From Bakersfield to Santa Barbara and Back Again

4/7/2012

Hubby and I at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

I feel a little dishonest. I forgot to mention that I have been posting my blog posts from my hotel room in Monterey. After coming home from the show in Santa Barbara, I spent a few days doing laundry and riding Sydney. Then on Thursday morning, Hubby and I loaded the truck and headed back to the coast, but this time we trekked north. If you're not from California, you won't find Monterey on the map that I've included below, but you can see Monterey Bay quite easily. It is the large bay just south of San Francisco. We're actually just west of the city of Salinas.

Which brings me to the purpose of this blog post ...

For all of the non-California readers, I thought I'd share a little of California's diverse geography with you. Since it's so large, California often feels like it's own little country. Click here for a zoomable map of our mountains and topography.

We have two major mountain ranges, one end of which I just crossed over. The elevation of the Tejon pass is 4,000 feet (1,219 m). The eastern mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevada, get a lot of snow, some of which I saw last weekend. I live in the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. In order to get to the coast, you have to cross the Coast Ranges which are due west, or from the southernmost tip of the valley, you can cross through a trifecta of ranges: the Sierra Nevada, the Coast Ranges, and the Transverse Ranges. These three mountain ranges form the bottom edge of our central valley.

As I was coming home on Sunday, I took a moment to be amazed by California's varied geography. I started my drive alongside the Pacific Ocean and marveled at its brilliant blueness. From there, I crossed a monster mountain range topped with snow while being accompanied by winds strong enough to warrant an advisory. And once on the other side, I began the descent into the central valley where brilliant orange poppies pointed the way home; and all of this in just 150 miles. Had I gone another hundred miles, I would have been met with shades of crimson at Redrock Canyon as I entered the Mojave Desert.

And here I am again on the coast marveling at the vast blueness of the Pacific Ocean. What a lovely state is California!

This is a Google map of the United States (sans Alaska and Hawaii). California is on the west coast.

This is a Google map of most of California. Bakersfield is visible just to the left of center. Santa Barbara is southwest of Bakersfield.

This is the route I took. It's approximately 150 miles (241 km).

Heading north on Highway 101 - Pacific Ocean is on my left.

Heading back home - snow on the tops of the mountains at the Tejon Pass.

Not my photo, but I saw lots of California Poppies on the hillsides as I neared the valley floor.

(internet photo) Red Rock Canyon ... Mojave Desert

A partial view from our room ... Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean

lytha

7/8/2012 04:06:55 am

thank you so much for showing me more of cali. you're right: it's its own country! i wanted to speak for hwy 101 - ever so lovely, and also very nice in oregon and washington (my home). there is a reason depeche mode named an album for it (and i have the tshirt!).

most of my time down there i was in redwood shores working. twin dolphin drive at the oracle towers - where once a waterpark existed.

when i was 16 my first time away from home i saw san diego and stayed in rancho sante fe --gorgeous! i'd never seen an outdoor mall before that. i have great memories of skateboarding encinitas. i was blown away at the time and i'll never forget san diego.

san francisco of course houses starfleet headquarters, and that great freaking terrifying earthquake exhibit, so i had to go there a few times. sister city to seattle my home, with the same exact weather - grey and cool all year long, i love it.

i wish to visit northern california someday and see my first redwood. hearing about that endurance ride there made me yearn for it! but as fanatical as i am, i do not care to ride tevis in this life. i read julie suhr's book and it cured me of that.

Karen

7/8/2012 04:19:38 am

Lytha, I am actually from Northern California, Humboldt Country to be exact. Eureka is the county seat. I have many fond memories of riding my horses through the redwood forest that borders my dad's property.

A few summers ago, Hubby and I drove north to Seattle and then circled east to Utah and back again through Nevada. We LOVED Seattle. We ferried over to Victoria Island (of course) via the Olympic peninsula - beautiful, but then came back to Seattle for a few more days. We also loved the interior of Washington.

When we retire, Oregon and Washington are on our list of maybes.

7/8/2012 04:23:02 am

Oops! Forgot to mention that I have also read Julie's book and have had the pleasure of meeting her more than once. She's a very gracious lady.

I have ridden the Swanton 100, very similar to Tevis. I even entered Tevis one year, but my mare had a hoof injury just 6 weeks before the big event, and we had to cancel. Secretly, I was relieved. I was really worried about the crowds on that ride. The trail was no big deal as I've ridden lots of technical trail. My mare was just SOOOO forward that she got really nasty if held up in traffic. Tevis is well known for being a traffic jam!

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Not-So-Speedy Dressage