Scotty's Castle 2015

What is there to say about this place.  This is a place built upon stories and the park service gives the tours with stories.  So yes there may be a lot of hype about the place but never the less, it was a fun place to visit.  Also being in the middle of nowhere does not hurt.  (If you like urban legends, then you would like this place since Scotty and his reputation was built with them.  And I think that is why some people do not like this place.)  Note: There are two short books about the place and the man, easy reads and they explain a lot of the man and the people involved.

So let's start with some pictures of the place.  This is version 2 and I really do like it.

Now lets head through the gates.  The big sundial and weather vain where nice features.

So Death Valley Ranch is its real name, not Scotty's Castle.  Either way a very nice place.  Now let's go inside.

The kitchen.  I guess now is the time to explain a bit more.  (I will not give the whole story but Scotty built this place with someone else and that person was an insurance executive.  Why these two got together is an interesting story in itself but this place was really the executives summer home but no one really knew, everyone thought it was Scotty's place.)  So the kitchen has the latest in features.  Indoor running water and piped in gas.

This place also had electricity years before any electrical service was run to the area.  The executive loves his pipe organ and installed a series of Edison batteries in the tunnels under the house.  They where charge by the water generator in the back building.  Oh the house had a natural spring which provided the indoor running water.

Now most of the house was finished but the pool was never done.  They where still deciding on what to do when the economy turned bad and the exec lost his job.  They did have enough money to finish but only enough.  There was also an issue about a survey error many years ago, thus the property was actually on government land and not private.  Yet another story, but the short answer is that it was turned over to the park service and Scotty lived out his days still at the ranch.  Thus the picture of the pool as it stands in its drained unfinished format.  One thing you will notice, there are glass windows that would be under water.  (Oh, yes the underground spring has enough pressure and volume to fill the pool and keep it full, even today.)

Now lets go back into the tunnels and see what is on the other side of those windows.  The bright areas are the same windows from the above picture.  The other pictures is the tile that would have been used to build the pool.  They had purchased the tile many years before deciding on its design.

I also mentioned that the tunnels ran to the bunk house but why tunnels?  Well it was a means to get from one building to another without going outside.  It also provide storage and maintenance help.  Here you see that the sewer lines actually ran in the tunnels, which made them easy to maintain.

So Scotty never left the place.  When he died, legend has it they buried him on the hill overlooking 'his' castle.  This is his view and you will also notice in one picture what looks like a lot of railroad ties.  Well they are railroad ties, that is what they used as firewood.  They got a good deal on them.  (I'm pretty sure they where untreated at the time.)

Hoover Dam 2015

I enjoyed this as a kid and had to make sure I took my daughter there also.  This place has really changed and have become a tourist destination.  Get there early.  One can still drive across the dam but it is no longer a through path.

Let start with the big stuff.  This is Lake Mead and the white mark on the walls is the high water mark.  The last picture shows the lake overflow, which is an interesting view.  Thinking about a lake that size needing and emergency drain, well two of them, one on each side.  (I was told that it was used in 1982.)

Now for the other side.

Now lets go inside.

The power generator room.

Taking the dam tour instead of just the powerhouse tour will take you further into the dam.  This is the tour that I remember as a kid but like everything, this has changed a lot since 9/11 and has became more restrictive.

First off the hallways.  Yes tiled and marble.  You will even see the marble in the powerhouse.

Now on to this section.  The first picture is of the tunnel, that leads to the grate, which covers the ventilation port.  From that port this is the view, while the last picture is that port from the exterior.  (aka about the center of the picture.)

Lastly, the art deco elevator that takes you back up to the top of the dam.  It places you about half way across the dam, by the road.  Yes, there was a style to all the architecture back then, not just a slab of concrete.  (Yes this type of structure would never be built today.  There are too many regulations, even the exit steps are not ADA compliant and they could never be made to be compliant since there is not enough room inside the dam.)

Fun at Pt Reyes

My wife wanted to take her bother to Pt Reyes when he came in for the weekend before a conference he was attending.  Thus a quick trip out to the lighthouse and up the coast for oysters.  (Would normally stop by Drake Oysters but since they have been shut down, a trip up to Marshall instead.)

Out to the lighthouse just as they opened gave us a nice fog view of the ocean and area as seen in this picture.

But I was surprised to see the pelicans.  For some reason I like these birds and enjoy taking pictures of them.  Here at the lighthouse gave me a interesting view of them but I wish I had my other lens.



Anyway about the lighthouse itself, it still has the older light mechanism which was rotated via a large counter-weight.  Basically think of it like a large grandfather clock on its side.  These pictures I tried to capture some of the mechanism, poorly. :-)  I also like the large brass wheels that the light actually rotated on.  Notice the supports between the wheels, that is used to relieve the wheels of baring the weight of the housing, thus helping to preserve them.



Here is a picture of what the weather does to trees.  Many trees on the coast are shaped like this because of the consistent on shore wind.

Leaving the area, we had to stop and take a look at the sea lions.  Hey not much to photograph but there was two guys giving a little show.



Last, I had to stop by Earthquake Trail.  I've never been on that path even though we stop by the visitor center a couple of times per year.  Here is a place where the earth literally jumped.  During the 1906 SF earthquake, this area shifted 16 feet and it is at this fence where they preserved that bit of history.  Shown is Jennah, Qun and her brother trying to reach both ends of the fence.  The plaque at the site said the earth shifted the 16 feet in a matter of 1 to 2 seconds.  (They also have pictures of other fences being patched with long poles connecting the two fence halves.  There is also a picture taken in 1906 showing the fence and a barn in the background and the amazing thing is that barn is still standing.)

Just another backroad place in Northern California that most people do not realize exists.