Community Chat

[Puzzle Piece]

@shoekitty What i was wondering is...if these snakes go back into the ocean, they are great at adapting.  They may decide to stay and live in our waters as opposed to where they came from.  They would breed also.  Would certainly drop prices in real estate for ocean front properties. 

[shoekitty]

I am 68.  When I was a kid we lived in the SF Bay Area, and then  Santa Clara Valley.  My relatives lived down South, and it was easier for us to take 101 South because of the rough ride on the car in those days.  If you  are my age or older, remember cars didn't go that far on a long trip without tires popping, running out of gas or the engine over heating.  Cars over heated like crazy on the Grapevine!!!.  Also, gas stations on the 5 were far and few in between.  As a result mt parents avoided the 5, except when we went to Bakersfield to visit my Dad's parents.  One thing I remember so vividly about the 5, was when approaching the Grapevine in Spring it was a feast for the eyes!  Seriously!!  The mountains on both side were a riot of color.  The color stretched for miles down from the mountain into the valley.  The purple Lupines, brillient orange poppies, with dots of white lupine and yellow buttercups.  You could almost hear the gasps of people inside cars looking at this wildflower fireworks.  For miles the color was displayed.  You would see people taking pictures with their Brownie cameras along the road.LOL!  Black and white film no less, LOL!

I remember seeing this display for years.  Then with the drought of the late 70's, the aerial spraying of malathion all over the state of California, the wild flowers slowly disappeared.  I think there was an effort to reseed this  beloved stretch of beauty, but only the poppies took one year.  I am hoping a deep rain (El nino) will bring some back.  Highway 5 between Gustine and the grapevine is the most boring, desolate, dry piece of landscape in California.  it is awful.  There used to be miles of tree ranches, but most are gone now except for an occasional almond, kiwi, cutie or pomegranate orchard.  It is so sad.  The state cut the ranches water off, diverted it to another state, and there you have it

[Puzzle Piece]

@shoekitty  The I-5 has been reconfigures from years past.  It is more direct.  I haven't seen any orchards/ranches.  There's a lake on one side (pyramid) and just the hills.  Lots of traffic.  Only some poppies.  The artist Cristo covered the area with large yellow umbrellas one season.  Folks drove over that area to view and photograph.  Don't remember what you experienced as I'm not near 60 yet. 

[shoekitty]

---

@Puzzle Piece wrote:

@shoekitty  The I-5 has been reconfigures from years past.  It is more direct.  I haven't seen any orchards/ranches.  There's a lake on one side (pyramid) and just the hills.  Lots of traffic.  Only some poppies.  The artist Cristo covered the area with large yellow umbrellas one season.  Folks drove over that area to view and photograph.  Don't remember what you experienced as I'm not near 60 yet. 

Shoekitty said

Highway 5 is a long, long highway!  We travel it nearly 400 miles from Santa Clara County to past LA.  On the way there are many almond orchards left.  But not like there used to be before they diverted the aquaduct water, and cut the area off.  It was a huge bone of contention with farmers.  There are still signs (I saw them our trip to LA, 3 months ago)  blaming the folding of orchards on Congress. They grow Kiwis, and last year I noticed they are growing Pomagranites before you get to Bakersfield turn off.  We also pass kettleman City with cattle and Dairy farms. But that is it.  It is hundreds of miles of nothing mostly, IMO

In my post I did say I have not seen lupine and anything but poppies since 1979 .  The poppies are a quarter of what they were in the 50's and 60's.  We saw them coming from the North, headed South before we got to the Grapevine.  There has never been too much of anything on most of the Grapevine, but dirt, manzanita, sage or a little snow..LOL!

---