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[chrisfranks]

Texas Vacation October 2016

and Day1 Route 75 Omaha to Topeka South of Nebraska City there's not a lot other than Auburn.  Some interesting terrain and a lonely windmill with the vanes breaking down & sagging picturesquely.  Kansas was flatter.  What gas stations there were would sneak up on you because they didn't have tall signs. Finally found a decent town at Holton. South of there it was 4 lane divided highway with a speed limit of 70 mph but with at grade intersections.

Kansas turnpike from Topeka to the border cost $10.  Service areas do have some picnic tables.  Wichita is completely bypassed.  There is this strange overlook apparently over some old cow pens.

OK City traffic still stinks.  

Stopped at Ardmore 12 Ave exit (31?).  Plenty to eat there.  We ate at Santa Fe Cattle Co which had a good chicken fried steak.

Day 2 Went by Jack and Lila’s graves at Oak Grove Cemetary in Whitesboro.  Then went on to TWU.  The store was closed but the hall where our reception was and the chapel were open.  Ate at Whataburger in Denton.  Then went to Ridgmar Mall.  Couldn't remember it looking like that but maybe it did.  It didn't have the ice cream bar stand where they dipped bare bars in chocolate and peanuts.  Sent Leisa into a Dallas Cowboys store.  Drove through the neighborhood where my apartment was which is much built up.  The apartments seemed fancier & there was a gate on the parking lot.  Didn't get far enough away east on 30 to see more than the steepl in the church.  Drove down Lackland road to Camp Bowie and went up and down that.  Saw Galligaskins which was further from the road than I remembered.  Went around the Benbrook traffic circle and down SW Ave to Hulen Mall.  Couldn't find Leisa's apartments.  Perhaps you can never go back if you don't stay in touch.  Met Leisa’s childhood friend Alice & her husband Don for dinner.  This was at the Cotton Patch Cafe which was good.

Day 3 Went to the Waco Mammoth Site.  Two guys my age or so had wandered off and found a mammoth’s femur washing out.  Baylor came in and excavated a nursery herd of Columbian Mammoth probably caught in a flood or mudslide.  This apparently happened multiple times at this site as newer excavations in enclosed building are finding.  The mammoths ran with dumb camels that had good eyesight and warned them of threats and in turn the mammoths led the camels to food.  Climate at the time was temperate but drier.

Rangers led some tours and had a school group.  The ranger told the kids about snakes and chiggers to keep them on trail.  I asked if Texas kids had to be told about chiggers and she said they were city kids and the idea of snakes kept them on the path.  

Our group was me, Leisa, and a guy who'd married a women from Waco but moved away.  He couldn't get his wife to visit the mammoth site.  Our tour was led by a young lady who studied classical Greece in school but had a boyfriend from Texas.  She said there were coral snakes in the live oak.

There were lots of butterflies including Gulf Fritillary, giant sulfur, & a little white one I didn't identify.

We ate sandwiches in the parking lot of Dr Pepper museum.  The museum was as expected but we got in free because it was 10/24 (like 10 2 and 4) and I could remember a little of one of their jingles.  Originally they called Dr Pepper a Waco.  Part of the reason for it being there was the artesian wells.  One was in the building but they covered it with concrete for several decades before excavating it again.  The museum also covered 7-Up.  The guy who created that was from Missouri and worked with Vess in St Louis.  Apparently they used to put Lithium in 7-Up.

There are far, far too many people living in the I-35 corridor.  Stopped at Buc-ee's to see what that was about.  It was a travel store like a Wal-Mart with 50 gas pumps in front and everything you could want to eat or wear inside.  There was also an outdoors section and jewelry.  We found some opal earrings for Mom’s birthday.

Day 4

So the iconic facade of the Alamo and the whole second story was added by the US Army after the civil war.  That front of the Church faced into the walled area they were defending.  There were about 6 acres more or less enclosed by the wall which is now Alamo Plaza.  The cenotaph is more or less in the center of that.  Most of what's walled in now wasn't part if the compound.  At the time the church didn't have a roof.  So the only original is the lower wall of the church and the long barracks.  Said barracks was original but had been in private hands.  A second story was added during that time which was removed after it was brought under preservation.

Leisa insisted on buying city site seer bus tickets.  We rode it past the Pearl brewery area and the driver was informative and entertaining but it didn't go to the missions and we never got back on.  We bailed at the far end of the River walk, are lunch.  Then we took the boat ride.  I think the bend of the River is natural but they built a flood channel that cuts it off.  They have big doors to close off the loop.  Also at least one channel was added so that Riverview Mall is on the river.  Noted a Ghirardelli's as we went by the mall.  Noted a wedding island, a St Anthony statue, a facade of a many story building, a theater with Day of the Dead figures, and lots of water features.  Our driver bumped two of the other boats.  Next went to Ghirardelli & had my Midnight Reverie.  They gave it to me in plastic instead of glass which was disappointing.

Next went to Buckhorn Saloon.  Buffalo Bill asked if we'd been to his ranch in North Platte.  Tons of stuffed animals, a fun house, and a Texas Rangers museum but I didn't think that much of it.  Then Battle for Texas was museum 'experience'  telling story of the Alamo.  Lots of artifacts including Santa Ana's uniform they took st San Jacinto.  Had a guy dressed as a Mexican private who would surprise people.

Day 5 Had to go back to the Alamo to buy a charm.  Then drove to the missions visitor center.  Picked up the 5 tokens they're supposed to have plus found a State of Oregon one mixed in.  Took the tour with way skinny female ranger.  Indians here had little commerce except maybe with the coast.  Began to decline when Spanish pushed Lipan Apache with horses east out of New Mexico and smallpox up from Mexico.  The missions offered them some food and protection but still they dwindled.  Mission San Jose was restored by WPA semi accurately.  Like all of them, 6 or so acres were enclosed with rooms in the walls and bastions in the corners.  Every few apartments had an oven outside.  Apparently they did have both wheat and corn and got to eat the former because they had nowhere to sell it.  A motivation for the missions was to make the Indians good Spanish subjects then have them build a home/farm outside.  The church had a big window called Rosa's window where the priests would teach the unbaptized.  The story of that window was that the stonemason asked his intended to come from Spain but the ship sank.  He stopped work for a long time then the priests heard the chisel again and they ended up with a super fancy window.  No proof but some people in the area believe they're descended from that guy.  When you have a legend but question it, go with the legend.  The other missions weren't rebuilt so everything but the church was ruins.  The difference was how fancy the church was.  A lot had facades built above the building with bells to make them grander.  Moorish influence was interesting in the shape of some doors and arches and the frescoes that used to cover them.  The best preserved church is the northenmost one.  

Left San Antonio towards Fredericksburg.  After you leave the city you climb up into the hills.  I like that country.  Got to the Nimitz/Pacrfic war museum with an hour to spare.  Fortunately tickets carry over to the next day.  First section is about Nimitz, his family, and Fredericksburg and is in the hotel his grandfather had and he worked in as a kid.  It was restored to look as it did then.  He took an appointment to the naval academy because there weren't any left for West Point.  He was a midshipman on a ship where the Japanese were celebrating  the Russo-Japanese war and invited people from his ship.  None of the seniors went so the Midshipmen did and he met Admiral Togo.  After the war he had a guard set on Togo’s flagship Mikasa.  Ran through the Bush gallery & then we got locked in for a while.  Went to Cultures to eat and I had Wiener schnitzel with a paprika sauce.  Not sure if Wiener schnitzel is suppose to be veal but the menu said it was pork and it was good.

Day 6 Went back to Bush gallery.  Much on the origin of the war.  They had a banner on which Togo supposedly after retirement painted his Nelsonesque message to his men before Tsushima.  They also had a uniform that was supposed to be Yamamoto's.  Displays featured a Jap midget sub, a B-25, a beat up Wildcat, a Stuart tank with a hole in it and a 3inch gun like what made the hole.  There's George Gay's googles & knife, a Fat Man casing and a crashed Val behind the screen they play the end movie on.  Outside there are 75mm, 25 pounder, & 105mm field guns.  A torpedo launcher, a twin bofors, and a 5inch gun.  Then a mast from a destroyer plus the sail from a sub.  The lawn in front of the sub’s sail is made like waves and there's  bow shape in front.  Next the Pacific Combat Zone which has a giant map, an Avenger, and PT-309 which fought in the Mediterranean that they're still working on.  More additions coming there.

No time to go by enchanted rock which was closed for a deer hunt anyway so went to Marble Falls.  Had pie at Bluebonnet Cafe where the lemon meringue pie was a tall as it is wide.  Went to a scenic overlook and a crazy pottery place.  Got to wonder about a place where they have sign offering mosquito spray.  Then back to stinking I-35.  Got thru Dallas just 39 min before they closed the road for construction.

[chrisfranks]

Cave Vacation 2016

Caves 2016 Day 1 Sunday 20160410 Raced to pass Kaufman Stadium before the Royals game ended. They got a runner on base in the top of the ninth and a sac fly about the time we passed the stadium. They won in extras on a walk, a two base error on a pick-off attempt, and a wild pitch. Reached Super 8 in Columbia at the I-70 US-63 intersection which was ok. Ate at Steak & Shake which took too long for an ordinary burger. The ultimate banana shake didn't impress either. A few storms passed through which reminded me of Wichita last year but not nearly as strong or wet. Day 2 Monday 20160411 Drove in the rain through St Louis. I-64 in Illinois doesn't seem as much a wasteland as I-80 does. A lot of wetland and meandering streams along the road. South through Evansville I swore I saw the stAte line north of the river. Reached the comfort inn in cave city but they didn't have our reservation. L had to harass hotels.com & we finally got it but we might have paid $20 more than we were supposed too. Room had a jacuzzi that L used once. Day 3 Tuesday 20160412 Went towards the park in the morning. You climb up an escarpment on the way that contains the impermeable sandstone that keeps mammoth cave dry & preserves all these tunnels. Lots of tourist trap stuff there but a lot wasn't open in April. Since we had lots of time we went to Diamond Caverns & opened them for the morning. This is a wet cave with flow stone decorations. Stairs in & out are crooked and uneven. Arrived at MCNP got tickets, got four pennies, & asked about tokens. They were out but took my name to let me order some later. That's not cheating because I was there. Cleveland Avenue tour was along a long horizontal channel where the water flowed until the green river cut down & lowered the water table. Then the water cut a lower level tunnel & left this one dry. Since there's no water from above & the water can't rise that high the tunnel is preserved. The only decorations are gypsum flowers which are nice but monotonous. The tour reverses course in the snowball room with some balls of gypsum in the ceiling. Long story about how they used to cook in that room and the grease darkened the snowballs. Climbed 183 steps out (straight & even) & did so better than L. Kevin the guide was a goof. The park was full of tiger swallowtails, redbud, & dogwood. To keep A entertained went to city of Horse Cave & Hidden River Cave. This wasn't too impressive but was like big spring cave is there was a head space to walk into it. But it was in an impressive sinkhole right in downtown Horse Cave with buildings around it. They used to play lawn tennis at the bottom of the sinkhole with cave air conditioning. Good discussion from the guide about how bad the water used to be with trash and sewage in all the surrounding sinkholes, a chrome plant, & a creamery. Tours were discontinued for 50 years. Originally the owner had a pump & sold the water in town. Guide also recommended cub run cave but we didn't get to it the next day. Are at Sahara Steakhouse in cave city which was just a little place but good. A 16,000 step, 30 floors of stairs day. Day 4 Wednesday 20160413 In the park a ranger who was a fifth generation guide & descended from one of the slave guides spoke to us. Entry to domes & dripstones tour was fun since it descended down 280 some twisty steps into a collapsed dome. Single file all the way because it was just one person wide. Then walked along breakdown passages until we reached the end of the sandstone cap and some flow stone features including the frozen niagara. There you went down a bunch of steps to get close to the features then climbed right. back up which was the biggest aerobic challenge on this tour. Egress from this one was easy. I had 12 shined up copper pennies in a glass jar. I was going to leave them in the car before this one but L said she knew where I was by that sound. A & I walked down to see the historic entrance which was closed while they worked on the trails. What we missed with that closed was the anthropology & some big rooms. Went & ate & drove to Corydon too tired to attempt another cave & too late due to crossing into eastern time to hit Indiana caverns. Comfort inn corydon not as nice as cave city. Just 10,000 steps and 22 floors of steps this day. Day 5 Thursday 30160414 Indiana Caverns were discovered in just 2010 or so from the known binkly Cave system. Nice combo of wet & dry. Boat ride was quite fun. Just the 3 of us on tour so we got a good one. We went on one of two tours in Marengo cave. A lot of nice stalagmites under a 10 foot or so ceiling. The path must have been cut through that room. I don't think they'd have done that today. Cave opened up some further on. Some formations where minerals seeped through. One was 'girl on a swing' because when you moved a flashlight back & forth the shadow looked like that.

[chrisfranks]

To California in a Corvair

I asked Mom (Elena) about the infamous trip to California in a sports car. She said it was Grandpa and Grandma’s (Harry and Neva) car and they were in it with Mom, Dad (Vic), me (Chris), and one other, I think Janice.  I was on the shelf in the back of the car because there wasn’t anywhere else to be.  Once they got there they dropped Dad off at Rocketdyne.  They expected him to call to be picked up.  But he ended up walking 10 miles to the house because he forgot the number.

I asked what year this was.  Mom could only come up with between 1961 and 1964 because that was between my birth and Stacy’s.

Alan had a sporty Corvair.  But he wrecked it. 

[chrisfranks]

Conversation with Neva Williams 20100101

Transcribed from Ipod Touch notes.

We were looking at pictures.  One was at least 90 years old of her parents shortly after they were married. Another was of her Dad when they had come to California to see them.  After visiting Neva and Harry(?) Grandma’s brother Bob picked them up and took them up to Washington.  I wondered what the roads were like from Southern California to Washington then.  Did I-5 exist yet?  The took a train from Washington back to Missouri.

I asked Grandma when she and Harry came back from California.  She thought I asked when they moved out there which was 1959.  She then told us how Mom (Elena) had stayed in Missouri.  She and Dad (Vic) had been going together but had cooled somewhat.  Grandma had told Mom to stay if they were getting married and Mom answered that it was over but she stayed anyway. So Grandma and family (presuming Harry, Dennis, Alan, and Janice) moved to California in mid 1959.  Then they heard that Dad had sent Mom a ring and the wedding was set for January 2.  Grandpa worked two jobs and Grandma worked overtime to have money to go back. Grandma’s boss offered equipment and help to make a dress.  A friend of Dennis or Alan took (whichever one) him to Missouri with the dress in the back of the car.  Grandpa had a bad back and was in the back of their car.  They stopped somewhere in Arizona and go a pain shot from a nurse.  Then he went in the hospital in Neosho.  He was still in pain at the wedding.

Sandy wrecked the car and it took a year to have the money to fix it. I’m not sure if that related to the wedding story or not.

[chrisfranks]

Family Notes

Family conversations I’ve recorded.

My Dad’s grandfather, Al Rose, was a barber.  My uncle Alan Williams would always show up at his shop after closing and thus earned the nickname ‘Sundown’.  Probably not who James Taylor was referring to.

My Grandmother, Neva Williams, told a story about her high school burning down with her grandfathers violin inside.  Her original school was wooden but the replacement was built by the WPA.

Mom has a chair that Grandma's (Neva Williams) parents had when they set up housekeeping.  If Grandma was born in 1921 it's pushing 100 years.

Grandma (Neva Williams) told another story about learning more about cooking from her mother-in-law than from her mother.  Her father had a plot of corn that was intended to pay for her to go to business college.  But it was flooded out.

[chrisfranks]

Washington DC Walk 20121126

From the notes app on my Ipod Touch.  I was walking with Mike Shaw and Ryan Ruhge:

Took the Metro from the Greenbelt station to the Archives around 4:00 or 4:30.  The ridership was mostly black on the inbound at that time.  There was some pretty sky color with the sunset as well as to the east with the moon over the Capitol.

We walked up to the Washington Monument.  From there we noticed the construction site for the African American Museum which at that time was a huge, deep hole in the ground.  We looked over the hill at the site of the World War 2 memorial.  I recalled people complaining that it was filling up the mall but I thought there was room.

Looking for a place to eat we went into Shelly’s Back Room.  This turned out to be a cigar bar.  There were many small doors on the wall which held varieties of cigars or were individuals rented humidors.  The drink and cigar menu seemed more significant than the food.  I had Chicken Marsala which was good but very soupy.  If you looked around at your surroundings the waitress would come over and ask if everything was ok.  Noted men at the next table discussing who the next mayor and city attorney would be.

We walked around the White House and were given directions a couple of times by uniformed Secret Service agents.  The reviewing stand for the upcoming inaugural was under construction.

[chrisfranks]

Michigan days 5 & 6

Day 5

Went into town in st Ignace so L could go to the Ojibwa cultural museum.  Marquette's grave is on this site.  A & I walked the lake Huron boardwalk.  Drove to Ludington dropped stuff at the hotel & went to the beach.  Walked L down there while A played in sand.  Took L to a bench & saw badger standing in. I walked out on the breakwater to the lighthouse & badger steamed by.  Ate at big boy's where the waitress said 'yah' all the time.  I thought she was a Yooper but L said it was because she was Swedish.  While eating noticed older couples walking up to the restaurant.  They had come across on the badger & walked quite a ways there to eat.

Day 6

Got up & went to the badger.  They drive the cars on in a U so they don't have to back out.  

[chrisfranks]

Michigan trip day 4

We stopped at colonial Michilmacinaw first.  It was the fort taken in Pontiacs rebellion.  The French had it first but they may have started across the strait.  The trade was for European goods to come down from Monreal in 40 foot canoes.  The swapped for the furs brought in by the natives and by winter traders or hivenaughts.  We saw the musket drill, took the tour, saw the cannon firing, the trade gun demo, and the bagitway game.  We didn't stay for the French wedding. Part of the time the church was served by a traveling priest who showed up 3 or so times in 10 years.  He spent 10 hours in confessions and no dought did a lot of marriages.  Leisa spoke a long time to the Native American demonstrator Joe.  He was a Marine in Vietnam who volunteered for a second tour and got hit by a mortar.  Then he suffered survivors guilt.  Next we crossed the bridge and went to Sault Ste Marie for the Soo Lock Boat Tour which was fun.  As we were waiting the Arthur M Anderson, which I previously saw in Duluth went by.  Afterwards we watched the Mesabi Miner, a thousand footer, and the Algolake lock thru headed down.   That took forever and I bailed once the first one started moving again.  Drove to St Ignace and checked in to Super 8 which had the cutest, delicate, young lady working the desk.  Went and picked up a Yooper special (supreme) pizza at Pizza Builders.  The girl at the front forgot to pass our order to the kitchen so we go free bread sticks.  The pizza was very good.

[chrisfranks]

Michigan trip day 3

We drove to Sleeping Bear Dunes.  Verizon navigate took us on some dirt roads which I doubted but it worked.  We hit the visitors center then the Dune climb.  The dune climb included a trail to the beach.  I didn’t know that this was a 3.5 mile round trip though sand and up and down dunes.  Each time you approached the top of one you hoped to see the lake but instead saw another dune.  Finally I heard the surf.   I passed the last dune and found that after all the sand I came to a rocky beach.  I soaked my feet  for a while, took pictures and returned.  Aaron had run way ahead of me, reached the point where he could see the water and turned  back.  He passed me and I asked him if he reached the end and he said he had.  After he got back Leisa was worried and tried calling.  I failed to pick up correctly once.  I left her voice and text messages but she never noticed those.  Much like flashlights in Diamond Head it would be good to take water on that hike.  Next we went to the life saving station where we saw the boats, the tracks that they’d wheel the boats out on, and the Lyle gun which they put a bullet in backwards and tied a rope to.  The bullet would flip in flight and carry the messeger line.  The people on the wreck would pull in a heavy rope and they’d use that to come back in Breeches buoys.  Previously they’d used enclosed metal life saving cars.  From there I walked around the beach until I saw what I presumed to be sleeping  bear dune.

Next we drove to Traverse City.  The foodie stuff didn’t appeal that much so we drove up the peninsula between the bays.  There was a lighthouse at the end and the water was down there so that a long expanse of rocky mud was exposed that Aaron walked out on to the water.  We went back to town and dropped Leisa to pick up some fancy dinner.  Then we looked for a place to park.  After going 4 or more blocks we found a place and started walking back.  After we went a block Leisa called and said she had food but the place was closing and to come pick her up.  After succeeding in navigating back to her we looked for a place to eat.  Parked across the street from the beach park but didn’t see an easy way to cross so ate in the car.  Then took the long drive to Mackinaw City.  Arrived a the starlight inn which was 60’s era.  Phones were dead and storm was coming in.  It looked like a hook on weather bug (no wifi for radarscope) but there were no warnings then.  Beds were doubles only and Aaron didn’t get his melatonin.  Something, pipes or late arrivals woke him and he then kept us up for 2 hours.

[chrisfranks]

Michigan trip day 2

We drove south of Chicago on I80 and stopped at the Indiana visitors center which was open and had drinkable water.  They had a duck sculpture of tiles that supposedly cost $20k.  Exited I94 for St Joseph & Benton Harbor on the business loop and had first site of the lake at St Joseph.  We were looking for Jean Kluck Park in Benton Harbor.  We had to double back on a Michigan highway to find it.  Park cost $8 to enter.  The description mentioned a boardwalk.  I though this meant  a place with shops.  Instead it was just a walk.  There was only a concession stand with little equipment and one guy running it.  The young mother in front of me in the backless bathing suit and gauze skirt made the wait longer since her two kids took their time deciding what they wanted.  The beach was nice with good sand and 1 foot waves.  People would back their power boats up to the beach and unload their beach gear.  Aaron was well sunburned in an hour.  Left and drove to Cadillac to stay at Holiday Inn Express.  The beds at this one weren’t as good as those at Fenton, MO. Ate at Big Boy’s which Leisa seemed to miss from the 70’s. She mainly wanted the fudge brownie with ice cream thing.  I had a chicken fried steak which was a mistake since it was the greasy Yankee version.

[chrisfranks]

Michigan trip day 1

Along I80 saw many garishly painted school buses with dozens of bikes on top. Some had team names like 'Team Kamikaze' & I think one was 'Hot Chicks'. Presume these were bringing people back from RAGBRAI. Crossed the Mississippi on the Northern side of the Quad Cities loop. There's not much there. Went to the Illinois welcome center there & it was closed due to budget cuts. Better yet there was a sign stating that the water there tested positive for coliform bacteria. That made me reluctant to drink water in out-state Illinois. Stayed in Knights Inn in Sheffield which is near nothing. Only the most essential maintenance was performed. Grass was growing through pavement everywhere. Run by immigrants of some sort. I saw some sitting at a picnic table out back.

[chrisfranks]

Independence Day 2012

At times tonight there were so many fire kites going by that it reminded me of strings of airliners departing DFW and coming over me in Fort Worth.

And there is no recession evident in the fireworks market.

[chrisfranks]

NCAA tournament 18 March 2012

Lucky me. Friday I went to the NCAA tournament and watched the Tigers lose. I give all the credit to Norfolk State. The O'Quinn kid is a stud. Apparently he only played a couple of years in HS and was still coming into his growth. And this MU team has issues with athletic big men with heart. But his teammates won the game with their shooting. Maybe the defense left them open too much but they still had to knock the outside shots down at a strong clip and they did it. On the way out I wondered how they were a 15 seed. But they don't usually have as much advantage near the hoop. And they've never shot that well and probably never will again. All that and if Flip's shot had been an inch or two shorter and we'd have won. The Missouri seniors deserved a better ending. But you don't get them for career achievement but for out competing an opponent for 40 minutes. The crowd went hostile on us. We were chanting MIZ-ZOU and they were shouting us down. NU fans don't like us because we dared to compete with them in football. (KU only competed with them that one year which they've fully expunged from memory.) And then there were all those black hearted people in blue. Except for a couple of them behind me who were nice and probably experienced enough to know that Cinderella isn't their friend.

[chrisfranks]

SCOTUS Obamacare

I'm not buying the conservative attorney's spin that the SCOTUS decision was a victory for limited government.  Maybe the chief justice took a baby step towards limiting congress's power under the commerce clause.  But he left this assault on real, economic liberty in place because he's concerned about the reputation of the court among his social set.  Somehow none of them are concerned about the court's reputation when the subject is some social issue or the rights they find for accused criminals.  

Btw, if it's a tax and the bill that was passed originated in the Senate, it's unconstitutional anyway.  

[chrisfranks]

Mizzou arena 20120215

Mizzou Arena is so much nicer than Hearnes. The old place was dark with rails everywhere. The new is open & bright (gold seats don't hurt). Both ends are open to the concourse. One has a few rows of seats above the luxury boxes. The latter go 3/4 around. The other end is bleachers for students. Just a handful of Antlers. Far more of the pc Zou Crew. Main section below the boxes, a half dozen rows in a section above the boxes & a top secion of 20 or so in the center above that. I'm too old for the rap music that plays from when the arena opens until the serious warm ups. During oppo intro Zou crew turns their backs antlers have chants. Mike Dixon's roar on the scoreboard before Mizzou intros is thrilling. You can't take your eyes off Mizzou or they'll be at the basket already.

[chrisfranks]

San Francisco Dec 2011

Walked with Sandra & Kristen into China Town up Grant Street with a pretty full moon over the city. Turned west on Washington then back north on Stockton & went to a little shop where we got steamed barbecue buns 2 for a dollar. About softball size they were chewy, like not cooked overly, and had a little barbecue pork In the center. They were quite good. Next we got bubble tea. Mine was honeydew. I can take or leave the tapioca bubbles but milk, green tea, and whatever the flavor was is awesome. Shopped some & then went to a bakery. I got a melon cake, a pancake with bean paste, & a Chinese tamale. Melon cake was my favorite. The Chinese tamale was sticky rice, pork, & sausage. I thick the virtual masa was rice based too. It was wrapped in banana leaves rather than corn husks. Finally climbed up Nob Hill from Sutter to California & caught the cable car west to Van Ness. Highlight was Grace Cathedral.

[chrisfranks]

Mohamty Vadoszone.tamu Hydraulic parameters important Veg/texture/hillshade/%slope Top down or bottom up approach Looking for single technique toestimate hydraulic params globally Need to model since remote sensing limited to top few cm Used swap model & genetic algorithm Unique hydraulic fingerprints across the globe Hydraulic params can potentially derived from remote sensed sm Sent from my iPod