Turlock, CA - Heading North Through CAMay 22, 2011
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As we drove through Carrizo Plain we spotted this herd of pronghorn...
After the oil wells along Hwy 33 we drove through miles of...
We stopped to look at these trees. Each has its own little...
These are almond trees. Strange because they were right beside a huge...
(Ron Writing) We could have enjoyed staying awhile longer at Carrizo but the road north beckons. We left the campground after breakfast and headed northwest on Soda Lake Road to the north end of Carizzo Plain. As we drove along we saw at least 10 red tailed hawks perched on poles along the road. All along the way we had beautiful views of the Temblor Range across the valley. These interestingly sculpted mountains are formed from movements of the San Andreas Fault. Weren’t we brave spending May 21 right next to the biggest earthquake fault in California!
We continued east on Hwy 58 to McKittrick, CA and then northwest on Hwy 33. H-33 runs parallel to I-5 and along the east side of the Temblor Range. This area around McKittrick along the Temblor Range has the second largest oil field in the United States. It is amazing to see the thousands and thousands of wells and pumps, spaced just far enough apart to allow maintenance, over many square miles as we drove north.
Near Coalinga, CA we jogged east to I-5 and continued northwest to Hwy 165. We took H-165 north through the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge. This is a marshy area in what is generally a desert climate. This area seems to be fed by the tail waters of the San Joaquin River.
This is farm country and we drove past several produce stands. We stopped at one and bought pistachios, oranges, cherries, and apricots - all organic and delicious.
We continued north on H-165 to Turlock CA, where are spending the night.