Google’s Self-Driving Car (California Vacation)

The thought of a self-driving car seems like an idea snatched from the pages of science fiction. The idea of one seems fantastic and scary at the same time. Last week at the Computer History Museum, Google had one of their self-driving cars on display where we got to learn a little bit more about how they work. I suppose if you can afford to design and build a self-driving car, you might as well do it in a Lexus SUV, as you see here. None of my pictures of the inside of the car came out very well, but… (read more)

RobOHara

Computer History Museum (California Vacation)

Get ready for another picture-intensive post that documents my family’s visit to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California! The Computer History Museum is divided into 20 numbered rooms, which advance their way through the history of computers chronologically, and starts with a pretty old computer — the Abacus. From a historical perspective this makes perfect sense, but it doesn’t do a good job in convincing a couple of kids that this museum is not going to be boooooring. At least the first 10 rooms of the museum cover computers that were made before I was born. There were… (read more)

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Sequoia National Park (California Vacation)

The drive to to Sequoia National Park was long — four or five hours from where we had stayed the night before — but oh so worth it. In less than an hour, we went from roughly sea level to an elevation of more than 7,500 feet. The road to Wuksachi Lodge is narrow and hugs the mountains. On their way up drivers are in the outside lane, giving them both a fantastic view and white knuckles. Fortunately there are multiple scenic “pull offs” so that you don’t have to take pictures while driving. Once we arrived at the park,… (read more)

RobOHara

Jelly Belly Factory Tour (California Vacation)

Susan has a knack for finding tours that are both interesting and free. One she found during this trip was a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory, located in Farifield, California. Outside the factory are several “bean-wrapped” cars, including this one, a van, a VW bug, and several box trucks. These must be a great deterrent for road rage. How can you get mad at a car covered in jelly beans, even in California traffic?? The festive look continues inside the factory lobby. While waiting for the tour to begin visitors are encouraged to visit the free Jelly Belly bar,… (read more)

RobOHara

Warner Bros. Studio (Part 2 of 2) (California Vacation)

After completing our tour of the back studio lot of Warner Bros., we moved to some of the television sets. The first set we toured was the set of the television show Sullivan and Son. We have not seen the television show Sullivan and Son yet, but it was one of two sets we were allowed to take photos on. Here is a picture I found online of the show. Below are pictures of my kids in front of the set. This is what is referred to as a “dollhouse” set. It’s called that because the set has three walls… (read more)

RobOHara

Warner Bros. Studio (Part 1 of 2) (California Vacation)

The Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California offers daily tours of its back lot. This is one of the things I was really looking forward to seeing on the vacation and it did not disappoint. The Warner Bros. back lot consists of almost 30 sound stages and lots of other sets both indoors and out. Some of them were instantly recognizable, some of them were recognizable with a bit of prodding, and some you wouldn’t recognize in a million years. Our tour began with a brief movie showing clips from nearly 100 years worth of WB movies, television programs, and… (read more)

RobOHara

Visiting Hollywood (California Vacation)

When people who know me find out I’ve never been to California, most of them are surprised. “It seems like your kind of place,” they say, and they’re partially right. I love movies and music and the entire entertainment industry and I love reading about and seeing “behind the scenes” of how those things operate. When I was a kid I used to tell people the reason I hadn’t been to California is because I was afraid I would never come back. As a young man that might have been true, but I’m afraid at this point the crowds, traffic… (read more)

RobOHara

Back Home in Oklahoma

It’s funny how that carrot-on-a-stick promise of “it’s only a 2 1/2 hour flight from California to Oklahoma” turns into 11 hours after you figure in the drive to the airport, returning the rental car, time spent in the TSA security line and so on. We left our hotel in Pleasant Hill, California at 6:30am this morning, and arrived home at 5:30pm. In the past seven days we visited Disneyland, the Warner Brothers Studio, Rancho Obi-Wan, the Jelly Belly factory, the Sequoia National Forest, Computer History Museum, and Alcatraz/Pier 39, with lots of other little stops and diversions along the… (read more)

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Updates from California (California Vacation)

It’s the fourth morning of our vacation and I haven’t updated the blog because we haven’t had a lot of downtime yet. Here’s a brief recap of the past three days. I’ll be writing more and posting more pictures when I get home for sure. Last Friday we flew out to California. As you all know by now I am not a big fan of flying but the rum and Cokes in first class make the experience a little more tolerable. Saturday morning, bright and early, we went to Disneyland. It was the first time for all of us. We… (read more)

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