Up close and personal I can see the ocean.  I posted a couple of pics for you.

This day as been awesome!  I actually slept in until 8:30 a.m.  That is very late for me.  It felt so good because I knew I would be driving.  I have found that I have a tendency to get drowsy on some of these long drives.  When I do start nodding I look for a place to stop, get out, walk around, fill up the car or empty me out.  It breaks the cycle of the drowsies.  Well today’s trip was less than a three hour drive but I still had to stop once.  It was a very interesting day of driving because I was going across the state of California instead of driving south to north.  There are four major highways that go north/south.  Well, today I drove on all four and I was going from east to west in a southerly direction.  First I was on Highway 99, then Highway 5, then Highway 101 and finally on highway 1.   I was constantly working my way south/west in a stair step sort of patter in order to arrive at my destination.  I arrived on time or there about and had a delicious dinner and evening out.

As I was driving and merging onto the coastal Highway 1 all of a sudden the ocean just appeared.  I had to quickly take a look and it was breathtaking and up close.  I wasn’t expecting to have my first glimpse in such a dramatic way.  I was stunned and sorry that I couldn’t stop the car and just gawk.  I rolled down the windows and let the ocean breeze blow in.  Coastal air is so different than inland.  It is fresh and cool and heavy and moist.  When I left Modesto at 1:00 p.m. it was 87 degrees.  It dropped to 73 degrees, then 65 degrees and then to 58 degrees the closer I drove toward the ocean.  I purposely checked often to see how the temperatures changed.  Every time I got over another huge mountain the temp was lower.  It’s as if the Ocean feels my thoughts right now and the curtains rustle and the cold air wraps it way around my legs caressing me as if to say welcome.  It is quite cold.  I wish I knew what the temperature reading is.  But I don’t.

My host home is my first cousin Bill Tackett, son of my mother’s, late brother.  They live nestled high above the town of Monterey overlooking a view of the water.  Monterey is a seaside town built on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.  After dinner they took me on a short tour around the town.  The light was so beautiful.  The fog lay thick out over the bay and the sun played with the light to create some beautiful illusions.  How am I so fortunate to be just where I needed to be at the right time to view such beautiful sights.  I took a few pictures but they cannot do justice to what my God-designed eye of the heart is able to see.  We also stopped by the home of where they go to Bible Study on Monday evenings so I could meet some of their friends who would be there.  I met some wonderful people.  I asked one for her word of wisdom.  She quoted something from Ghandi:  “There are seven days in the week and only two days in which you cannot do anything, Yesterday and Tomorrow”

This lady I met is Susan, and we had a few other discussions.  We talked about living in the moment, which I like to believe I do.  I said that I enjoy who I am and the age I am and have peace and contentment.  She replied that she thought the reason I was so content was because I do live in the moment.  When we do live in the moment and accept who we are we do have the tendency to be satisfied with life.  It was a good insight to be brought to my attention.

The farmlands are being irrigated and they look lush and ripe.  Strawberries and blackberries and blueberries are being sold at roadside stands along with the first picking of nectarines and peaches.  Last years harvest of almonds and walnuts are in abundance also.  So many local vegetables are already being harvested.  It felt like late summer in Wisconsin because of all the fresh varieties available.  I so crave fresh food and I have been buying it along the way.  Sometimes I forget and leave it behind if it hasn’t all been eaten and other times I take it with me in my thermal bag and eat it for lunch.  I have not stopped at a fast food place for a meal since I left home.  I carry enough real food with me that I don’t need to do that.

I drove by a large Reservoir today.  As I looked down I realized it was almost empty.  Sand bars broke through the placid surface.  I believe it was the San Luis Reservoir.   The article below is from today’s paper discussing the information about the dam that I thougth might interest you.  Here today but it may be gone tomorrow.

San Luis Reservoir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Panoramic view of Reservoir

The San Luis Reservoir is an artificial lake on San Luis Creek in the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range of Merced County, California, approximately 12 mi (19 km) west of Los Banos on State Route 152, which crosses Pacheco Pass and runs along its north shore. It is the fifth largest reservoir in California. The reservoir stores water taken from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. Water is pumped uphill into the reservoir from the O’Neill Forebay which is fed by the California Aqueduct and is released back into the forebay to continue downstream along the aqueduct as needed for farm irrigation and other uses. Depending on water levels, the reservoir is approximately nine miles long from north to south at its longest point, and five miles (8 km) wide. At the eastern end of the reservoir is the San Luis Dam, or the B.F. Sisk Dam, the fourth largest embankment dam in the United States, which allows for a total capacity of 2,041,000 acre feet (2,518,000 dam³).

Completed in 1967 on land formerly part of Rancho San Luis Gonzaga, the 12,700 acres (5,100 ha) reservoir is a joint use facility, being a part of both the California State Water Project and Central Valley Project, which together form a network of reservoirs, dams, pumping stations, and 550 miles (885 km) of canals and major conduits to move water across California. The San Luis Reservoir is located in Merced County, and has a visitor center located at the Romero Outlook where visitors can learn more about the dam and reservoir. The surface of the reservoir lies at an elevation of approximately 544 ft (166 m), with the O’Neill Forebay below the dam at 225 ft (69 m) above sea level. This elevation difference allows for a hydroelectric plant to be constructed – the Gianelli Hydroelectric Plant. Power from this plant is sent to a Path 15 substation, Los Banos via a short power line. Those 500 kV wires, carrying both the power generated here and elsewhere, leave the area and cross the O’Neill Forebay on several man-made islands.

California is big.  I thought Texas was big.  It is.  It is big Wide.  California is big TALL.  The landscape is so diversified that it seems I go from country to country around the globe,  One thing, it has a lot of are mountains.  Boy have I crossed some mountains since being on this trip.  Beautiful, beautiful mountains.  And when I arrived in California there are even more mountains.  Check it out online. The below paragraph was taken from the internet to give you a little info regarding some of the ranges in California.  

Coast Ranges

Coast Ranges, series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America, extending from SE Alaska to Baja California; from 2,000 to 20,000 ft (610–6,100 m) high. The ranges include the St. Elias Mts. in SE Alaska and SW Yukon, which have the highest elevations; a partially submerged portion that forms the islands off the coast of SE Alaska and British Columbia; the Olympic Mts. in Washington; the Coast Ranges in Oregon; the Klamath Mts., Coast Ranges, and Los Angeles Ranges in California; and the Peninsular Range in Baja California. The Coast Ranges are rugged, geologically young mountains formed by faulting and folding and are composed mainly of granitic rock; the northern third is glaciated. N of San Francisco the ranges are humid and thickly forested; the southern parts are dry and covered with brush and grass. Lumbering, mining, and tourism are important.

Back to Bill and Vicki:  After dinner we drove around the community here on the coast.  They made such a believer out of me regarding the things see to see and do that I called my next destination and postponed arriving at their home until Sunday afternoon.  So all is well in regards to my going to my next panned stop.  After the short car tour we went to Bill and Vicki’s place of home Bible Study and I met all the people that were there.  We then came home and here I am.  SLEEPY.

So Sleepy…

Where do I lay my head?

Kathleen Martens

April 27, 20015

I walk into the arms of God

Never does He think it odd.

He nestles me in a quite place

With me alone in this space.

I am His and He is mine

Oh such a beautiful time.

I rest in Him and His peace

He rests in me and does not cease.