Given the shortened amount of daylight that we were faced with as days would continue to get shorter until the Winter Solstice at around December 20, we had to take this more direct route instead of the more gradual Route 101 through Santa Barbara and beyond along the coast. California really should enforce those laws since it appeared to be better enforced in other states (judging by how the road etiquette seemed to be better adhered to out of state than here). That said, the drive up the I-5 was fairly smooth going (aside from annoying drivers who still clog the passing lane and do not adhere to the road etiquette of keeping right except to pass. However, in terms of our environment, this was obviously a result of Global Warming (aka Climate Change) as there are more frequent “fire seasons” in the forests as a result of the warmer and drier climate in the forests.Īnd regardless of whether you want to deny it or not or whether it’s human caused or whatever deniers want you to believe, it doesn’t take away from the science that predicted this long ago and now everyone is living with the consequences of ignoring it or not taking the measures necessary to mitigate it (and yet still vote as if this problem doesn’t exist go figure).Īnd while the air quality and smoky haze was depressing, it was nowhere near as bad as when we were driving through Spokane, Washington last year (from the British Columbia fires) or when Mom and I were driving south on the 395 during the Kern River fires. This case of extremes was definitely a symptom of the kind of all-or-nothing climate we as a society had been dealing with for a while in all aspects of life. But now this year, they’re faced with extreme fires. And speaking of Oroville, that was where they had a near dam break last year with all the heavy rains. I remembered Paradise as an alternate place to stay because of Oroville’s limited lodging selections when Mom and I went there in 2016 to finally hike to Feather Falls. That was the event that made the current fire the deadliest in the state’s history, but we knew that it was a matter of time before the next fire would eclipse it as the deadliest or most abnormally damaging. However, there was also the deadly Paradise Fire further north of Sacramento. But eventually at some time around 12:30pm, we finally descended into the Grapevine where we were suddenly faced with thick smoky haze that seemed to envelope most of the Central Valley.Ĭlearly, this was the result of the Woolsey Fire that ripped through the Thousand Oaks area as well as Malibu. Julie and I didn’t leave the house until about 10:55am, which was a bit later than I would have liked, but we were doing a precarious juggling act between waiting out the worst of the rush hour traffic through Los Angeles and the onset of darkness with the shorter days combined with falling back an hour a couple of weeks ago.Įven though we had just voted to go one step closer to getting rid of the falling back an hour in Fall and springing forward in Spring, the ultimate resolution of that wasn’t going to help us on this trip.Īnd so we were moving somewhat fluidly through Los Angeles freeways though there were plenty of stop and go moments. Day 3 (Novem– Los Angeles, California): “Savoring The Splurges”ĭay 1 (Novem– San Simeon, California): “Smoke And Mirrors”.Day 2 (Novem– San Simeon, California): “Cannon Fodder”.Day 1 (Novem– San Simeon, California): “Smoke And Mirrors”. ![]() The waiter said that they were from cannons… Then, suddenly, we heard loud booms, which rattled the windows of the restaurant. ![]() Elephant Seals chilling out at the Elephant Seal Rookery just south of Ragged Point in Big Sur 16-November 2018 to 18-November 2018: But one thing we noticed were a couple of skiffs with a handful of people dressed in what appeared to be costumes rowing just outside in the harbor in plain sight from the restaurant.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |