Early 86 While Dean is with us

1986 - Our lives in America
January, 1986 and Dean is with us   This view is from the observatory at Mount Palomar - clouds fill the valley and snow covers the mountain tops. 1986 early86 0002 a January, 1986 and Dean is with us   We go to Magic Mountain north of Los Angeles. Dean takes a picture of me and my bride.
Jenni plants a big, slobbery wet one on my face. I am hoping to be too small to ride the Roaring Rapids Part of a roller coaster called The Revolution. It is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California that opened to the public on May 8, 1976. In the distance is the "Superman: Escape from Krypton" ride. It accelerates to 100 mph. Great ride. A monorail transports "guests" around the park.
There was a "crippled" girl in a wheelchair who was allowed to go to the head of each queue; it was a scam and she never was disabled. The couple had worked out a way to beat the long lines of people waiting and weren't too ashamed to play on the good nature of other people. Bob Paino is with us. Bob is on his way to Dayton and drops in to say hello. He arrives at our place at Tierrasanta early, doesn't want to wake us, so he waits in the car for a couple of hours. The massive Colossus roller coaster, with a 100-foot drop and speeds up to 60 mph is a great ride. Wooden rollers coaster are a lot more noisy and very bumpy but this part of their charm. In June 2014, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced that, after 36 years, Colossus was closing. At one point Colossus was the fastest and tallest wooden coaster in the world; it had opened on June 29, 1978.
Going through the loop on the Revolution. I ride it four times, Jenni three. The acceleration up to 100 MPH is intoxicating. January, 1986   The Capitol Records building at Hollywood and Vine. January, 1986   We visit Universal Studios. This is the Town Hall from Back to the Future - but the town hall clock is missing. It must have been added digitally. Scenes from Conan the Destroyer.
Conan the Destroyer is a 1984 American epic sword and sorcery film . The movie is a sequel to Conan the Barbarian (1982). The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako reprising their roles as Conan and Akiro, the Wizard of the Mounds, respectively. The cast also includes Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Tracey Walter, and Olivia d'Abo. It's pretty silly but sorta fun. It'd actually a great attraction for deaf people. The story is pretty easy to follow - there ain't one - but visually it's stunning. 1986 early86 0018 a
1986 early86 0019 a 1986 early86 0023 a Recreation of blue screen scenes from the movie 2001 1986 early86 0015 a
Little kids are entranced by a Transformer. Cowboy action at Universal Studios. He must have been a baddie because he falls to his death on to an air matress. January, 1986 The exit of the water ride
Panorama of Burbank. Disney and other studios are here as well. 1986 early86 0028 a 1986 early86 0029 a Bob Paino is with us today as well. Bob was my best man when Jenni and I married on July 5, 1975 - over ten years ago now.
Universal Studios back lot. It's all fake, but then again, they probably don't want to blow up real buildings. Dean greets a character from the Munsters. From Back to the Future. Now this is real, the real DeLorean at least.
Spoiler alert, it doesn't actually travel backwards and forwards in time. January, 1986 An aircraft carrier in San Diego harbour. Shame this is so blurry. Father and son.
Paddle wheeler in San Diego Harbor. January, 1986  We visit the Wild Animal Park with Dean. 1986 early86 0041 a 1986 early86 0042 a
Beautiful location. The park is about 30 miles from the San Diego Zoo. 1986 early86 0045 a Some sort of Condor but not the California Condor which is under threat of extinction. In fact, the California Condor becomes extinct in the wild but is rescued by a breeding program. 1986 early86 0049 a
A Red-bellied Piranha. 1986 early86 0052 a 1986 early86 0053 a 1986 early86 0055 a
So very regal. The buffalo roam at the San Diego Animal Park 1986 early86 0057 a January, 1986   We go to Tijuana, Mexico with Ranny and Caroline. We join the trolley bus at the Chula Vista trolley stop.
We catch the trolley bus to San Ysidro, very near the Mexican border, and walk across the border into Mexico. I only ever go to Tijuana the one time in all of the time we live in San Diego. It's way too depressing. Main Street Tijuana; the Avenida Revolución (Spanish for "Revolution Avenue"). It is a main thoroughfare of the historic downtown of Tijuana, officially called the Zona Centro, which forms part of the Delegación Centro or Central Borough of Tijuana. Inside an arcade in Tijuana. The stuff they sell here is junk, tourist junk, the worst kind of junk.
January 17, 1986   Bob Whitely and daughter Kelly join us at Knott's Berry Farm. Kelly and Dean prepare to launch on Montezuma's Revenge. This is a Jamaican steel band. The drums are beaten into shape from old 55 gallon drums and are played with soft hammers. The sound from so many drums is glorious. Dean walks ahead of Bob and Kelly. Roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm.
Model of one of California's missions. January 5, 1986   The San Diego Fishing Pier. Dean fishing. Surf's up from the pier
Good swell running Bruce Walters from work. Bruce is a great guy and goes out of his way to make us feel at home. He and Sandy invite Dean, Jenni and I for lunch at their house. This pelican catches a fish that Bruce throws into the air. They are quite a bit darker than Australian Pelicans.
Tierrasanta looking up Balboa from Viewridge Ave. In Balboa Park, an organist is playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Dean is unimpressed. January 17, 1986   People from SE-SD invite us to a USPGA tournament played at La Costa in San Diego. Their apartment complex stretches along the golf course so we sit on the verandah and watch the game.
Second shot to the 16th. Pitching to the 16 green Putting out on the 16th. Calvin Peete wins the tournament with 21 under par, a tournament record. January, 1986   Dean and I sit in the car near Miramar NAS and watch the planes do touch and go's. This is an F14 practising carrier deck landings.
The F14 in landing mode. A Navy F18 does the same practice manoeuvres. F18 wheels down. Landing at Miramar. SE-SD is on the other side of Miramar, the I5 Freeway runs between us.
An F15, probably USAF or Marines. F15 An old (even then) A4 Skyhawk. January, 1986 Dean and Jenni at the Cabrillo Monument. Cabrillo National Monument is at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542.
January, 1986 San Diego's skyline from Point Loma. The Coronado Bridge joins San Diego with Coronado. The San Diego Coronado Bridge is a prestressed concrete/steel girder bridge, crossing over San Diego Bay. It is part of State Route 75. The 32nd Street Naval Station from Point Loma. Naval Base San Diego, also known as 32nd Street Naval Station, is the second largest surface ship base of the United States Navy. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of over 50 ships and over 150 tenant commands. 1986 early86 0095 a
Aircraft carriers in San Diego. The USS Ranger. Ranger was decommissioned in 1993, and was stored at Bremerton, Washington until March 2015. She was then moved to Brownsville for scrapping, which was completed in November 2017. San Diego skyline. January 17, 1986   We travel to Buckeye AZ and take Dean with us. He and Jenni tour Southern Arizona while I attend the Southwest Regionals. This picture is of the front of our first rental apartment in Tierrasanta.
We transport my plane in its box because we need the additional seating for Dean On our way to Buckeye from Desert View off I8. Sun setting as we drive east. Bart Klapinski flies the stunt pattern.
Bob Whitely and Jim Armour sit quietly and reflect. A good number of planes attend. It's desert country. Why is this area so flat? It's actually from the mountains that have worn away over millions of years. All I have available to fly is my plane from the 1984 World Championships. It still works OK.
Bob wears a beard today. Bart Klapinski and Jim Armour. I actually do OK. January, 1986 We go to the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park
I always feel a bit sad when I see these beautiful animals caged up. 1986 early86 0113 a 1986 early86 0115 a Both species of Orangutans have experienced sharp population declines. A century ago there were probably more than 230,000 orangutans in total, but the Bornean orangutan is now estimated at about 104,700 based on updated geographic range (Endangered) and the Sumatran about 7,500 (Critically Endangered).
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1987 WhileInTheUSA 0022 a 1986 early86 0121 a 1986 early86 0122 a California Sea Lions put on a show.
1986 early86 0043 a 1986 early86 0046 a 1986 early86 0048 a By 2022, eighteen black rhinos belonging to two different subspecies have been born at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park .
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I once saw a bald eagle in flight at Orcas Island and it was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. These great birds are majestic in flight. January 28, 1986   I am at Rancho Bernardo and an engineer there announces that the Challenger Space Shuttle has just blown up 73 seconds into its launch killing all seven crew on board. On board is a school teacher called Christa McCauliffe and this saddens me deeply. The shuttle program stops for two years until NASA management finds someone to blame (themselves). President Reagan postpones the State of the Union address and instead addresses the nation from the Oval Office about the disaster. Personally, it is a very disturbing moment. It looks like he's taller than me already. January, 1986 We're at LAX. All too soon, it's time for him to leave.
We all had a great time. We drive back to Tierrasanta. On the way home, we take a picture of the I8/I805 interchange. Marvelous bit of engineering. The end of this segment