Dog & Creature (more added)

Good Afternoon, my Angel,

I am just waking up from a little nap. This morning, while Pearl was at her crafts meeting, me and my exploration partner Kobi Dog went on a little Chatsworth/Simi Valley tour. First, we went to Chatsworth Park North to see the oak trees, then we drove down the road a ways so I could show Dog the Stagecoach Trail, which he had never seen. It's kinda steep, and he didn't really take to it, so we turned back shortly after entering. We still had some time left, but I really had no other destination in mind, so we just started driving. We were on Valley Circle road, which, as you can imagine, Circles the Valley at the western end. A couple miles down, VC is interesected by a road called Box Canyon, which winds it's way up over the Santa Susanas and down the other side into Simi Valley. I thought, "what the heck", and we turned up Box Canyon. It's very steep, super windey, and it looks like you're way out in the country somewhere.

This is only the second time in my life I've ever been to Simi Valley. As I said in a post from last Spring, I've just never had reason to go there. But this time I found something awesome. Box Canyon ends at Santa Susana Pass, which I've been driving a lot when I go up to Garden Of The Gods. But that's on the San Fernando Valley side. The Pass starts at Topanga Canyon at the west end of the Valley, goes through the Santa Susanas, and six miles later, it ends in Simi Valley. Box Canyon is another way to get there, and it ends at the last mile of Santa Susana Pass. Anyway, with Mr. Dog in tow, I continued into Simi, and at the end of the Santa Susana Pass I saw a sign for something called Corriganville Park. I followed it and other signs to an access road, lined with eucalyptus trees, and soon I was parked at the head of a trail leading into the park.

I knew about Corriganville because it used to be a movie location, used mostly for Westerns. It was full of sets - a Western town, a Mexican Village, other "false front" sets for TV shows. I didn't know if those sets were still there, so Dog and I went in search of any remnants. The park itself has many signs, marking different trees. We found a Live Oak, which actually had acorns on it, so I took a couple for souveniers. Down the trail a ways, we came across a medium sized, empty concrete lake. Maybe 2 or three acres in size. A sign identified it as a former location for the filming of many water and underwater scenes for movies, most notably "The Creature From The Black Lagoon". That was a classic sci-fi monster flick from the 1950s. In the lake, you can see the square windows cut into the concrete at below surface level. The sign said that there was an underground camera room behind those windows, for the filming of underwater scenes. They have a copy of "Creature From The Black Lagoon" at Northridge Library, so now I will have to watch it again to see those scenes.

I think Dog was a little disappointed at not getting to see The Creature in person, and he was also starting to tire from all the morning's exertions. So, rather than trekking further to search for the old Western sets, we turned and headed back to the car and drove home. I didn't bring my camera with me this time, because I didn't know we were gonna discover Corriganville, and I'd already shot Chatsworth Park North a bunch of times. But next time I will make the trip by myself (as Dog tends to engage in too much stopping and sniffing to allow me to focus on photography), and I will take some shots. It was a fun trip today, and I will go back next week. When I got home today, I Googled the location of the Western movie sets, and it seems they were all lost to fires over the years. We have had a lot of wildfires in the Chatsworth/Simi area. But Wiki says that there are still some remnants left, old building foundations and stuff, so I will find 'em when I go back by myself. I had a nice little nap just now, and will head back to Pearl's in a half hour.

Pearl is doing okay, too, so everything is good. I hope you are having a great day. I Love You!!
(back at 6:45)  xoxoxoxoxo  :):)

10:50pm : Oh man. I have got a full blown cricket infestation in my apartment. Not good, as my apt. is very small and I am vastly outnumbered. Maybe the traps I bought have brought them out of their hiding places. So far, none have visited the traps, but I hope that changes by morning. I have seen about six or seven of 'em since I came home this eve. They are walking around like they own the joint. Well, tomorrow I will get serious and up the ante. One or two crickets = no biggie. An infestation = sorry crickets, but.......

That is really cool that your physics dept. shared in the Nobel Prize for the Higgs. Stephane is studying to be a particle physicist? That is some heavy duty research work. I always wanted to see a collider myself, just to see how it worked. The coolest thing I did get to see was the Palomar Telescope, when I was little. My Dad was way into astronomy, the outward counterpart to particle physics inward study.

You guys are going to a skiing convention? I didn't know you were a skier. I have never skied, myself, though many of my friends have. We have some local mountain ranges that attract a lot of skiers, but very often all the snow has to be manufactured on site, lol.

I will see you in the morning, my Angel. Sweet Dreams, I Love You.   xoxoxoxoxo  :):)