Hello, my name is Dan and this is my DT Log.

Today I may have received among the greatest perks ever given to a message board moderator.

I am currently typing on a laptop from the media room at Chargers Park.

The powers-that-be among the NFL’s San Diego Chargers have allowed me access as a reporter. I get to live the dream I had back when I was a scant lad dreaming of writing for newspapers.

I have already seen the AM practice from the media’s vantage point and also asked questions of a few players and Coach Schottenheimer.

Here is the message board thread which I am working.

EL CAJON, CA (Lindocola LiveJournal):

During a respite from heavy rains, water fell from the sky, but not from the clouds.

At about 11:00 on Tuesday night, a hit-and-run driver slammed into a fire hydrant on Shady Lane, creating a 40-foot tall geyser. El Cajon Police and Fire Department arrived some time later, and were able to shut off the valve at about 11:30, but not before thousands of gallons of water flowed into the Crown Trailer Park.

Here are my pictures:

We live in #41, second from the street. What you see here is the water splashing down on #42, a van in parking space #1, and an RV in parking space #2. My car (with the broken passenger side window covered by a blanket) is in space #4, and was spared from flooding. I really should get that window fixed.

A little closer. You can see power lines interrupting the blast. Good thing those weren’t damaged. The situation would’ve been a lot worse. Next door, Toni and Gene said no water entered their trailer, but their front patio received the full brunt of the flood.

After fifteen minutes, the police arrived to investigate. It took firefighters about fifteen minutes to shut off the water. Shady Lane attracts a lot of hit-and-runs and strange accidents. While I have beem here in the park, a car has rammed a trailer while trying to avoid police TWICE. In the last two months, there have been at least two other hit-and-runs. I’ve also heard what sound like explosions. The only unusual thing that happened today before this was that a funnel cloud DIDN’T hit our park during the Tornado Warning/Watch today.

Speaking of warnings, the whole county is practically under a Flash Flood Advisory. I’m pretty sure this isn’t what they had in mind. As you can see, my porch became a temporary river. No damage thankfully to next door or our trailer.

In my scurrying around to see if anybody needed help, and taking pictures, I soaked my Vans tennis shoes. Bronwynn also needed to get to work about this time. But the flood prevented her from leaving until about 11:35. She had to wear trash bags to get to her truck.

Interestingly enough, as I edit this at 12:00am – it has started to rain yet again. The water is gone from the patio, but towards the middle of the park, there have to be some residual reservoirs.

We had the unfortunate news today that Sera’s birthday party at Wells Park was cancelled. We hope everything is alright in the Riddle household.

I took Siobhane on an outing to Mission Trails Park. Our intention was to follow the historic Father Serra Trail from the vistor center, 1.8 miles to the Old Mission Dam, which holds a personal importance to me. I didn’t take the stroller, which made us abort the trip halfway through, because I became weary of carrying Siobhane on my shoulders like a 30-pound sack of barbels.

The pictures:

Siobhane Touchette, Super Genius.

My little girl is holding the coyote by the ears! At the visitor center is an amphitheater, used for nature shows and the like. There are three permanent patrons – a mountain lion, a rat and this wiley fellow. Siobhane was only interested in the this steel sculpture when I banged on it and showed her it made noise.

Truthfully, I expected a dingy shack stationed by a park ranger with a beard shaggier than Grizzly Adams’s. Instead, we found this multi-million dollar, two-story educational building with a library, a theater, a couple classrooms and a museum exhibit. It’s extravagent, but in a fun way. I can think of worse things tax dollars could be spent on, but it goes to show how the City of San Diego managed to get themselves a billion or so dollars in debt.

What exactly is this?

We set out on the trail and observed and identified some of the native vegetation. Except this one. I have no idea what this is. If anyone tells me, they win a prize. A box of Band-Aids, quantity 60, minus one.

Fortuna Mountain South, elevation 1094.

Visible from Mission Gorge Road, the lower elevated of the pair is on the north shore of the San Diego River through this valley. This photo was taken at about 3pm, with waning sunlight, about halfway up the trail. The Cedar Fire of 16 months ago and recent heavy rain has made the landscape starkly green. It’s a site we don’t often see in our area.

Kwaay Paay, elevation 1194.

We are looking up at about a 45 degree angle to the sheer face of this Kumeyaay-named peak, on the south side of the San Diego River. If we could zoom in on the picture, you would see six or seven rock climbers utilizing this very popular spot.

We made it to about the 8/10 mile mark and headed back. Siobhane then began to act goofy and wiggly around like Jel-Lo. It was very difficult to keep her on my shoulders, and letting her go only meant she would head in the opposite direction of the car. I had to keep her entertained by running, holding her upside down, and carrying her around my shoulders. This more than anything else exhausted me. When we got back to the visitor center, I made sure to get my gallon’s worth from the available water fountain. Siobhane meanwhile found this mud puddle, which led to…

MUDDY BUTT!

Of course a toddler bottom and any trace of moistened soil are magnetically attracted. This is called the Entropic Law of Muddy Tushy.