This morning we walked downtown to the historic centre of San Luis Obispo.
The area was occupied by Indians until the 16th century when Carilla arrived from Spain and subsequently Drake sailed into the bay and claimed the area for England.
In 1772, the Franciscans set up a mission here and from then the town developed, initially as a ranching area until the drought of 1884-86, when the ranchers sold out. The rains returned and the area developed into a wheat, dairy and fruit growing area. Later the wine making industry was established.
The town is beautifully preserved with none of the tackiness one sees in many American cities.
We first visited the plaza where the original mission continues to function.
then to nearby mission church
and the church bells deserves a mention!
From there to the nearby museum, where a very personable, young man welcomed me and suggested I look at a video explaining the historical development of the area. It was excellent.
Crossing a nearby bridge which connects the plaza to the town
brought us to Bubble Gum Alley -
where one can deposit one’s chewing gum on the walls - the most grotesque tourist attraction I’ve seen ever!!
We further explored the historic streets and the piece de resistance was the cinema - a magnificent piece of architecture
We returned to the motel via Monterey Street past the original court house and its modern extension
A taxi took us to. the Amtrak Railway Station to await the Coastal Starlight (the latter commences in LA and ends in Seattle) to San Francisco / Oakland, where a bus will transport us into the city.
The train arrived on time from LA. We boarded. It had sleeper seats but no Wifi!! The train exited the station in a dramatic fashion, climbed into the mountains and made a horseshoe-shaped loop before travelling onwards.
Way below us the cars were barely perceptible on the road
We continued through very parched landscape and dry river beds
passing a large settlement - so large that I couldn’t decide what employment opportunities supported so many in such a barren landscape.
Later we encountered oil drilling (was it fracking?)
We travelled through the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, a desert transformed by the diversion of water to the arid area. Today vast areas amount of vegetables, fruit, nut and salad product are grown in the region
The area occupied both sides of the track in a wide, irrigated valley between the arid mountains.
We passed King City at the heart of this area as numerous trucks plied the road close to the railway line, bringing the produce to market.
We arrived at the town of Salinas - here along the track were the homeless in make-shift shelters. One group had the Mexican flag flying over their shocking accommodation. I’m informed that is much worse in San Francisco - that modern societies can preside over this situation is shameful!
We had dinner on board and shared our table with a charming woman from a small town near LA. She was going to San Francisco to take care of her 18 month old grandson while his parents went to a wedding. She also confided that she was about to go guarantor for her daughter and partner’s rent as they did not earn sufficient to rent a small two bed apartment. It appears one can only pay 1/3 of one’s salary on rent and the couple earnings would not warrant such a rent.
She had been a teacher, then a trade union organiser and now in her retirement she runs a homeless shelter in her small town. In her earlier years, she had gone to Honduras to help build houses but now she admitted , she was too old to drag bags of cement! She was no Trump supporter.
We arrived at Oakland. We might have missed the stop as there was no announcement or signage on the platform to indicate our arrival! Within 20 minutes, the connecting bus had us at the nearby Hyatt, where we took a taxi to Club Quarters Hotel on Clay St. The taxi man was so annoyed at the short journey that he grabbed the fare out of my hand.! For such rudeness, he deserved no better!
San Fran here we come ......
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