PASO ROBLES-CA

October 9th: Today we decided to cross the mountain and check out the Wal*Mart on the other side, in Paso Robles-CA

We were up early & on the road by 7:46 AM.

Shimmering brow; Cover Girl glittery Green eyeshadows; Auburn Brow Gel; Deep Green Mascara; Au Natural Crème Blush & #590 L'Oréal Lipstick.

The day was nice for a drive. We basked in the hot 80-degree morning temperature as we whizzed past almond orchards, and talked about driving into Paso Robles-CA, to the Wal*Mart there - I've never been there, so Holland was treating me to this little sight-seeing-shopping jaunt:

Holland ran into the donut shop for on the road snacks …

A dozen Cake & Buttermilk Donuts - light & fluffy. The best; Coalinga-CA

San Lucas-CA from Coalinga-CA; 1 hr 1 min (48.2 mi) via CA-198 E

Hwy #198 through Coalinga-CA runs through the a canyon & up over the Diablo Range-CA

Believe the sign! This road is very tight, very snaky, and has very sharp 'hairpin' corners.

A very pretty country drive, crossing the Diablo Range-CA & dropping into the Priest Valley-CA

The moon is in a waning gibbous phase, which means it is still brightly lit by the sun, making it easily visible in daytime hours: Kinda looks like the moon is highlighting a Ying & Yang pattern.

The Santa Lucia Range in the clouds; viewed from Hwy 198-CA

Paso Robles-CA from San Lucas-CA; 44 min (44.8 mi) via US-101 N

The El Camino Real Bells; Hwy #101, San Lucas-CA

The El Camino Real Bells-CA: 

(https://www.discover-central-california.com/el-camino-real-bells/)

I didn't take any pictures of the town itself because it was pretty nondescript - it reminded me of the urban centers of Portland-OR; no a city, but larger than a town community. Hard to describe … even harder to be comfortable in.

We found the [super store].

The Paso Robles-CA Wal*Mart was nice on the outside - a nightmare, inside.

Inside, we each had a shopping cart and went our separate ways, agreeing to meet in the grocery section of the store. I had things I wanted to get; Holland had things he wanted to get - they were not in the same places. We had our phones with us & would touch base with each other.

The store was confusing. The layout was ridiculous. The aisles were so tight, just easily turning around in them was a feat … 2 shopping carts moving down the aisles in opposite directions was dangerous. The restrooms were a maddening joke. And the phones did not work at all - they were fully charged, but for some reason the frequencies were being jammed: I could receive calls form Holland, but I could not hear him at all, and he said he could not hear me: we played phone tag for about 20 minutes before I finally had him paged to meet me by the front door; I figured if he didn't meet me in about 15 minutes, I'd leave my cart (and everything in it) and go see if he was in Betsy. I didn't know if he was trying to contact me to say he'd paid for his stuff and was waiting in the 4x due to pain. I didn't know if he simply wanted to let me know he was in the grocery department, at that moment. I could see other people on their phones; I was getting frazzled & irritated. He was paged - he was in the store - he was about 100 feet from me when we finally spotted each other. We tried to finish shopping, but finally just gave up, paid for what we had, and left that nightmare: Holland simply cannot walk back and forth through ridiculous layouts - n.o.t.h.i.n.g. was where it should have been - and if, by some miracle, it was … it was nearly impossible to reach it because of the tight aisle traffic jams. Food items were spread across the entire store instead of being in specified areas. Clothing was spread across the store - from one end to the other instead of being sectioned, like most Wal*Mart's are. The workers were testy. We'd both crisscrossed the store several times on our own (I was out of breath - I'd used it up running the length of the store several times over & scanning the aisles for him while trying to answer his calls; and Holland was beginning to feel pain burn), and we tried to finish shopping together, but found ourselves still making several repetitious laps through the store because of the stupid layout. By the time we cried 'Uncle', located a cashier, & paid for our stuff, we had had enough of Paso Robles.

This Wal-Mart was a very frustrating experience - NO REPEAT!

Bless Holland's heart (I mean that in a good way) - seeing how frazzled I was following the in-store crazy, he said, "It's not a wasted trip Baby - we'll be doing some more sight-seeing on the way home, and that's the main reason we came this way." He was right, and his words did lighten things up considerably … and from now on, we'll shop the Wal*Mart in Hanford, where we don't feel trapped in a crazy corn maze layout, and prison like lockdown - or government scramble on phone convo.

What a nightmare.

Holland, on the way to Kettleman said he'd been on that road many times over the years, but the other roads from Coalinga to San Lucas & San Lucas to Paso Robles was new to him - so, that's a travel memory we made together, today. We like the moments that are ours alone, specific to the moments in our lives that are building the tapestry of our Life.

Kettleman-CA from Paso Robles-CA; 59 min (54.4 mi) via CA-46 E and CA-41

The route from Paso Robles to Kettleman City crosses the Temblor Range, and is near the San Andreas Fault.

The Temblor Range: 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temblor_Range)

Reading the information about the Temblor Range - and knowing what the San Andreas Fault is & what's it's capable of, is a little concerning; but we can't live our life in fear. In all reality, there's really no [safe] place - it seems like everywhere in America this year is fraught with concerning weather patterns and seismic activity of some sort.

Holland says we're staying put until there is divine inspiration to move on.

I'm okay with that.

We'd both rather be enjoying the sunny warmth here, than dealing with the wet cold of the PNW

LESSON OF COALINGA~1983 Coalinga Earthquake: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Coalinga_earthquake & 

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/24/science/lesson-of-coalinga-california-seems-in-still-greater-peril.html)

The Magnitude 6.5 temblor that devastated Coalinga in 1983, was not directly on the San Andreas Fault, but rather on a previously unknown "blind thrust fault." This fault was not visible on the surface, making the earthquake a surprise to seismologists. The shock was felt from Los Angeles to 200 km north of Sacramento and as far east as Las Vegas.

Holland tells me this thing on that hill is a 'small work-over-rig' in an oil field.

Holland knows what a 'work-over-rig' is: he has been around them (his mechanic stepfather worked on them) - but he personally has not worked one, though he has worked several oil field jobs from Louisiana, North Dakota, Texas, & Canada … to name a few, before he worked construction jobs.

Workover Rig - GoPro Footage: 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVkOZcmztFg)

Coalinga-CA from Kettleman-CA; 32 min (28.8 mi) via I-5 N and W Jayne Ave

It's all new to me … but Holland is also seeing old ways through new eyes, and sometimes experiencing new things, too. Like this morning's route over the Diablo Range.

I like that he's relaxing enough this year to enjoy the explorations.

I like that he's relaxing enough to enjoy those explorations with me.

We are still working on ourselves separately; and working together to overcome hinderances that hamper US.