Tag Archives: alameda

Guarding the Gate That Doesn’t Exist Anymore

Over the years, many military installations have been closed down.  In what form they get handed back to the local community varies.  Close to us is Alameda.  This was once a big base for the Navy with many ships based there and an airfield that was home to many operational aircraft.  The whole thing is now closed with the runway having garnered most attention as the location for many a stunt by the Mythbusters.  The layout of the base is still much as it was beforehand though.  The hangars are still there now being home to local businesses.

The aviation theme shows itself in some relics of the past.  Gate guardians are common at air bases and Alameda has a few.  Drive into the old base along one main road and you go around a grassy circle which has an A-7 mounted on a plinth in the middle.  It is loaded up and looks pretty dramatic.  Another gate near the water has an A-4 Skyhawk mounted just inside.  It has the name of some local dignitaries painted on the side.

Another Skyhawk is not far away.  This one is not on the base itself.  Instead it is mounted outside a local school.  The Jet is not as dramatically painted as the others but it is still a pretty cool thing to have outside your school if you are an aviation nut like me.  It actually looks like it could do with a repaint before too long.  It’s good to see that they are still on guard duty, even if the thing they were guarding is no more.

Who Doesn’t Love the Sound of Bagpipes?

B11I7134.jpgYou can’t have Highland Games without having the pipes and drums.  A large array of bands had turned up to compete.  There was a small arena in which they would perform their routine while a group of judges would walk around and score them on whatever is considered important in these competitions.  The pipes would play, the drums would drum, they would change formation and the drummers would wave their sticks around.  It was all good fun.

B11I7142.jpgTeams had traveled from all over the place.  Some had come from Canada.  While they were waiting their turn, they would find a space nearby and run through their performance.  It was often more fun to walk amongst the groups while they were doing this and see what they were up to.  It is slightly more amusing to look at people dressed up in highland clothing – clothes that are designed for use in the Scottish climate – while they are in the California sun.  I imagine they were roasting.

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Throwing a Stick – A Big Stick!

B11I7065.jpgA focus of the Highland Games in Pleasanton was the traditional sports thought of when you use the term Highland Games and the most famous of these is tossing the caber.  The event took place on the finish straight of the horse racetrack.  Everyone stood in the grandstand while the athletes did their best on the track.  (This did mean that the barrier was in the way of most of the shots.)

B11I7034.jpgThe guys taking part were some big fellas.  The goal is to flip the pole end over end.  They get a run up going – no mean feat while balancing a large pole by one end – and then heave it in to the air.  The pole is tapered and they hold the thinner end so the thicker end hits the ground and, if there is enough momentum, the thinner end will arc up and over.  This is not easy to do and the guys were having a lot of trouble.  I think we came in at the end of the competition so probably missed some of the earlier (and presumably easier) throws.  The celebration when they made it was something in itself.  I don’t think I would like to get on the wrong side of any of these guys.

Well Trained Dogs (or Well Trained Sheep)

B11I6931.jpgAlameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton are home to more than just the Alameda County Fair.  They also held the Highland Games.  This was a mix of Celtic sports and other rural activities from the UK.  Part of that included some sheep dog trials.  A variety of owners and their dogs took turns in herding a group of sheep around a variety of obstacles and in to a pen – all done against the clock.  I love watching sheepdogs at work.  They are so controlled in the way they move and keep the sheep where they want them.  We have seen them in action for real while in the UK and they really do know what they are doing.

B11I6933.jpgIn a more controlled environment such as a show like this, things are a little different.  There are people all around them and you can’t help but wonder whether the sheep are beginning to learn the routine after a while.  Then again, I have crossed paths with sheep on the hills and they really are the dopiest of creatures so expecting them to learn is probably a stretch.  My favorite pose for the dogs is when they are crouched down on the ground waiting for the next sign to move.  They look so intent.

County Fair

wpid10788-AU0E9642.jpgAside from the bike jumping and the pig racing, the rest of the Alameda County Fair was fun to look around. One thing a fair like this has (other than a ton of things to eat) is livestock. We wandered through the halls to see the various animals that were competing (although they didn’t seem terribly aware that they were competing). There were plenty but here are a few of the cuter ones!

Pig Racing

wpid10802-AU0E9718.jpgI have posted about the County Fair already. Another favorite of the fair is pig racing. This is exactly what it sounds like. A small course is set out with a starting gate in one corner and a series of little jumps around the horseshoe shaped track to a finish line. The piglets and lined up in the gate and released and they charge around the course leaping over the hurdles as they go.

wpid10804-AU0E9730.jpgThis is a very popular event and I suspect Nancy was a little embarrassed by my enthusiasm for it. Getting a good view was tricky since a lot of people had got their kids to the front and it would have been unseemly to try barging my way passed the children. I took some shots over the top with a certain amount of guesswork and some people left before the last races so I could get a better view for those.

wpid10806-AU0E9734.jpgNo great assessment of sports shooting technique here. Just something that looks a little amusing. Hope it cheers you up as much as looking back at these shots cheers me up!

Motocross Jumping

wpid10748-AU0E9139.jpgAlameda County Fair is a pretty substantial event and it is held in Pleasanton, a short hop from our home. It runs for a few weeks so we made the effort to get down there during one weekend. It was a hot day but a nice one. There were a number of cool things to see and I shall have some further posts coming up. However, the first post deals with the first thing we saw when coming in the gate. Three motocross riders were performing jumps to entertain the crowd and they were certainly being successful.

wpid10778-AU0E9594.jpgWhen I first took a look at the small area cordoned off for them and the size of the ramps, I figured that things might be quite toned down compared to something like the X-Games stuff you see on TV. I am sure it was a lot less aggressive but I was still very impressed with what they could do. They got phenomenal height from a short run and were able to carry out some quite dramatic moves while airborne.

wpid10774-AU0E9533.jpgInitially I sat in the bleachers to watch but, as soon as it became clear how good they were, I got down to ground level to move around and get a variety of shots. (It also happened that they were jumping again as we went to leave so I managed a few extras then. Forget good planning. Go with luck!)

wpid10742-AU0E9018.jpgEach guy would do a number of jumps individually. They would be off the bike and contorting themselves in all sorts of ways or back flipping the whole thing. One crowd favorite was the Captain Morgan pirate pose in midair which did look cool. The grand finale involved all three of them coming up the ramp in sequence and providing a stream of tricks together. That was quite something.