Around San Diego

During our time at the IDETC09 conference we had some time to wander around town. While there are a lot of good bars in San Diego, there are also a lot of tourist traps. We were able to find most of the good ones and stay away from the bad. Here are a few photos to prove that we were there.

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Mike enjoying some late night food.

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Jon up to his usual tricks.

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Justin, always the photographer.

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Anthony joined us for a bit, too.

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Outside our hotel on the way to the conference.

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Trains crossing the street.

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The train stopped and backed up.  Then it went forward.  Then stopped.  Then backed up.  After about 15 minutes it finally got out of the way and let people cross the tracks.

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Some people actually tried climbing between the cars and engines!

Padres Baseball Game

As part of the conference we got in free to a San Diego Padres game. This was my first baseball game ever. I had to have the rules explained to me a few times before I figured out what was going on. After a few innings we left because the beer was expensive and the game was boring.

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Our first view of the stadium.  This was the first time I had ever been inside a ball park and the first baseball game I ever watched.

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David flashing his conference gang signs.

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Rob enjoying a good laugh.

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Matt double fisting it.  He represented OSU with pride.

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Irem even got in on the beer action.

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The field.  We sat off of the 3rd base.

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Justin and Mike enjoying the game.

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Redwoods with Mike

On Saturday of last week, Mike and I went over to Big Basin Redwoods State Park for a hike.  We went on a different trail than I had done the prior weekend.  This time there were no bee attacks.

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A fire had crawled through this part of the forest at some point in the last few years.  It was very different than the rest of the forest.  Rather than being choked with undergrowth and debris, it was open.  For the most part, only the redwoods survived the burn.

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A bridge Mike and I found.  It was built in the 70’s by the Youth Conservation Corps.

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Rather than a bridge, this creek crossing was made using a fallen redwood.

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A fallen tree.  I think this was a Douglas Fir.