Stopping at Harris Ranch on I-5 02-08-20

One of my regular stops along I-5 is Harris Ranch near Coalinga.  It is about five hours from my house, depending on traffic, of course,   There are nice, clean restrooms, a couple of attractive restaurants, a gift shop (that sells Pecan Drop cookies that I cannot resist), and very comfortable motel rooms if I need a place to stay for the night. It is not a cheap place, but a splurge now and then is nice. 

They also have lovely gardens tucked here and there and there are always some birds to watch if I just need some down time from driving.  

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Twenty views on Interstate 5 and CA 152 10-24/25-17

On Sunday I asked Dee Jacobs if she could take KoKo for a few days, and she said yes!  So, I dropped him off with Dee on Tuesday morning and headed north to visit my friends Mary and Joe. And to drive into Pacific Grove to my most favorite quilt shop -

the fabulous Back Porch Fabrics.

 

It is always hard to get out of the LA basin, crawling through the Pasadena area on the 210 is stressful and sometimes v-e-r-y slow.  But once past Castaic the landscape is very bare and rather craggy.

There wasn't a lot of traffic on Tuesday and I made good time.

The hills have their tawny coloring and are very dry and susceptible to fires.

At this higher elevation it wasn't as hot as Placentia when I left there - 105F.

There is a ranch house amongst the trees.

Up and up with a cloudless sky and rolling hills.  I think the high point is 3000 feet.

This is in the area of Frasier Park, the trees on the right in the distance are around a Highway Rest Stop, the last one I'll see for a while. .

Looking up at the tops of the hills.  Sometimes there will be house at the very peak and I always wonder how the residents get up there.

After the top, the highway goes down through the area called the Grapevine, although it isn't as vine like as it was when I first drove it over 50 years ago.  At the bottom of the downgrade is a wide spot in the road with gas stations and a motel that is called Grapevine.

Down, down, down, winding through the narrow slot in the hills.

There are two truck emergency escape routes where trucks that have lost their brakes can exit into a deep pit filled with gravel.  The road bends upward and the combination of gravel and elevation help stop the truck. 

I was hoping this picture would show the valley in the distance, between the two hills, but it is too hazy out there, it usually is. 

 

That thing that looks like a flag in the middle of the picture is another sign showing the emergency exit.  Beyond in the San Joacquin Valley. 

Somewhere north of the Buttonwillow exit my odometer turned over to 200,000.  I can't remember what the mileage was when I bought the Lexus used, but it seems to me it was about 30,000.  I've driven a lot of miles!

After a night at Harris Ranch, I am still on I-5 North.  Several spots showed where grass fires burned.  I'm always sure that it was a lit cigarette that started these roadside disasters.

This one was quick put out on both sides of the road. 

Just before Santa Nella, which is the largest town I come to since leaving the LA Basin, is the turnoff on CA 152 west toward the ocean.

It is mostly grassy hills with California live oak trees. 

Down and down to the fertile valley where so much of our vegetables are grown.

Where turned off on CA 156, where they were, unfortunately repaving sections of the two lane road.  They make it a one lane road where they are working, with a flagman to let so many cars go one way and then close that lane and divert the opposing cars into that lane.  It was interminable.  At one point I was stopped in front of this boxy house on the right side of the road.  These people like to put statues in their yard, along with the junk, and even have a pair of plastic flamingoes on the right.  There was also a pit bull to go with the chain link fence, but he wandered off before I could take the picture.

This is the view on the opposite side of the road from the house.  All that dark loamy soil has recently been plowed.  At the foot of the hills are farm buildings, farm workers and their vehicles.  I believe the highest peak is Mt Fremont which is a California State Park.

I am with Mary and Joe tonight and will go on to Pacific Grove for a fabric fix tomorrow.

 

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The bathroom series 10-02-15

Every now and then I post pictures taken in a bathroom somewhere.  I see a LOT of bathrooms in my life and some are memorable.  When I travel I-5 I usually stop at Harris Ranch just off the highway at state route 198.   Sometimes I eat at their nice country kitchen restaurant, but somehow I'm not usually there at meal time.  But the bathroom is handy! 

 

It is also covered with violets.  It is almost intimidating there are so many.

They are on all the walls

And a variation frames the mirrors and doors.

It is always very clean and even has a fixture for little girls - closer to the floor.

 

This has nothing to do with bathrooms.   It is in the gift shop and looks like a basket.  It took me a minute or so to figure out what it is.  Can you? 

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Harris Ranch, some "firsts" and home 09-22-13

This was a very fast trip up to San Juan Bautista to see my friends Mary and Joe.  I haven't been up there for months and I have missed them.  Joe is going in for surgery in the morning and I had to give him a hug..  or two!

I slept well at Harris Ranch.  Generally it is very quiet there and it is far enough off I-5 that the traffic noise does not disturb.  It was a little more than 4 hours home and the traffic was very light until I was in the LA Basin.  Unusual for me, I was on the road at 8am and it is Sunday, so I sailed along trying to keep it under 90mph.    The speed limit is 70mph and, although I am known to have a heavy foot, I try to keep it about 75mph - I know from experience that 80 is a ticket!

This is a first.......

I wasn't quite sure what this installation is in the far corner of the parking lot.  In fact, I thought at first it might be some far out art installation - why would refrigerators be out in the parking lot?  Of course, they aren't refrigerators at all and the U shaped openings are not for cows.  This is a Tesla recharging station, about half way between civilization in LA and civilization in San Jose/Oakland.  So, it is entirely practical. 
 

There are those four stations and then three more along the edge of the lot.  I supposed that eventually six stations might be needed at one time to recharge all the electric vehicles on the road.  They aren't just for Tesla motor cars.
 

Nice shot - beside the downward loops, I love the shadows on the ground. 

'

Another first - the first time I have seen a fat, old trucker in cutoff overalls.  Wasn't a pretty sight!
 

  
I still have my fancy birthday dice on the rear view mirror and think I will leave them there until next weekend.  A month of celebration - how did I get so old?   Anything hanging on the mirror that obstructs the driver's view is illegal - and a ticket, but the dice are so fun and colorful. I figure for my birthday I might be able to talk the cop out of ticketing me.  Worth a try.   This picture is somewhere near Buttonwillow, CA, on I-5.
 

 
Quite heavy monsoon clouds over the mountains.  I-5 goes over the top and is variously referred to as the "Ridge Route", the "Grapevine", "Tejon Pass".  The minute one arrives at the bottom of the grade on the other side there is traffic. 
 

Almost to the top.

One more first for the day - for the first time I paid over $4/gallon for the cheapest gas.  Most stations were $4.30 (and up), but way off the highway in Kettleman City is a Valero selling it for $4.07.   When the price went over $2 we wondered how high it could go.

More from the drive home 02-22-10 02-26-10Post

Some parts of the landscape remind me of Wyoming with the rolling hills and the straight highway, but I doubt there is ever this much traffic in WY. This hay hauling semi made me very nervous and I went around swiftly. How far can hay lean without falling off?

I exited the highway so I could take pictures from an overpass. This is the best of the lot and gives an idea of the scope of the almond trees in bloom. In the foreground there are some piles of tumbleweeds - sometimes CalTrans will burn the piles before they escape again.

I like to stop at Harris Ranch to use their very clean and charming bathroom. The ceramic tiles have little bunches of violets painted on them. This lady didn't bat an eye when I took a picture just as she came in. Maybe more people than I realize take pictures in bathrooms.

It is rare that there aren't ladies using the facilities, sometimes there is even a line although there are quite a number of stalls. The flush and the faucets are motion sensitive, so one hardly needs to touch anything except the door in and out.

Last photos of return from Asilomar 05-01-09

It was very windy on Monday, April 27, when I drove home from Mary's. Much too windy to be taking photos as I drove. I notice the wind more in the Lexus than in the Dodge van - I imagine it is because the Lexus has a higher center of gravity.

Mary's 'deck boxes' are lovely with yellow, violet and pinky pansies... and the every present alyssum to cover the bare soil.

I do love to stop at Harris Ranch at the intersection of I-5 and CA 198. Besides being an oasis of green and color no matter what time of year, they have very clean bathrooms that are always well stocked. I frequently walk around in the parking lot for some 'mid-point' exercise, or at least around part of it. It is a very large parking area that goes completely around all of the buildings.

It must have been very cold up around 20,000 feet because the jet contrails made air maps in the sky. These go north/south and east/west and one even made a wide curve - wonder where he was going? Many of the planes are from/to LAX, San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland. It is a busy air corridor all of the time.

See how much green has disappeared since I went over the Ridge Route a month ago? This is just at the top of the first long grade. The sign says "Tejon Ranch" one of the large historic ranches established in the 1800s. It is still a working ranch and also offers some historical talks about those olden times.

Harris Ranch 08-27-08

I didn't stop at Harris Ranch this trip. I was making good time and didn't have a reason - except maybe the bakery which creates wonderful cookies, but eating cookies while driving is dangerous to the waistline. The land is very flat here, so the complex stands out against the sky - palm trees are one important feature of an oasis, right? Parallel to the highway is the landing strip, used by the California Highway Patrol and many private pilots. At the far left is the windsock and to the far right are the modern port-a-potties. All the comforts of a major airport!

Harris Ranch on I-5 @ CA198

This is one of the entrances to the restaurants, banquet rooms and offices at Harris Ranch, one of my regular stops on I-5 a little more than halfway on my drive from Placentia to San Juan Bautista. There are many fountains like this scattered throughout the grounds and the courtyards in the 'inn' part of the complex, lending the tinkle of water to the oasis feeling.

The flowers beds are full of brilliant flowers and there are lots of soothing white and green to help travelers feel cooler. It will become scorching hot soon and stay that way through the summer months.

This trip I just parked in a lot, used the lovely tiled ladies room and walked the circumference of the compound because I was getting stiff and needed to get some exercise. Doing this adds about an hour to my drive, but I feel a lot better when I arrive and can unglue my seat from the seat! I was surprised to see beds of Mexican Evening Primrose which can become terribly invasive in a garden. It has, however, handsome flowers.

It is a little early for the Hollyhocks to be blooming, but the leaves are lush and green. I might see some blossoms next week when I drive home.