The MVTF is one of the largest private collections of military vehicles in the world. My head was spinning by the end of the tour, as there was just so much to see in a few hours, but we had a great time checking the place out. (For fans of the show Mythbusters, this was the place that they used the two tanks to pull apart the phonebooks)

Anyway, pictures speak for themselves. Really cool stuff. Highlights for me were the SCUD missile and the bridge layer (just like in GI Joe!)

Also, if I am ever forced to settle down permanently in the bay area, Portola Valley is really the only reasonable place to live. It’s like rural wilderness in the middle of suburban mess. (er, according to wikipedia, it’s also apparently in the top 20 wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. sigh. although it would have to take a pretty serious amount of money to get me to live full time in the bay area.

Not sure how many updates I will make from the road, so here are some pictures of the last few weeks to keep you occupied until I return..

Magic boycotting the day -- after a hike, he slept almost 14 hours!

Yes, that is a dog. On a motorcycle. Ridiculous.

I was sick for almost 10 days, and Magic was good company. Didn't make soup, but was a good pillow.

Crazy FJ45 parked next to me in Malibu

Heading south in 12 hours..

Ha.

While I lucked out and avoided snow, I did get to experience the auxiliary cooling fan in the truck for the first time — pulling 8000lbs up long grades at 65mph definitely works the diesel a little.

In general, when it comes to driving around, I’m not easily impressed.  I’ve driven all over creation in the last 14 years, and as a result it takes a little more to wow me than it used to.  But, I’m happy to say, I was truly blown away by Mt. Shasta.  Hopefully these pictures speak for themselves.

It took about three hours to install the new 46 gallon tank, and during that time, Magic and I cruised (by foot) around the Chico Airpark.  While it was fairly typical of an airpark (lots of industrial type businesses), the surrounding area was really great — reminded me of Pennsylvania before sprawl and overpopulation.  Lots of orchards and farms, great scenery, and an easy, slow-paced life.  Driving north on Cohasset and then west on Keefer, you also pass through some of the more affluent areas (I guess?) of the Chico suburbs — lots of amazing houses with gated driveways etc.  Although, gated driveways seem to be the fad around here – even the crappy houses seemed to have them.

I don’t imagine I’ll have any reason to stop by Chico again (maybe to sample some fresh Sierra sometime in the future), but I’m glad I got to see it.  While I had always been more of a SoCal fan, NorCal certainly started to grow on me.

Lots of pictures of the airpark below..

Anyway, Golden Gate Park is a lot more calm and enjoyable than Central Park — less cars, less people, more nature.  It also contains a small herd of Bison (?!) among other things.  We had lunch at some BBQ joint at a golf pro shop, which was decent though not particularly memorable.

We later drove through Haight-Ashbury, which was a cool neighborhood that reminded me St. Marks in the east village, though more laid back.  Neglected to take any pictures of that, though.

Apparently it’s a well-known fact that I never heard before – a bunch of sea lions took over many of the boat slips here, and hang out there almost all the time.  It was really amazing and totally out of place.  Like an accidental zoo.

After driving up the steepest hill blacktruck has ever seen, I paid my $5 fee and roamed around the gardens for a couple of hours.  Lots to see, very impressive, very zen, very difficult to capture in pictures.  But I tried, there are about 40 here below.  I’d imagine that when things are actually in bloom it would be much more scenic, but it was still good stuff.

I’d imagine that when this was built nearly 100 years ago, the mountainside location would’ve been an incredible retreat, far away from whatever city life goings-on and noise and whatnot.  Unfortunately, any possibility of calm is ruined by the never-ending screams of the Loud Pipes Save Lives motorcyclists on their way out toward Skyline Drive.  I love motorcycles 99% of the time, but it definitely messed with the whole mood they’re going for.

Anyway, definitely recommended if you’re in the area.

As it turned out, the John Nicholas Trail is a pretty easy hike through a redwood forest and around the Lake Ranch Reservoir.  It starts out with a pretty long climb, but after that it’s a leisurely hike on a dirt road for about 2 1/2 miles to the far end.

Yes, I had to repeatedly carry my 80 pound, bronx-bred pit bull across 6″ of water due to his supreme daintiness.

Unfortunately most of my photos didn’t come out well, and the ones that did don’t do justice to the comedy of our journey (I forgot to mention – we lost the trail at some point and decided to climb down a hill, which turned out to be incredibly steep and had tons of loose dirt.  We basically slid down a 100′ near vertical drop).  The photos also don’t really capture the amazing scenery here.  Redwoods, meandering streams, lots of old growth, mosses, birds..  not really point & shoot territory, but if I had been carrying my SLR, it probably would’ve been destroyed/waterlogged/crushed.

Anyway, we had a great time — magic was so tired when we got back he went to sleep for.. well, he’s still recovering a day later.