Carrizo plain-not so plain after all!

Did a two day one night road trip to Carrizoplain after reading about it in the Viaa magazine.  Tucked in a hard to get to valley from San Luis Obispo and Highway 5, it made for  a great two-day getaway on Easter Sunday.

Took off early and went down  5, cutting into Highway 46 west (Paso Robles Road) and then South again on Hwy 33 through miles and miles of almond orchards, which Moose duly noted for next Persian New Year when green almkinds are all the rage. Of course, for quality control purposes, he made me pull over while he picked a good few Monterey Market produce bags full of.

Directly south of these orchards were 26 miles of oil fields. never imagined this exited in california. the land was sparse, blighted and ugly.The 'town' of McKittrik was bleak and dead.

West on 58 from McKittrick the road rises then gently wends down to Carrizo Plain.

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield/Programs/carrizo.html

Steinbeck country.  Nice to take picnic lunch on the overlook and walk the raised trail to the salt flats.

Wended west on 58 to 101 where we hopped north a bit to Atascadero for ou hotel stay at the Carlton (booking.com$119 + tax a night). Oldest hotel in the town, that once was an old persons home. Huge, brick and well renovated with a fab bistro next to the lobby that served solid and generous breakfasts as part of the hotel charge.

Morro Bay is only 20-30 minutes away and makes for a nice afternoon stroll, even when foggy and espite the touristy shops. it was quiet on Easter Sunday, so the full brunt of a tourism destination wasnt so bad. A few streets off the watefront are other locals shops and cafes, so worth checking out.

Passed in through Paso Robles just to see how they do 'wine town' in this part of California compared to Napa and Sonoma. Very low-key. A few posse of hippies hanging out at the Amsterdam coffee shop on 13th.  the central city park is green, tree-covered and with a band stand gazebo-so charmign and probably full of life in the summer vs. a Monday morning.

heading back north on 101, you pass lettuce country. miles and miles of massive farms and lettce fields. the salinas valleey & california feeds America.  Too bad they dont eat more salad.