Nearly a year after our visit to the great state of Wyoming, Lisa and I this time traveled to the great state of California for a combination business trip, holiday, and photo-shooting session.During our Wyoming speed trap hunting trip, we utilized two top-tier radar detectors within each of their respective company product lines, the Escort Passport 9500i and the Whistler XTR-695.
This time out, we called the high-tech Beltronics GX65 into service as I knew we would not only encounter CHP police radar, but also the ever increasing proliferation of red-light camera photo enforcement systems, something to which all other conventional radar detectors are not capable of alerting.
Only like its sister the Escort Passport 9500ix, the Beltronics GX65 is a windshield-mount radar detector that internally incorporates an advanced GPS-system based upon the highly regarded (Cheetah) Trinity Database, designed to alert to the presence of these money making automated photo enforcement systems.
Generally, my preference is to fly Southwest Airlines (which is my favorite U.S. carrier), but as I had an unused balance of airfare credit with American, we booked with them. Unfortunately our flying experience wasn't as favorable as we would have hoped. Perhaps I have been spoiled by flying Southwest. I personally didn't care for being charged an additional $30 each way for simply checking two bags, one for each of us. Nor did I care for the extreme loudness emanating from the S80's engines, towards the back of the plane. For our next trip to Tennessee, we will be sticking with Southwest, as I feel they provide a far more enjoyable and positive customer experience while at the same time resisting the nickle-and-diming of charging additional fees.
Since AA provided no nonstop flights to our destination, we opted to fly into San Jose (instead of San Francisco or Oakland) by way of DFW (Dallas) as opposed to by way of ORD (O'Hare).
Although San Jose's airport has grown over the years, I still find it a nice airport to fly to-and-from. We chose to rent our vehicle with Thrifty as the rate was nearly $800 less for a similar vehicle from Hertz for the same two-week period.
As the afternoon temperature hovered around the 90 degree mark, we opted for a convertible (Chrysler Sebring) and after securing our vehicle, we quickly changed into short-pants and short-sleeve clothing and dropped the top before proceeding towards a brief day visit to Carmel and Monterey
Having mounted our Beltronics GX65 and accompanying Garmin Nuvi 360, we began our journey south. California's weather is interesting to say the least. In just over thirty minutes of traveling south on Highway 101, did the weather abruptly change from being sunny and hot, to overcast/foggy and cold. I suspect the temperature drop was on the order of 30 or more degrees! So much for the convertible. Since the trunk was packed to the brim with our stuff, I opted to raise our windows and turn on the heater instead of going through the trouble or repacking to allow us to raise the top again.
As we approached Carmel, we encountered a heavy amount of holiday traffic returning in the northbound lanes of highway 101, which was something that we didn't want to get stuck in on our return, so we opted instead to abort our trip to Carmel and drive to our ultimate evening destination of Modesto by way of coastal highway 1. And what a nice choice that was.
As we made our way back north, we experienced the beauty of California's coastline and appreciated the fact the state has avoided over-development of their coastline.
Unlike Florida, which is replete with condos and hotels, California has preserved much of its coast for farming. Along our route we encountered some very cool surfers using a parachute-type device to harness wind to propel them towards and away from the beach.
During our trip towards Modesto, we encountered several 34.7 Ghz Ka traffic radar compliments of the California Highway Patrol. In each instance, our Beltronics Pro GX-65 provided ample warning to the impending threats and we ultimately arrived to the town Ripon without incident. We appreciated the renewable (wind) energy efforts seen soon after we crossed the San Mateo Bridge eastbound towards Modesto.During my four-days of business, I asked a colleague of mine where Lisa and I could do some country-dancing. Knowing my cowboy way, he recommended that we visit the town of Oakdale in Stanislaus county and Mike B's (no relation to Whistler's Mike B.) place locally referred to as the "H-Bar-B." Lisa and I fell in love with the town of Oakdale and the farming/ranching community that lives in the area. During our first visit the cowboy bar, the H-B Saloon, we met-up with the owner Mike "Bachi" and his old-time friend Mr. Fitzpatrick, a real cowboy and rancher now residing in Carson City, Nevada, who stopped into town to visit his mother.
Lisa, Bob, and a real Cowboy at the H-B Saloon.
Both men are retired rodeo professionals. We also met some local PRCA talent. Lisa and I also learned the Oakdale has the title of being the Real Cowboy Capital of the World, having recently beaten a challenge by Stephenville, Texas to the title.
Beyond Rodeo, this region is also known for a particular cut of beef, called the Tri-Tip (bottom sirloin roast), served at the House of Beef. Fortunately, Lisa and I aren't vegetarians!
Knowing that I like a good beer, an Oakdale resident insisted we visit Shively's Bar & Grill, built as a quonset hut, featuring a wall-tap of nearly 40 brews!
After concluding our business at Modesto, we decided to next visit San Francisco for a couple of days as Lisa wanted to visit Alcratraz island...Bob, Speed Trap Hunter
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