Travels, Trip to California, 2009

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From Palo Alto, I headed down to LA on Rt 101 and then I5. This section of California (Central Valley) was surprisingly dry with lots of parched desert (dried grass and shrubs along with a fedw cactus) and farmed sections which were obviously watered. I then arrived in Lake Elsinore which is due East and a little South from Los Angeles. This is where my friend James lives. James and I were roommates at M.I.T. in 1975/76. He and his wife Szaron have lived there for about fifteen years and have quite a large lot. Below are some pictures from their backyard. They have loads of citrus trees and so I ate lots of grapefruit (Susan and Mike had a prolific orange tree which I appreciated when I visited there). They also try to be quite green, using less A/C via strategic shades and the composter (below).	=0=
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I arrived Saturday evening and Sunday morning we walked their dog, Moony, in the canyons around their house. They are quite beautiful, though the sort of dry grass and shrub desert I saw previously. James had been a chemist at M.I.T. and for several years after that, but later he found the work unsatisying and finally got his law degree. He is now working as a probate court examiner full time for the state while maintaining his practice on the side. He only realy has time to walk Moony on the weekends for now. They start the walks early (about 6:30AM) when it is cool. It can get pretty warm and dry during the day. Above, here and below are pictures from the canyon hike.	=0=
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Above are more pictures from the canyon hikes with a Lake Elsinore water tower. Here is a picture of the law offices where James rents space and runs his practice. On Sunday, James and Szaron (shown below) went in and worked a bit. Szaron is a middle school teacher and was grading papers on one of the computers while James wrote papers for his practice. I helped set up a computer they shuffling from home (and cleaned up some of the detritus that Windows computers tend to accumulate over time).	=0=
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