Wide Open Spaces

I left L.A. and flew to Billings, Montana. Billings is the largest city in Montana with a population of 100,000.
In Texas, Billings would be the 25th largest city.
Anyway, Billings wasn't my final destination, as I still had to drive three and half hours to Gillette, Wyoming.

It took a while getting out of Billings.





After I did make it out of Billings, the drive was quite beautiful. Three-plus hours of driving through the rolling hills. Yes, those undulating, nauseating hills. Those "music going up, static coming down" hills.








This is why I'm here. All the cars on the train are filled with coal. The coal comes from central Wyoming. Tons of coal.


I passed the sight of the Battle of Little Big Horn. Rather than paying ten dollars to see the field, I opted for a hokey photo at a nearby gift shop.


The cockpit of my luxury sedan. Through some odd twist, I ended up with an Infiniti M35. It's got just about every bell and whistle, including keyless ignition and air conditioned seats! I spent a good five minutes before even driving it, just trying to figure out what buttons do what.

Fan-damonium

Dallas Cowboys fans and autograph hounds.







The following kids have been given the Kool-Aid at an early age. Poor kids...



Some parents were dropping their kids over the fence so they could run onto the field after practice to get an autograph. Smart.






Monica?

Ode to In-N-Out

Hamburger Haiku:



Number One Combo:
Double Double, fries and Coke.
Made Animal style.



In my hotel room
The burger tastes much better
But the fries are cold.



Eight times in ten days
I've been eating In-N-Out
Is that overkill?



In-N-Out Burger,
I will name, in your honor,
My coronary.



Crisp white paper hat,
Red aprons and free stickers,
Service with a smile.

Quite an Ad-Ventura

I spent the last week in Ventura, covering the Dallas Cowboys training camp in nearby Oxnard.
Ventura is a nice little town about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. The city is kind of three towns in one.


The view from city hall.

There’s the normal, everyday town with businesses, fast-food joints and the local neighborhoods.
There’s also the beach town. Ventura sits right on the coast and, in fact, my hotel was just a few yards from the beach. There’s a state park and a harbor as well as the beachside restaurants.


Lots'o palms.

Then, there’s downtown Ventura; a stretch of maybe five blocks on Main St. that’s a nice mix of shopping, fine dining and entertainment.


Main Street, downtown Ventura.

It seems Ventura is going through a renaissance of sorts, as there wasn’t nearly this amount of activity the last time I was here. Because of this, there’s an eclectic mix. You’ll see a nice restaurant next to a dive bar. Or a thrift store next to an antique store next to a fine furnishings store. During my stay, Kevin Costner, who grew up in Ventura, had his new movie’s premier at the Ventura Theater. I didn’t go, cause I was eating at Dukes on the beach.
It’s pretty cool. Especially the fine dining I referred to. In my short week there, I ate Thai, Peruvian, Indian and Persian food. I also ate lots of seafood. And In-n-Out Burger. It was all very tasty and moderately priced.


Greetings at "A Good Thai and Peruvian Restaurant." Yes, that's what it's called.


When in Rome...A shot of wheat grass juice after lunch.

Oh, yeah…In case you’re wondering: The earthquake that hit L.A. was felt in Ventura — but not by me. I was in the shower.

More from Los Angeles

Tricia and I spent a few days in the L.A. area before I had to "work."

First, we went to the beach in Santa Monica.



Then, we went for a hike.


Then, she left with some guy in a sports car.

Something Fishy

Tricia and I went down to the pier at Redondo Beach. While there, we visited Quality Seafood, a nice little place buy fresh seafood. I hear it's a quality product. I was intrigued by the fish faces and wondered what they must have been feeling just before they died.

Surprised

Disgusted

Blind

Sad

Confused

Content

La La Land

Hi,

I'm in Los Angeles for a few days of beachy-keen fun with my wifey. She arrives tomorrow.
Today, I spent with my good pal, Joel McGee. He's an executive at Game Show Network (insiders just call it "GSN.")
If you've seen "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," or "Deal or No Deal," then you've seen two hit shows that Joel had nothing to do with. He has, however, produced or had a hand in many, many shows over his career, as well as a stint with Animal Planet.
But, I'll always remember him as the other guy on the 10th grade football team that didn't really get to play.

Top down. Thumbs up.

Never a dull moment. Okay, maybe one.

The pier at Redondo beach.

Try, try, try to understand...

Crabs so fresh, they have their own barnacles.

Your gonna need a bigger boat.

Manhattan Beach.

Joel just bought a $100 iron (no, really!) and asked Jean if he could use Febreeze instead of water for the steam valve. The Febreeze idea was mine. I've wanted to try that for a long time.