Ooh - Science Quiz Show for the Explorit Museum in #DavisCA #ScienceIsFun

Quick link here --- for those in the Davis area interested in science in any way you might want to check out the upcoming Explorit quiz / game show/ challenge. October 7 2010 at Freeborn Hall.

2010 Science Challenge — Explorit Science Center

Yay: #DavisCA police come through quickly on issue of dangerous signs

So , Saturday I got really annoyed with some unsafe street signs in Davis. I wrote some emails to the police and some realtors. I took pictures. I posted a blog post. And so on (see blog here - Davis, CA: Getting more and more annoyed with dangerous Real Estate signs in #DavisCA). Basically, the issues were realtors putting their open house signs in the street and some others putting signs in areas to block the view of oncoming traffic.

And though I got a response from one of the realtors, it was not very convincing. Thus I was more than pleased this AM to get an email back from the Davis Police Department in response to the emails I had sent in to policeweb@cityofdavis.org

And they said two things. First, they had talked to the manager of the apartment complex that had been placing a sign obstructing traffic and the manager was taking it down. And the police were going to send an email to all realtors in the area reminding them that placing their signs in the street or other public right of way was illegal. May seem like a small thing to many, but I have seen a few near crashes due to the realtor signs and worried about crashes due to the apartment sign. And thus to have these issues fixed so quickly made my day.

I must say, I have had nothing but good interactions with the Davis Police when I have sent questions or emails to their non emergency email address.

Burrowing Owls on Wildhorse Ag Buffer Trail

In addition to the crawdads, the burrowing owls have been out in full force on the Wildhorse Ag buffer trail recently. There are at least 20 if not more living in the tunnels along the trail. Always entertaining.

More crawdad fishing in Wildhorse Creek, Davis, CA

Here are some pictures from another night of crawdad fishing. We have been going for some walks along the Wildhorse Ag. Buffer trail at night and keep coming upon a few families fishing for crawdads in the creek. This night, they also had one of their cats with them. It was quite entertaining, with the kids lowering McNuggets into the creek and reeling up crawdads in seconds. Then they dumped out the bucket and watched them crawl back to the creek.

Getting more and more annoyed with dangerous Real Estate signs in #DavisCA

I am getting more and more annoyed with the Davis Realtor crowd. They seem to think that they can place signs anywhere they want to promote their sales. Here are some examples I took today, including one sign by Mona DeMasi that forced a couple of kids further into the path of a car while the kids were trying to ride around a circle.

Crawdads from Wildhorse Creek, Davis, CA

Just a quick one here. Went for a walk last night on the Wildhorse Agricultural Buffer trail near Wildhorse and bumped into a few families "fishing" for crawdads on the bridge over the little creek there. They were catching them just for the kids to look at them and then let them go on the bridge, which entertained my kids quite a bit ... here is a slide show of the crawdads:

Shields Oak Grove at Davis Arboretum looking great

Just thought I would post a few pics of the new Shields Oak Grove path/tour in the Davis Arboretum.  It is very very nice and looks like it will expand with more trails, etc.  The pics do not do the place justice but I thought I would post anyway.

Good kids activity around Davis: Aerospace Museum of California

Good time today with my kids at the Aerospace Museum of California. Just East of Sacramento - with a nice facility, great outdoor playground, and lots of plances and satellites and rockets and other things. My kids loved it. Here are some pics:

New hotel at #UCDavis is quite nice

Here is a little video I made when I went to pick up Rebecca Skloot for her talk at UC Davis last week. She was staying at the new UC Davis hotel University of California Davis Hotel | Hyatt Place which is on campus right near the Mondavi Center. The hotel seemed very very nice.




Just thought I would post the vid -- seems like it is a good addition to the area hotels with the one exception that it is not in downtown.

Wildhorse Ag Buffer and Burrowing Owls

Just thought I would post some pics here from a walk on the Ag Buffer trail behind WildHorse gold course. Lots of burrowing owls out there these days.

More from Yolo Basin

Here are some pictures from a recent trip to Yolo Basin

Fun at the #UCDavis Raptor Center

Some pics from a family visit to the UC Davis Raptor Center open house