Wind blown trees of San Luis Res

The wind must sail through fiercely.  All the trees had an angle to them.

Angle to the right.

Definitely agreed.  Lean to the right.

Wait, no!  Lean to your left!

More to the left.

I absolutely insist on leaning to the right.

And what's left of us lean to the right.

Water in the San Luis Reservoir

What's left of the water in the San Luis Reservoir.  My eyeball estimate is the water was down 100 feet from its high.  But take that with a grain of salt, I could be off a factor of 3 or more.  You can see the scalloped terraces of the sides of the reservoir from the water slowly leaking out.  Obviously they need to plug the holes in the dam better.

So many pictures, which to pick?  I picked more than usual here, because the water was so beautiful and the hills made for interesting contrasts.

Stand back from the dam.  Pack it in, pack it out, doo-dah.  And watch out for those rocks.  The trespassing sign is odd.  I guess you can go past this sign, the trespassing maybe only kicks in close to the dam?

Islands in the stream.  Island anyway.

Plants growing in lines along various shorelines.  The shore looks like a reservoir, not like a lake.  A lake would have mostly convex boundaries.  A reservoir looks like it filled a valley to a given level.

Two people walking to the lake.  The closer one is bent over inspecting the ground.

The dam structure.  And a see-through construction at the right end of the bridge.

And that unending sky.  Looks desolate.  A little like Mars.

San Luis Reservoir Objects

Some of the objects decorating the visitor center at San Luis Reservoir.

Flat bed truck outside the visitor center.

Only 4 cars in the parking lot but the pedestrians were so slow they still caused a traffic jam.

Just where is beyond?  Bed bath and ...? I can understand no pets across a line.  But you can approach a point from 360 degrees.  Suppose you came from the other end of the walkway and had a pet with you.  Could you not take the pet to your car?  This sign anchors three of the pictures in this post.

Portrait of a rock.  There were a number of these mammoth glacier riders on the grounds.

A second glacier rider.

You don't have chains hanging from the eaves of your visitor center?  The main point of this picture is the wood riser with its angled wooden supports on both sides.  It is vertical, so not a good sun screen. It had vertical slots, so it wasn't good as a bulletin board.  A wind break perhaps?  For catching small pets and slow pedestrians when the wind picks them up and sweeps them along?  I've no idea.  There were several dotting the landscape.

Trash, water, light, oxygen.

Close-up of trash can dressed in western (lack of) colors.

Golden Hills of San Luis Res

California is noted for its golden hills.  These particular golden hills are located near the San Luis Reservoir.

Dirt road over the hills into the distance.

Different angle on the same dirt road.  Freeway in the foreground.

Soft golden mounds with gullies between them.  One can imagine a gully washer, standing there in the cleft during a rain storm.

A different road through the hills and off into the distance.

Santa Cruzin' Better Home and Garden

Typical home and garden in Santa Cruz, CA.  100 year old home, modern waterproof garden, and wildlife.

The happy novo lessor enjoying the fruits of his new leased home.

A typical Santa Cruz garden.  Yes, there is a live plant in there somewhere.  No, it's not a star fish.

Psychedelic succulent with touch of green.

And, always, lurking, in the neighbor's driveway.  High up, ready to pounce.  Beware or be lunch.