85/365: San Jose Scene

85/365: San Jose Scene, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

Sadly, this is how most people see San Jose, beautiful skies, distant green or golden mountains all viewed from some mall parking lot. I'm attempting to discover the charming parts of San Jose (and they are there) and get out into the many, many open spaces around it and within the city limits. And yes, I've just discovered the panorama function on my new camera and I can't stop myself.

84/365: Silicon Valley

84/365: Silicon Valley, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

As seen from Almaden Quicksilver Park. It was interesting walking around the ridgetop from the highest end of the park. On one side, the views were probably the same as the De Anza Expedition saw when they traveled up from Mexico to found the Presidio of San Francisco. On the other side, you see this view: total urban sprawl.

Besides that, you get to walk through old Mercury mines featuring some of the most toxic substances in Nature, as well as braving Hantavirurs which has been detected in some of the old buildings. The story here:

leftcoastcowboys.com/2013/03/25/hi-ho-quicksilver-and-away/

72/365: Dog and Sphinx Are Friends

72/365: Dog and Sphinx Are Friends, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

Today on the blog, Oscar the Smooth Fox Terrier is guest posting. He's got a thing or two to day about this part time gig in San Jose. It may be The Capitol of Silicon Valley, but Oscar hasn't yet been shown that it's a good place for dogs.

This is one of the highlights, the garden of the Rosecrucian Egyptian Museum. The terriers are careful not to wee here as it might bring on a Mummy's Curse. But they do like the sphinxes as sister, Lucy, demonstrates.

Oscar's report here:

leftcoastcowboys.com/2013/03/13/a-dogs-eye-view-of-san-jose/

65/365: Yes, Another Flower

65/365: Yes, Another Flower, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

This is become cliche for me. But I'm not trying to punt. I'm genuinely amazed at all the flowers and plants that are bursting out. I'm not sure how their long-term health will fare as we are having periods of warm Spring-like weather interspersed with a week of freezing cold weather. So maybe the buds of one week will be the casualties of the next week. We've had a cold week and this guy came through. If he can just hang in there, they are forecasting some balmy weather in the 70s for next week.

64/365: Babe the Giant Muffler Man

64/365: Babe the Giant Muffler Man, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

More San Jose kitsch. Amazingly, this statue -- just off the historic Alameda -- still advertises a working muffler shop.

Another day attempting to find the walkable and historic parts of San Jose. Mixed results as I outline here:

leftcoastcowboys.com/2013/03/05/estamos-recorriendo/

53/365: The Way to San Jose

53/365: The Way to San Jose, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

As I've explained on my blog, we've suddenly had a paradigm shift. Andy, who's been commuting from San Francisco to San Jose up to three hours a day for nearly 30 years, has decided he can't do it any more. So we've got a pad in San Jose and the terriers and I are doing the commuting -- between San Jose, San Francisco and Sonoma! It's a lot of culture shock, but I'm determined -- if I'm going to be here two or three days a week -- to find all the good things in San Jose. Silicon Valley has a reputation of being one big swath of office parks and malls, but in the older neighborhoods, the style of small one story bungalows featuring detached garages in the back, makes for miles and miles where you can walk tree and lawn lined streets without seeing a single parked car on the street.

The story here:

leftcoastcowboys.com/2013/02/22/the-way-to-san-jose/

Plus, if you scroll to the bottom of the post, you'll learn why the Germans might not know the way to San Jose. Because their version of this international hit translates to "The Coffee from San Jose is Hot."

52/365: Spring is Sprung

52/365: Spring is Sprung, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

Today I went scouting for running trails in San Jose and found, despite our unseasonably cold weather, that spring has sprung. At least down by Guadalupe River Trail.

51/365: Rosicrucian Museum

51/365: Rosicrucian Museum, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

I'm still in the 365 program. And I have been taking pictures. Just not uploading them. Why? Because we've had a paradigm shift around here. After 25 years of Andy commuting up to three hours a day back and forth to work, we've gotten a San Jose crash pad for him and the terriers and I are now the road warriors. It's been disconcerting -- and I'm always in one place and my card reader, laptop and chargers are in another -- but it promises to be an adventure. This, by the way, is the Rosicrucian Museum -- modeled on the Temple at Karnak. It houses the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in the Western U.S. -- thanks to a shadowy group that is sort of like Masons with a love of Ancient Egypt. The dogs and I pass it on our walks -- we're still looking for a real dog park -- but we don't want to risk a mummy's curse by pooing on these lawns.

The story here: leftcoastcowboys.com/2013/02/20/the-great-terrier-road-show/

50/365: Dogs at the Dog House

50/365: Dogs at the Dog House, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

Still trying to explore my way through San Jose. I'm not finding much of old San Jose, it's all been plowed under with strip malls and shopping centers. But every now and then a bit of late Fifties or early Sixties, San Jose pops up. Who remembers Der Wienerschnitzel? I've passed two just within city limits. As a bonus, this one featured a guy with two dogs on a leash buying and feeding his pooches hot dogs. (FYI, does it bug anyone else that this hot dog chain is named after a famous pounded and breaded veal or pork dish that has nothing to do with wieners or hotdogs, but is a specialty of Vienna?)

49/365: Terrier Settee

49/365: Terrier Settee, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

One of the great things about the new San Jose place is that we bought some of the furniture from the previous owner. That saved us from any decorating (which we didn't want to do). But best of all, her decorating scheme featured a number of low settees that are easier for terriers to jump up on. Lucy is loving this one.

37/365: Angry Hippo

37/365: Angry Hippo, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

We'll admit it: we are more than a little obsessed with San Jose's Rosicrucian Museum. Especially since we pass it on our 1 mile dog walk route. I'm not sure if dogs are actually allowed in the sculpture gardens that surround the museum. This hippo didn't seem pleased with the idea. He was even less pleased when Oscar wee'd on him.