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photo by Donald Kinney
Standing alone like a fin, Point Sur clearly reminded me that indeed, I had found my roots. Visits these days are limited to guided tours in groups on certain days, but as a teenager I was able to scamper up the road on the backside of the monolith and explore the exterior of the buildings independently.
Point Sur light-station was completed in 1889. Until the section of Highway 1 south of Bixby Creek was built in 1937 getting here was a definite challenge on a tiny, long, rough and convoluted dirt road that still exists.
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photo by Donald Kinney
It had been decades since I had taken Highway 1 all the way down the coast--usually with the Hearst Castle at San Simeon as the destination. I had forgotten what a long and winding road it is. At Cambria I headed inland and was able to get a view of Moro Rock (right) several miles to the south.
The land between Paso Robles and Bakersfield along Highway 46 isn't much to write home about, but I rediscovered Chevron's oil wells (left) in a desolate area named Lost Hills.
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photo by Donald Kinney
I had to stop and snap. Cattle tracks on hillsides have always fascinated me.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Bakersfield is a horrid and sprawling city that rates low on my list, but the narrow highway heading east follows the wide and rushing Kern River--with spectacular and tall granite walls on each side. If I was saddled with the misfortune of having to live in Bakersfield, I'm sure I would be spending a lot of my free time soaking my toes in the Kern River.
A old hydroelectric plant is located here but appeared to be off-line for maintenance, as water was spewing out of a diversion tunnel, cascading hundreds of feet down a granite cliff.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Adventure for day two was coming to a close and I needed a place to camp. I had almost forgotten that sweet dreams are made out of sunsets. Zzzzz...
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2 comments:
I dispise Bakersfield to the point I will not even stop to buy fuel there. I plan my fuel stop before or after. Just get me through that place as quickly as possible.
Hi SINBAD'S DAD (JOHN) -- Yeah, the heat is what usually gets me the most in Bakersfield. Most people don't know that bread is baked out in the fields surrounding Bakersfield -- no need for an oven. And although I was able to avoid it this year, then there is that horrid Highway99 with trucks more than willing to run us poor slobs off the road. Oh, then there is radio -- nothing but religious stations and angry right-wingers... Oh lord, take me home...
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