Lathrop Rendezvous

After deciding to retire from his position as a meteorology professor at San Jose State University, regular blog reader and longtime friend Jerry Steffens is heading back to Mishawaka, Indiana next weekend. We thought it would be brilliant to meet one last time while he was still living in California. So, we decided to meet at a convenient place roughly halfway in-between San Jose and Sacramento on Friday evening. We chose the Denny's Restaurant along I-5, in Lathrop, south of Stockton.

Heading south along Interstate 5 through Elk Grove, a large grass fire was evident (at picture's right). I tried to capture this fire using my trademark crap technique of driving, pointing, and shooting, but, as usual, captured mostly crap.

Since this grass fire occurred Friday evening, it is not the same as Elk Grove's Waterman/Grant Line grass fire, which occurred Saturday afternoon.

The Lathrop Denny's. I arrived at 6:15 p.m., half an hour early. Jerry arrived at 7:30 p.m., 45 minutes late. Jerry's delay was explained by the traffic: he was able to experience and share one of Silicon Valley's most-harrowing experiences: driving east up the Sunol grade during a Friday evening rush hour.

So, I had plenty of time to take some pictures.
Building adjacent to the Lathrop Denny's.

Windy conditions are a challenge for cherry trees.
Times change, but one abiding comfort is that Curly Dock (the reddish plant) stays the same. Curly Dock produces a tasty grain, and was highly favored by the Aztecs, but modern America has little use for it, so it languishes on roadsides.

Left: Curious fence separates the Interstate-5 right-of-way from the Lathrop Denny's. Even more curious, plastic boxes labelled as containing rodenticide can be found at the base of the fence posts.

Below: "No Trucks Beyond This Point". Uh, OK....


Longtime friend Jerry Steffens prepares to head back to Indiana next weekend.