Santa Barbara, CA.

My 2006 bike trip from Bellingham to Southern California is now winding down. Plan to take Amtrak home from Santa Barbara and ship my bike. Look for photos and descriptions, from this trip, later in the fall. When the fall rains come back to Bellingham, I will compose more pages for my web.

Passing through Santa Cruz

Having a good bike trip. Cloudy and cool here in Santa Cruz.

Not a lot of folks on the beach, but that's okay. Will head out to Monterey next.

Most nights, I have stayed in the $3 per night California state park "hiker biker" sites. A few nights in motels, like in San Francisco.

Had a great time in San Fran. Yes that costs a lot more.

I have spent most of this year's savings (not counting my pension at the job) on my travels, rather than adding it to my tiny mutual fund.

I guess my choice is to enjoy this wonderful vacation, or stay home and save the money.

If I save the money, it might be good for another week, or two in a nursing home at the end of this life.

Seems like the little money, I could save, would just be a "drop in the bucket" to my "pragmatic" needs in the future, at the end of this life.

It's much more appealing to use the money to enjoy life now.

I may get as far as Santa Barbara before taking train back.

Wouldn't be as good as a dance floor

I am passing through Garberville, CA. on my 2006 bicycle tour down west coast. Have enjoyed the huge redwoods. Riding quietly through the big trees on a side road called Avenue Of The Giants. Much nicer than the more "pragmatic 101, where most commutes and trucks go.

Biking is a quiet way to see the trees.

Meeting some other cyclists at the campgrounds. KOA in Eureka had a hot tub. $20 to camp, but worth if for the hot tub. The bike area is big, behind the main building away from the RVs. Most of the time I am in state park "hiker biker" sites. No hot tub, but only $3 per night thanks to Cal state park encouragement for bicyclists.

I passed one big tree that someone wanted to chop down back around 1910. They wanted to use the stump for a dance floor. That idea was nixed and the tree still stands. Would have been too small for a dance floor anyway, but the tree is huge; and I like dance floors. It's just that the tree wouldn't have been a good one. It's better as a tree.

Lots of groves have been preserved in this area. Avenue Of the Giants, and other parts of the Redwood parks are quite extensive. A joint California and federal park system.

Tomorrow I head back to the coast on Cal Highway 1. Headed toward fort Bragg. Then San Francisco, in a few days.

What goes around comes around

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Now on my trip and having a great time. Passing through Portland, Oregon.

Time to think, as always, in my life.

I just got to thinking that they name good things for good people; like segments of a bike trail. They often name the trail sections for people who donated labor, money, land and so forth.

"Mr. So and So's donation made this section of trail possible."

So, how about naming negative things for bad people?

For instance, the famous fence between Israel and the West Bank could be named for the suicide bombers. The bombers that caused them to build it.

How about having plaques along the fence named for each of the suicide bombers. "This section dedicated to..."

Maybe the USA could name new weapons for the 911 hijackers. Name the most lethal new tanks or gun ship helicopters for each one of the hijackers.

What goes around comes around.

Anyway, I would rather think about the good things people do.

As fences divide people and tell folks to "keep out," bike trails unite people.

"Through streets" unite people also.

It's nice to find either trails, or a "grid iron" street pattern that goes through. Too many "suburban" streets are dead end cul-de-sacs. Cul-de-sacs divide people also. Living on a cul-de-sac keeps so called "strangers" from going past one's "show boat" home.

Glad to be finding the roads and trails that go through and the nice people that make such things possible.

My 2006 bicycle trip has started

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Headed south down USA west coast. Every once-in-a-while, I will put details here. Later this coming Autumn, there will be a write up, with photos, on my web site. Past trips are already there.

Inclusive Neighborhoods

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Photo looking up into Bellingham Farmer's Market clock tower. Light fixtures.

There is a lot of talk about Inclusive zoning these days. Allowing a mixture of housing types and price ranges with-in a neighborhood.

That, instead of places where only (expensive) single family homes are allowed while, across town, a ghetto of apartments is kept in one area. Like, "keep those apartments from escaping."

Inclusive zoning means a mix of housing types and income levels. Also a mix of land uses in one neighborhood. That means one can take a stroll, near one's home, and pass houses, a park, a church and an ice cream parlor.

That's more inviting than some boring "subdivision mile" with nothing but garage doors visible.

It brings diverse income groups together. More trust and understanding between social classes.

Also allows people to live closer to services and activities. Cuts car dependency.

I recently saw a good article about this concept in the July 26 06 Cascade Weekly. Written by one of our city council members, Joan Beardsley. She talked quite a bit about the good effects that "inclusive neighborhoods" have on schools.

In the past, people have spent much effort bussing kids across town to bring various elements of our society together. Well, another way to bring us together can be in how we plan our neighborhoods.

Bring various income classes together, for instance.

After pondering those encouraging words, I had a conversation with a friend in Ecuador, South America.

A conversation via Skype Internet phone.

My friend, in Ecuador, spoke of a negative consequence when the gap between wealthy and poor gets too wide. Latin American nations are noted for wide gaps between income classes.

Something that could be in USA's future, if we don't watch out. The income gap keeps getting wider.

He said single family homes are loosing popularity for the middle class in Ecuador.

Loosing popularity because the crime rate is so high that detached homes are vulnerable to break ins, robberies, even armed robberies.

It's like class warfare.

So the middle class is turning to high rises.

Condominium projects, rather than detached homes.

A condominium complex can provide centralized entrances for security and things like "windows high off the ground," away from the break-in zone.

Interesting observation.

It seems like bringing American income classes together, to lower the crime rate, might help us save the single family home.

Ironically, we may need to be less exclusive about our single family neighborhoods to save them.

Save them from the ravages of societal breakdown.