Crossing California

August 24, 2009

We are currently driving from Oakhurst to Paso Robles the width of California at the heart of the state. We left the Sierra Nevada and will arrive near the Pacific in the coastal Range. The terrain changes are drastic – mountains and forests to rocky slopes, through a major agricultural area east of I-5 on CA-41. Irrigation is the magic ingredient to turn desert into food. Where irrigation stops, the land is pretty bleak. West of I-5 begins the foothills of the Coastal Range, no agriculture or forests here, just scrub, short grasses and dirt. Water is a much politicized issue here. The folks in this central area want/need more water channeled from rivers of the north, primarily the Sacramento. The folks up north don’t like the consequences of depleting their water supply. One sign proclaims, “Congressionally Imposed Dust Bowl,” another, “No Water = No Jobs =Higher Food Costs for All.” The contrast between the “dust bowl” and the land west of it is stark. The irrigated land has people throughout green fields and trucks hauling full loads of vegetables. Industry is obvious. The previously irrigated property has no growth, movement, or evidence of people.

Moving west, small groups of trees are scattered across the rolling hillsides. Russell calls the color of these hills buckskin, accurate and creative. Ravines and rock outcroppings and dry creek beds begin with houses scattered along the road. At the end of all this bleak is a huge vineyard near the town of Shandon. There would be one vineyard after another all the way to the coast; we just didn’t know it yet. The power of water! In the county of San Luis Obispo, grape is King!