Leaving LA, Playing Modesto

Just had a great show in Modesto.  Here are some shots from the day...

Woke up and walked out to get some breakfast in LA...

Drove north through mountains towards Modesto and then out into the open of the San Juaquin Valley...

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Joaquin_Valley)

Passed orchards of fields of just about everything...

We stopped for lunch.  I bought local cheese, salami, bread, and plums.   Others did similarly and we shared our harvests back on the bus.  With time to spare, I took a quick walk in a peach orchard...

And took a few more photos...

Modesto...  The view out my window.  The building in the upper right hand corner is the Gallo Performing Arts Center.

Walked to the theater for dinner - they provided us a lovely meal.

Looking up beneath welcoming vines...

The performing arts center has two spaces.  We were in one - one of the best houses of the trip in my opinion - and the other held a Syrian symphony on this very night.  Supporters of the event waved flags outside.

I think we all need more flag waving...  For just everyday things...

Early evening sky...

Ben on the loading dock of the theater...

We drive south tomorrow to San Luis Obispo...  We'll be about 10 miles from the Pacific.  I hope we get a chance to see it....

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=abingdon+va&daddr=greeneville+tn+to:lexington+ky+to:poplar+bluff+missouri+to:rolla+missouri+to:effingham+illinois+to:somerset+KY+to:oak+brook+IL+to:appleton,+Wisconsin+to:whitewater,+wisconsin+to:wausau,+wisconsin+to:oskaloosa,+Iowa+to:oklahoma+city,+Oklahoma+to:albuquerque,+NM+to:waco,+tx+to:austin,+tx+to:Fort+Stockton,+TX+to:El+Paso,+TX+to:gilbert,+AZ+to:northridge,+CA+to:modesto,+CA+to:San+Luis+Obispo,+California&geocode=%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3BFUBfGgIdYOHO-Cknwmx7vubsgDFGD-_OwpACvA&hl=en&mra=pe&mrcr=20&sll=37.509726,-101.513672&sspn=20.936294,39.902344&ie=UTF8&z=5

To bed...  Hope all are sleeping well...
O.