Transition to Chico

Yesterday was transition day. We left Santa Barbara and headed northeast about 8 hours to Chico, California, where we are staying with our friend Ann for a few weeks. 

We've known Ann most of our adult lives, having met in graduate school at Wayne State University. Here's a photo of when we met up in California in 1996 on the occasion of the annual meeting of our professional association. Who knew we'd all end up back in California later in our lives?!

Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla, California

Our Route

The first part of our drive was familiar territory, a beautiful drive up the 101 through the Santa Ynez Valley, past Pismo Beach (and all the clams you can eat) and San Luis Obispo and then up toward Paso Robles, where we stopped for an In-N-Out in Atascadero. As I discovered researching a previous blog, all of the restaurants have the crossed palm trees, so a picture was required!

Next, heading east, we had to cross more mountains. This always makes me nervous and queasy! At least they weren't as bad as the crossing to Bakersfield. John likes the views. Glad he's driving!

And, then back to the San Joaquin Valley. Here is descending from the mountains into the valley:

Our entry point here was north of where we had explored back during our Bakersfield stint, but it was very similar, with lots of agriculture. This time we saw many pistachio groves, as well as tons (literally!) of tomatoes being transported in trucks. Was their future paste?

Continuing north, passing the Sacramento, the state capital, and heading in to Chico, the scenery remained agricultural, but had a less industrial farm feel. We wondered about these uniformly shaped mounds.

And, arrived! Isn't Ann's yard a lovely oasis?!