Definitely in California

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We left Eureka today, headed for Tuolumne, CA. (pronounced to-ah-luh-me) And if I was whining earlier about not seeing autumn, it was all around me as we traveled here. The evergreens are here~~who knew there were more than two kinds~~and also many other types. I don’t know what they are yet, but I will find a book that’ll tell me. But the colors were everywhere from light yellow-green to burgundy. Awesome.

We have laughed at the city limit signs, where they go ahead and list the altitude~~30’ or 18'! Stockton…population 618, 218…elevation 25’. What a hoot!

It’s warm wherever we’ve been, but rainy off and on. It’ll be raining in the morning, but then will quit by afternoon. Or it’ll be sunny all day, and then rain after dinner. And then be sunny the next day. I guess the surprising thing is that the rain doesn’t come in thunderstorms, it just rains. Straight down. And then quits.

We’ve been driving past field after field of trees, and finally found out they’re nut trees. Pecans, almonds and walnuts, mostly. There are also grape fields, and we’ve driven past wineries, but haven’t taken the time to tour any yet. But we will!

You know what else is strange about this part of the country (it’s sort of strange that they fly the American flag, because it’s as different from Montana as Canada is, but that’s not the point I’m making yet) They eat different things, and if you order something that you know the name of, chances are great that it’s not going to be a food that you recognize. Their store names are different, their brands are different, they dress different and they speak so many different languages that it’s a little like the Tower of Babel. How can they possibly operate a state when they can’t communicate with one another? I tried to get a man to turn on the diesel pump ($3.27 per gallon...send money!) and he just looked at me and smiled. So I asked again. Same response. I thought he might be deaf. Turned out I was in the Spanish speaking line. Gees……….. And if you took the blue tarps away from these people, 40% of them wouldn’t have roofs or garages.

We’re anxious to get on project where people won’t have purple hair, or speak Bulgeionese.

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Photos

My fall colors,
Finally!!

Walnut groves
All the nuts are picked, but are for sale at fruit stands all along the highway.

Not Ocean Park!
This is as we're headed into the Sierra Nevada Range. The ground is covered with a grass/weed that turns this color when it's dormant.

Comments

[Patti]

Please don't tell me that you and Bob have tried to look like the "natives" there and have purpled hair and are wearing weirder (wierder?) clothes than usual!! How warm is the water? When we were in Charleston, it was 86 degrees. Man how I loved that since our hot tub quit working.

[Danielson]

Puple hair? Not yet....
They say they keep the pools at 65 year around! Needless to say, there's no one swimming now!