Groveland

This week I have another gardening job, this one in Groveland. To get there from Sonora, you have to drive up an incredibly steep and narrow road called Priest Grade. The Wikipedia article reports that the old road takes you up an elevation gain of over 1500 feet in less than 3 miles.

It's scary coming down because frequently vehicles get to the bottom with no brakes left and can't stop at the intersection with the highway. You can smell the burning brakes in the summer. Older cars often overheat on the way up.

I only got honked at twice on the way to Groveland on Monday. It's so lovely to be back in the rural county of my birth, where everyone is polite, courteous, and drives the speed limit. NOT.

The honkin' huge pickup trucks roar by, full of assholes in a big hurry. It's hard to believe there are so many assholes out there, but I guess they know how to breed as well as anyone.

So I'm driving along in the little blue truck, taking photos of the scenery and generally enjoying myself on the beautiful mountain roads, except when I get honked at for going 55 mph. Oh well, nothing's perfect.


I'm raking leaves into the giant community compost pile, a free service for Pine Mountain Lake residents. Awesome!


On the way home:


I pulled over as soon as I saw this sunbow circling around the setting sun. It didn't go all the way around, but I could see it on opposite sides of the sun, in the wispy cloud.


The left side of the bow was fainter, and disappeared.