SR is about 175,000 population, in a tight place so it's dense. Streets are narrow and short-lived, making navigating by dead reckoning quite difficult. My gps does what the locals do: get on 101 or CA-12 to go to the next exit to avoid winding around on the surface. I haven't seen the burned area yet, but will tomorrow. Today, KQED released the first of what they found investigating the fire. It's a compelling story, worth hearing if you're...
I took a drive to Napa and environs. This is outstandingly beautiful country, with just 2 problems: Too many people, and too many cars. And, while I only want take a drive on country roads, I can't reach them without using a freeway of some sorts. I'm hoping to get downtown tomorrow...
It was years ago I found Bodega Bay on a birding excursion. It is one of the most beautiful places on the coast. The weather was great, and I touched the Pacific and saw the surf. The county operates an outrageously nice rv park on the jetty that protects the bay, $32 a night for dry camping. Conditions permitting, I'm looking ahead to trying out some places that might be better. When I reached Bodega Head, a school bus of middle schoolers...
I survived the CA freeway system and made to Santa Rosa on US-101. I asked for a week's stay without expecting to get it, but was surprised when they managed to invent several spots they apparently don't use. I'm at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Santa Rosa, of course, is where the fires did so much damage last fall. The rv park is filled with displaced people and workers involved in recovery operations. FEMA provided trailers. I was annoyed...
I was in Lancaster, CA last night. Lancaster seems to be a very far-flung suburb (exburb?) from LA. Nothing special but the drive westward from there through the Antelope Valley was fascinating. I personally haven't seen so many large solar farms anywhere. What that means is the normally empty fairgrounds rv park was half-full of workers on the farms. Reminded me of the time in Texas when the oil fraccers were going at it, and I had to hunt for...
The state of California issued it's first licenses for cannabis businesses on January 1, and has issued about 2000 licenses (numbers change daily). Applications are being processed, but the Los Angeles licenses are just now underway. There are a couple of hundred retail stores licensed and opened, and about 1500 farms and processors so far. There are about a thousand applications currently in work, but that should be expected and so far backlogs...
I dreaded the much higher gas prices in California, but won't miss the Arizona culture. The first thing I noticed here were folk of Asian ancestry, which means I have access to food I've not been able to get. So now I'm in Indio (near Palm Springs) at the casino (free parking). I'm staying 2 nights to do some tourist stuff.
Since I'm here, I thought I'd mention what is happening in Arizona and New Mexico. Arizona was the one holdout when several states passed legal marijuana, leaving them to their medical marijuana program. Since then, the number of registered patients has increased dramatically, a couple of hundred thousand, and the number of "dispensaries" is growing fast, especially in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. It's big enough that it looks like a full-legal...