John Linder:
CLASS OF 1959
Cuyama Valley High SchoolClass of 1959
New cuyama, CA
University of Calif. at Los AngelesClass of 1993
Los angeles, CA
Blue Eye Elementary SchoolClass of 1949
Blue eye, MO
John's Story
Grape wine tour, 2006
I responded to a column written by an agricultural manager about a local wine grape grower that was about to harvest premium quality grapes to be made into wine. Not wanting to miss a great adventure in the outback, I responded to a phone number listed as Premiere Coastal Vineyards in Los Alamos and sure enough, Kevin Merrill answered the call as he drove thru his vines. We agreed on a time to travel to his property for the tour.
Upon arrival to the main gate, we entered and started our journey to hook up with Kevin and found a vineyard perfectly maintained with grapes hanging heavily from the vines.
We observed several crews working in the fields with small tractors pulling large bins filled with grapes and leaves protruding out of the containers. Off the road near Kevin house and office, several deer grazed under an Oak tree and didn't look up to see what was happening on the road near them.
What a site...!
Kevin asked us to follow him back down the road to where we had, on the way in, observed the field crews picking grapes.
He explained how the workers were picking the short rows to save time with the turning procedure with the large harvester. We watched as a picker carefully moved each vine and removed the large clusters of grapes hanging under them with total precision. Some leaves fell to the ground nearby and were certainly destined to become compost for the following years crop of Chardonnay wine grapes. After watching the field worker pick and receiving more informative information from Kevin about how grapes were processed by refineries, we went to an area where we found large grape harvesters sitting in wait for the evenings activities. The units are used in the evening hours to keep the sun and heat off of the freshly picked grapes so that the fermenting process does not start so quickly.
I was impressed by the machines efficiency design. Large conveyers carry the grapes up to the hopper that places them in the truck that accompanies the harvester around the field after the grapes are shook and stripped off the vines. Whoever designed that machine must have graduated from the worlds best engineering school, because it can't be to easy to get grapes off a vine without taking out many valuable grape stocks and vines in the process.
Driving around the fields, we found many different varieties of grapes waiting to be picked and harvested Chardonnay, Merlot, Shiaz and Cabernet plus others were found hanging from vines turning that wonderful color of fall, red & orange. The tour reminded me of my childhood on the farms in Cuyama Valley where I grew up and worked on nearby ranches and farms. Kevin mentioned that before his adventure into grape growing, he was an alfalfa grower in Santa Ynez that took me back a few years to my experiences on the farm. ----------- John Linder
Amtrak trip to Olympic National Park in Washington State
Most retired folks don¿t consider traveling to the Pacific Northwest on a vacation, as it is quite remote and can be very cold or wet. When I suggested a train trip to Washington to Pam, she balked at first, stating, ¿why would you want to go on a trip on a smelly train?¿ Well that statement from her, since I had never hit the rails for a very long trip, sat the wheels in motion for a journey that neither of us had ever embarked on before. Because of the need to get there quick and easy on the airlines, we¿ve always preferred to travel that way. I¿ve never considered being a travel agent before, but searching for and finding train schedules, car rentals, hotels, logging tour busses and ferry routes made me realize how valuable those folks really are. I worked for two hours coordinating our trip and presented plans to Pam along with virtual tours of rail car interiors, hotel room pictures, scenic views along the way and the estimated cost involved with our journey. While we were to log many miles watching the scenery, she liked the concept of not having to drive and having a private room for travel comfort. Off we went in the middle of June to a great adventure that will be in our minds forever.
The first leg of the trip found us heading to San Luis Obispo to catch the train. After boarding the ¿big silver bullet¿ as we called it, our pilot took us thru some very beautiful places like Mt. Shasta, Klamath Falls, Chemult and Eugene. We got off the train in Olympia, Washington and took a cab to our hotel. The next morning, a rental car was obtained for the major leg of the trip to the Northwest part of Washington. Forks was our ultimate destination and the most interesting part of the outing. Checking into the Dewdrop Inn was one of our best experiences. Now this is not a commercial ad for that facility, but the coffee in our room was superb, rooms and morning breakfast outstanding as well as the staff.
The city of Forks is situated on a broad prairie 14 miles from the ocean. About 5,000 folks live in the area where we found many wonderful restaurants. Near the south edge of town you'll find the visitor information center, the Forks Timber Museum and the Forks Loggers' Memorial with its 12 foot wood-carved logger. The complex offers gardens and forest paths that link to the University of Washington research facility. The Forks Timber Museum features an authentic fire lookout tower, a 9-foot cook stove from a logging camp and exhibits of pioneer and regional history. Free Logging and Mill Tours depart from the Forks Visitor Center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from May through September at 9:30am. Step aboard a real logging crew bus for a 2-3 hour tour of a mill, logging sites and a glimpse at the work of our nations' only Forestry Training Center.
Rialto Beach, north of the Quillayute River, is a drive-to beach and a beautiful spot to enjoy the surf and watch shorebirds, eagles and seals and also to spread out your lunch basket for a gourmet meal of local smoked Salmon, bagels with cream cheese. On the south side of the river in the Quileute Indian village of LaPush, is a mile-long crescent known for surfing- size waves and great whale watching with kayakers, surfers and seals often adding to the view. Second Beach, just east of LaPush, is popular with photographers and is reached by way of a .7 mile forested trail that leads to a 2-mile long sandy stretch of beach - watch for the eagle nest above the tree line. The Sol Duc Salmon Hatchery, 13 miles north of Forks, has interpretive displays, river access, picnic areas and a docent that has rodeoed with Cotton Rosser¿s Flying U rodeo company extensively. The Hoh Rain Forest is a not-to-be-missed attraction on the West Side of the Olympic Peninsula with good picnic grounds nearby. Port Angeles was also visited on our return to Olympia to fill the ice chest with locally caught and smoked Salmon.
After spending five days enjoying the area, we started our train trip back home to Orcutt Ranch with wonderful memories and many pictures of a great vacation in Washington State.
John & Pam ...Expand for more
Linder
The Sands of Jalama, a cool day trip¿..! An unspoiled stretch of sand curves into the northern horizon, bending beneath rolling coastal hills turned light brown by the approaching summer. Dark gray cliffs stand in sharp contrast to the sun-lit beach and run parallel to the ocean¿s green edge of breaking wind-whipped waves. The cliff walls lean slightly away from the water, almost balking at the sheer eroding force applied by wind and waves that originate from an unseen Pacific source.
As we stare from a turnout on the last stretch of a 14-mile winding drive off Highway 1, Jalama Beach seems to be a stepping-stone on a path to the edge of the world. Just outside of Lompoc and near the southern boundary of Vandenberg Air Force Base, the windswept Santa Barbara County park has increased in popularity over the years but is still secluded enough to be passed over by all but the most avid wind-surfers, campers and hikers.
Jalama Creek, swollen from recent rains, flows along the park¿s northern border into the ocean. The 10 to 15-feet-wide creek, though shallow, is a significant natural obstacle for visitors wishing to stay dry as they cross to explore Jalama¿s northern stretch of beach.
Preceded by the mountainous drive, crossing the creek further convinces the visitor that nature¿s hand is intentionally making progress up the beach difficult. Blowing sand even conspires against photography by threatening lens damage.
Despite the day¿s lack of visitors, the park¿s 110 campsites and recreational vehicle parking places are consistently filled to capacity between June and Labor Day. Jalama¿s campsites operate on a first-come, first-served basis, which often leaves campers facing a three to four-day wait for space on a 100-person waiting list during the peak summer season.
Buying groceries in the Jalama Beach Store and Restaurant, which is famous for its juicy Jalama hamburgers is an experience never to be forgotten. The concession shop has changed hands a number of times since its construction in the early 1960s, but the same family has held the lease from the county for the past several years.
With the exception of a set of railroad tracks, several lines of barbed wire cattle fences and a lone strip of power lines that span the landscape, Jalama Beach appears largely untouched by civilization. As we walk north, headlong into the wind, the blowing sand erases our footprints as quickly as they are imprinted.
We walk the same sand that Chumash Indians traversed for centuries before Spanish explorers and settlers moved them to La Purisima Mission. A Chumash settlement called Shilimazshtush used to occupy land near Jalama Creek and if you are slightly superstitious, you can feel movement about you while in this sacred area of the beach. A sign positioned at the mouth of the creek tells of an Indian stealing a knife from a visiting Spanish galleon crewman and how the entire group of Indians made him return it peacefully. The camp was renamed to signify the incident.
In 1923, less than 15 miles north of Jalama Beach, seven United States Navy destroyers ran aground in darkness and heavy fog on Sept. 8 at Point Honda, which is now part of Vandenberg Air Force Base. According to the Lompoc Valley Historical Society, 23 sailors were killed in what is considered the largest peacetime accident in Navy history. Newspaper clippings and photos on the wall of the Jalama Beach Restaurant document the disaster, which a later investigation blamed on a series of navigational errors while the battle group was traveling too fast under radio silence.
The Richfield Oil Corp. (ARCO) donated the 23.5 acres that currently make up Jalama Beach to the county in 1943 for lack of petroleum underground or nearby.
We reach an impassable rocky outcropping where the waves break directly against the cliff wall. The wind is blowing harder than ever and the sun is setting, so we turn around and head back south along the beach. The Jalama winds seem all too happy to push us back toward the parking lot, but I will be all too happy to return again.
John Linder
Mammoth Lakes trip
Fall was completely in abundance, and Pam & I enjoyed the scenic Eastern Sierras. We took our annual trip in the middle part of October and these are the areas we had the opportunity to explore. Our base of exploration was Mammoth Lakes and we stayed at Austria Hof Lodge. Every year I hear people say that the color "just isn't the same" as some other years they've visited, but I think that they'll find plenty of beautiful color if they look carefully and travel at the right time.
Lundy Canyon¿Gold, peach & yellow are the dominant colors. Sadly, the non-native beaver continue to make inroads on the aspens, and it looks like the brilliant grove at the head of the lake by the resort will soon be no more. The grove is ten or fifteen large trees smaller this year than last, and many of the trees still standing are girdled by the beaver, soon to die either by falling or simple lack of ability to transport nutrients and water. The trees in the center of the grove, which had no leaves when we were there, are standing in water now, because the beaver have built a number of small dams within the grove. While they can live for a while, they won't last till next year probably. I had walked out to the grove, expecting a nice leaf litter, but it turns out that the bare trees probably hadn't had many leaves on them because there were few leaves around them.
Lee Vining ¿ It also had it's gorgeous spots--with some of the best, I think, across the creek and throughout the meadow to it's far edge. Our lunch there was terrific ¿ the Mobil dealer must have graduated from California Culinary Institute and he knew how to charge for the meal too.
Convict Lake Canyon -- Color in various stages was found along the road, and the large groves at the head of the lake are also in various stages. Some are done, some are still green, and some are glowing. There are lots of scenic areas for the hiker/photographer to explore and enjoy.
We explored our way up Highway 395 from Lone Pine to Lee Vining and slightly beyond. The most outstanding color was in Lundy Canyon to the upper falls. Breathtaking views also at McGee Creek that comes in as second best in color. Silver Lake of the June Lakes was in full color with the falls behind the PG& E power plant in full flow. What a treat that the snow came while we were there and lightly covered the roof of a café where we had a splendid lunch of Sheepherder soup & the house special, Silver Lake Chef salad. It sure seems tough turning south on 395 to return home to Orcutt, but the thought of our friendly recliners and pillow top mattress hastened the return.
Happy traveling to all of you, John & Pam Linder
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