives, with a heavy dose of the history of the first transcontinental railroad, which started here on its eastward journey to Promontory Point. On May 10, 1869, the Golden Spike was driven in tying our country together (at least, mechanically) from the east coast to the west coast. This evening, we ate dinner with the entire group at Fat City's, also in Old Sacramento. And we had our first meeting, discussing the logistics of the trip and the philosophy of the course. We begin tomorrow with a look at water use in the essential agricultural fields of the central valleys of California, as they struggle through their fifth year of drought.

Quo Vadimus

Leaving on a jet plane...

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again.

Our plane taking off from Norfolk, on it's way to Chicago! We will arrive in Sacramento about 9 hours after this photo was taken. Amazingly, it will then take 15 days to make our way back home.

Quo Vadimus