Frank Denton - The Rogue Raven

Name:
Location: Seattle, Washington, United States

What you have here is an old guy. In education for 30 years, started teaching elementary, ended as library and media director of community college. I've enjoyed mountain climbing, sports car rallying, was pipe major of a bagpipe band, played guitar and sang during the folk revival, walking and hiking later in life. Now fairly sedentary. Enjoy reading, esp. mysteries and fantasy, but my reading is pretty eclectic. Enjoy movies, giving Netflix a workout.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Another Road Trip

The end of May seemed like a good time for a little road trip. So it was off to Reno, Nevada for a stay of nearly a week. Yes, I know gas prices are at an all-time high. The highest we paid was $3.47 in Mt. Shasta, California. The lowest was $2.97 in Klamath Falls, Oregon. This didn’t make any sense to me. Mt. Shasta is near I-5. It should be easy to transport gasoline there. While Klamath Falls is inland and should cost more. But then none of this makes sense. The highest prices in California are near the refineries. And here in Washington the highest prices are in Bellingham, just a hoot and a holler from Ferndale, where the refineries are.

The funniest gasoline sign I saw was at a station as we left Reno. The prices were posted: Regular $3.19; then the next grade Arm; and the top grade Leg.

I’ll probably follow up for a few days with some of our experiences in Reno or on the road. We came home by a different route, heading north from Susanville, CA up past Eagle Lake, and through Central OR to Klamath Falls, then west to Eugene. I must say there is a lot of empty space in this part of Oregon. Lots of trees and some very picturesque lakes. In the occasional village or hamlet we would come across I would wonder, what do the people do who live here? There were some cattle ranches and some people must work for the forest service. A woman who served us lunch in a very small place said, “I just moved here a month and a half ago.” I wanted to ask what brought her there but thought it would be rude. More later.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Hope Springs Eternal

Hope springs eternal. Last Saturday I watched the Kentucky Derby with great anticipation. There were a number of strong horses running. With twenty horses in the field it could be anyone’s race. But I didn’t see any hope for a Triple Crown winner this year. Well, the eventual winner, Barbaro, ran off with a six length win. The accounts in the newspaper tell me that there hasn’t been that big a win since Assault won the Derby in 1946 by eight lengths. So maybe there could be a Triple Crown winner this year. But it looked that way for the last two years. The three races are grueling on a three-year-old horse, not only the distances but the time between races. Three races in a five week period. Only time will tell, but I’ll have my eyes glued to the tube for the next two races. Maybe Barbaro won’t win the next two races. But his victory in the Derby was a marvel to watch.