I have a real hard time pulling for Pitt, Rod - they've cost my Bulldogs two national championships in the past ('76 and '81) - but I'll give it a shot. I think Cincy's over-rated anyway.
Santa Clarita is a late-lunch stop for our family when we visit the western Sierra and do the Yosemite/Kings/Sequoia thing. We stay in Fresno (Hi Steve) and daytrip. We typically get into LAX by 9:00 or 10:00, get the rental car, hit a Wal-Mart for supplies and are on the road for Fresno before noon. Santa Clarita is a perfect stop to eat before we get very far into the Central Valley. We've eaten at that McDonald's off of I-5 near Six Flags several times. Every time through there, our daughter excitedly wants to stop and spend a day at Six Flags, seeming to forget that she's a regular at the Six Flags a dozen miles from our home.
I can't imagine living around so many rattlers, Rod! That would scare the bejeezus out of me with the kids. That's precisely why I have a Marlin .22 - snakes. The terrain is very hilly in the northern metro ATL - basically foothills for the Blue Ridge mountains - so regardless of the density and sprawl, there are creeks and streams everywhere. Therefore varmints, therefore snakes. Many, many copperheads (they're extremely hardy and like roaches - hard to make a dent in the population) and fewer rattlers (usually Timber rattlers - Eastern Diamondbacks, the really dangerous ones, are generally south of Atlanta). Pus the very rare cottonmouth/water moccasin, which is almost completely wiped out in the metro area - just fine by me, as these have always scared the crap outta me. PETA be damned on that subject!
Did your springer survive the bites?
