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keyan_bowesThis is part 4 (the final one) of my journey to Ojai... read here for previous installments: Part 1; Part 2: Part 3.
We left Beautiful Downtown Ventucopa with a sense that the rest of the journey would probably be a drive through boring industrial-scale farmland until we got back to the bay area. It wasn't.
The first surprise was a glimpse of white somewhere over the hills. We'd left the snow behind long since, so what could it be? Then we went by a turnoff marked Soda Lake Road. Aha! We followed the turnoff.
The actual Soda Lake, it turned out, was some 30 miles away, and though it sounded interesting, such a long detour didn't work for our timeline. But we thought we'd look for the glimmer of white - and we found it. Apparently, the Lake itself is surrounded by 130 pans (I researched it later on Google). We'd found one of them. It was quite extraordinary, a bed of bright white against the dull winter hills.
Then, as we drove on, we got another surprise: A field of Nodding Donkeys. I've seen pumps like these drawing oil from the ground in China and Los Angeles. I'd never expected to find them here. Soon we were driving through the town of Taft on the Petroleum Highway. Suddenly, the countryside was wholly industrial and there were these pumps, going up and down like drinky-birds, the formerly deserted road was full of trucks, and the sky full of overhead wires. It was fascinating.
After that, we drove through the small town of Avenal, its romantic name belying its main mission: a State Prison. Soon we reached the I-5, the main freeway between the Bay Area and Los Angeles. All the traffic we'd missed on the Hwy 33 was there, but for a change most of it was cars, not trucks.
We turned off for the Pacheco Pass at Los Banos, and were back among the hills. We always stop at the Casa de Fruta, an old-fashioned stop with a carousel and toy train, a restaurant and wine-store, a fruit and candy store ... and peacocks. The peacocks are quite unafraid of everything, including traffic. I think they're accustomed to being fed by visitors. There's always a few in the parking lot.
That's the last part of the Journey, really. After that, there's the descent into Gilroy, the wonderful smell of roasted garlic from a processing plant, and then it's on to the 101 freeway and back in the Bay Area. Home.
I couldn't resist playing around with the peacock image to create a fire-bird of sorts... it didn't come out very well, but I thought I'd post it anyway.
We left Beautiful Downtown Ventucopa with a sense that the rest of the journey would probably be a drive through boring industrial-scale farmland until we got back to the bay area. It wasn't.
The first surprise was a glimpse of white somewhere over the hills. We'd left the snow behind long since, so what could it be? Then we went by a turnoff marked Soda Lake Road. Aha! We followed the turnoff.
The actual Soda Lake, it turned out, was some 30 miles away, and though it sounded interesting, such a long detour didn't work for our timeline. But we thought we'd look for the glimmer of white - and we found it. Apparently, the Lake itself is surrounded by 130 pans (I researched it later on Google). We'd found one of them. It was quite extraordinary, a bed of bright white against the dull winter hills.
Then, as we drove on, we got another surprise: A field of Nodding Donkeys. I've seen pumps like these drawing oil from the ground in China and Los Angeles. I'd never expected to find them here. Soon we were driving through the town of Taft on the Petroleum Highway. Suddenly, the countryside was wholly industrial and there were these pumps, going up and down like drinky-birds, the formerly deserted road was full of trucks, and the sky full of overhead wires. It was fascinating.
After that, we drove through the small town of Avenal, its romantic name belying its main mission: a State Prison. Soon we reached the I-5, the main freeway between the Bay Area and Los Angeles. All the traffic we'd missed on the Hwy 33 was there, but for a change most of it was cars, not trucks.
We turned off for the Pacheco Pass at Los Banos, and were back among the hills. We always stop at the Casa de Fruta, an old-fashioned stop with a carousel and toy train, a restaurant and wine-store, a fruit and candy store ... and peacocks. The peacocks are quite unafraid of everything, including traffic. I think they're accustomed to being fed by visitors. There's always a few in the parking lot.
That's the last part of the Journey, really. After that, there's the descent into Gilroy, the wonderful smell of roasted garlic from a processing plant, and then it's on to the 101 freeway and back in the Bay Area. Home.
I couldn't resist playing around with the peacock image to create a fire-bird of sorts... it didn't come out very well, but I thought I'd post it anyway.
