Homeward bound from Arizona

I ambled home from Arizona last weekend, and with fine weather, I've been roaming around the local area as well.  Yesterday I went hiking at Point Lobos on a toasty warm day.  Crystal air, calm seas.

 

Rocks, green grass, and morning sun created this scene between Tehachapi and Arvin.  In spring, after good rains, this is a prime wildflower spot.

 

Old highway 99, south of Bakersfield.  About the time I was born, before there were many freeways, this was the main route between Los Angeles and Sacramento.  Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, James Dean, and who knows who else probably drove this highway back in the day. 

 

A recent storm dropped snow at low levels in southern California and Arizona.  This patch is in the hills near the Grapevine at only about 2500 feet elevation.

 

The hills bordering the Cuyama valley are stark and colorful in the clear winter air.

 

The drought is not over in California...not by a long shot.  But heavy December rains have made the countryside verdant near Santa Maria.

 

I have passed through Morro Bay countless times, but had never stayed there overnight.  So I did, last weekend.  And it's a cool town, with a nice waterfront, pleasant beaches, and a fine relaxed vibe.  Morro Bay has two landmarks.  One is this trio of  stacks, from a power plant built in the 1950s and just closed early in 2014.  No word on the fate of the stacks.

 

Walk a couple hundred yards down the beach from the site of the previous picture and you get...one stack!  Obviously (?) the other two are directly behind the one you can see.  But if you didn't know that....

 

Morro Bay sunrise.

 

Apart from the stacks, Morro Bay has another ubiquitous landmark...Morro Rock.  This is the westernmost of nine volcanic plugs extending from San Luis Obispo westward to the ocean here.  It's about 580 feet high.  BTW the restaurant in the foreground, the Coffee Pot Café, is a fine mom and pop brekky establishment with good food and friendly service.  Only two blocks from the Best Western where I stayed.

 

In addition to tourism, Morro Bay is an active fishing port.  Sunday morning was tranquil, with fine light.

 

A bit north of Morro Bay, it's pupping season at the elephant seal colony at Point Piedras Blancas.  Blow up this pic and you can spot several of the little critters hanging out with their moms.

 

A sunny day at Point Lobos illuminated the moss hanging from the trees.

 

I won't say this deer was tame, but she told me to bet the over on the Oregon-Ohio State game next week.  She also said to take Seattle and give the points against Carolina this weekend, no matter what the spread is.  This is only a slight zoom shot...she was not alarmed by my presence to say the least.  Living at Point Lobos, she's used to us humans, I guess.

Winter day in JTNP

I usually come home from the Phoenix area through Joahua Tree National Park.  It's the most scenic route...in fact, it's downright surreal.  It's a good place for people who like rocks.

 

Teddy bear chollas backlit by the low winter sun.

 

Rocks dot the landscape as if some giant just tossed them there.  In reality, the rocks of JTNP are made of magma that upwelled into softer rock layers.  The soft rock has been eroded away, and millennia of freeze/thaw cycles have split the harder rocks into piles of huge boulders.

 

The low winter sun softens the light and lengthens shadows in JTNP...it's an abstract place.

 

There are many old abandoned mines in JTNP.  This is the remnant of a house that sheltered the miners.  Looks like they forgot to take their bed along.  This mine operated from 1895 to 1961.

 

A neat addition to the desert scene...snow!  There was a cold storm earlier this week...Dec 30/31...and the higher parts of the park above 4000 feet or so received a few inches of snow.  I made the mistake of driving an unpaved road and ran into lots of slush...the car is Really Dirty now.

 

More rockpiles and Joshua Trees.

 

A Joshua soars into a crystal sky.

 

Another fine abstract scene.  A lot of artists live in these parts, down in Yucca Valley and the town of Joshua Tree...it's easy to see why.

 

A snow/rock pattern.  Nature's abstract art.