Showing posts with label Atascadero Lake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atascadero Lake. Show all posts

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Photos of a Wet North County

What's Wet in the North County?


North San Luis Obispo County, California, is not known for its frequent rain. Most of the year non-irrigated land is not wet. Sometimes even our lakes and rivers are dry. Currently the sun is shining brightly and no rain is expected soon. But for City Daily Photo Bloggers, this month's theme is "wet" and this is the day to illustrate it. To do that I have have looked back to my rainy season photos.


Photos of a Wet North County
Atascadero Lake, January 28, 2017

Atascadero Lake

Atascadero Lake is one spot in the North County that usually contains water, but even it was dry in 2014 during the worst of the drought. I'm happy to see it full again. See Atascadero Lake at its best and worst here. The birds are happy to see it full again after the winter rains. We all hope it stays that way. 


Photos of a Wet North County
Waterfowl at Atascadero Lake, 1-28-17, © B. Radisavljevic


The Salinas River


The Salinas River is sometimes wet, but most of the year it is dry. For more wet season photos, see The Salinas River in Paso Robles: Now You See It. The photo below was taken in February at sundown. The recent rains had been good to the river.  I'm hoping it will stay visible and wet until at least the end of April, but that will depend on getting some April showers. 

Photos of a Wet North County
Salinas River at Sundown, 2-26-17,  © B. Radisavljevic


Since I love seeing the river full and flowing, I've made a lot of my photos of the river into products at Zazzle. Here are some of them.


The Cow Parade at Halter Ranch


In February I went on a search for cows in the Cow Parade, an international event. Businesses sponsored artists who made life-size cow sculptures, and the cows were scattered over many locations in our county. I wanted to find all I could in the North County. I found this one on a rainy day at Halter Ranch Winery. It's titled Cowvee Alice. It was created by Jack Foster and sponsored by Halter Ranch. Many of the cows from the cow parade have been made into collectible figurines you can find at Amazon

Photos of a Wet North County
Cowvee at Halter Ranch, 2-19-17, © B. Radisavljevic


 It was not easy to get this photograph. When I arrived in front of the tasting room, the cow was surrounded by people with umbrellas. They weren't moving. I discovered they were all part of a tour of the winery and were gathered in front of the tasting room (and the cow) to listen to the tour leader speak. I decided to join in and learn something. When the tour moved on to the winery, I snapped my photos and then followed the tour. Find out more about this tour here. I recommend it.) If you look closely at the photo, you will see that the sidewalk around the cow sculpture is wet. So was the cow, but it's hard to see that. The vineyards and grounds were also wet. 



Puddles Near the Park


On January 9,  I walked to Larry Moore Park to check on the river after the rain. I took a short cut from the J.C. Penny parking lot across a vacant lot to a back park entrance. On the way I passed many puddles. This is one I liked because of its reflection of the trees near it. It was quite a large puddle and the ground around it was so wet I sloshed as I walked.

Photos of a Wet North County
Puddle Near Back Entrance to Larry Moore Park in Paso Robles, © B. Radisavljevic

The Sunken Gardens In Atascadero


I took this photo of the fountain at the Sunken Gardens Park on a very windy day after the rain. It was wet in many places around the fountain because of the wind's splashing. Of course, the fountain is wet, too. 

Photos of a Wet North County
Overflowing Fountain  after Rain in the Sunken Gardens, Atascadero, © B. Radisavljevic


My Own Backyard


Until last winter, I had never seen my yard this wet. Usually the rain is quickly absorbed by the thirsty ground. After several rainy days, the ground was not so thirsty anymore. Thus the puddles appeared. The white streaks are the falling raindrops.

Photos of a Wet North County



Which photo illustrating this month's Wet theme do you like best? 



**


Sunday, January 22, 2017

Rain, Rain, and More Rain in Paso Robles

No More Drought Right Here, Right Now


It seems it's been raining for days now. When it's not raining, it's getting ready to rain. The cloud formations are beautiful. Below, the sun is just peeking through a cloud. 

Rain, Rain, and More Rain in Paso Robles, January 2017

Below is a path to the river through Larry Moore Park between storms. 

Rain, Rain, and More Rain in Paso Robles, January 2017

I shot this from my back porch during the rain today. This used to be my dead lawn when I stopped watering it during the drought. I've never seen such puddles there before this year. 

Rain, Rain, and More Rain in Paso Robles, January 2017

I taped this video at the same time I took the photo above. I turned the sound way down because a very noisy vehicle went by while I was shooting this. 



After I shot the video, we ate lunch. Then the sun came back out again for a few minutes before the sky went gray again. It has been raining off and off since then. More rain is expected during the next two days. 

Preserve the Memory of a Full Atascadero Lake and Salinas River



Local Lake Levels and the River are Rising Again


I haven't been out to take my own photos of the local lakes yet, but this video shows how the level of Atascadero Lake has come up since I took pictures during the drought. You can see those photos in the related posts below for comparison. I was happy to see the island surrounded by water again. 


I have been out to see the Salinas River flowing and I took lots of photos. Here are a few. 

Salinas River Overflowing Banks, January 9, 2017

Finally a River View from this  Bench Again

Rain, Rain, and More Rain
Looking North Toward Veterans Memorial Bridge

Although I miss the sun, we will see it soon again. Meanwhile,  I'm thankful for the rain that is filling our lakes and the river again and watering our oaks, street trees, and landscaping. We won't need to water again for weeks. 

***

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Z is for Zoo

Parrots at Charles Paddock Zoo, Atascadero, © B. Radisavljevic
I've already written plenty about Zenaida and a bit about ZinAlley, so I'm taking you to the only zoo in our area -- the Charles Paddock Zoo in the Atascadero Lake Park. I'm not going to show you much because it's a very small zoo in comparison to those I've seen in Santa Barbara, Tustin, Los Angeles, and San Diego. I took  this photo on July 4, 2012. They normally offer free admission on Independence Day when the city parties there.


Flamingos at Charles Paddock Zoo, Atascadero, © B. Radisavljevic

When I took the photo above the zoo was very  crowded and it was difficult to get a clear view of most cages occupied by mammals.  Many cages were empty. I took this photo of the flamingos in March of this year when I went to check on the level of the lake. I was happy to see some water in it.

How far away is your closest zoo?

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Atascadero Lake Has Some Water Again

Atascadero Lake, March 9, 2015
Atascadero Lake, March 9, 2015
I finally got a chance to get to Atascadero this afternoon to check out the lake. I've been wondering if any water had returned since we've had rain this year. I posted in November about the effects of the drought on this lake and showed comparison photos of the full lake in 2012 and the dry lake last November. I also documented the state of the lake in December, 2013. It includes with a video of the dredging of the lake as part of its restoration. I took this photo today from the second story balcony of the Lake Park Pavilion. In 2012 the water would have covered right up to the edge of the rail and all the grass you see in the background. A view looking toward the pavilion is in the post card below. It was taken when the lake was full.



 Naturally I was happy to see enough water was in the lake for the ducks and and other water birds to swim in, but I still couldn't believe there was enough rain to put it there. It turns out I was right. I ran into an old timer at the Faces of Freedom Memorial next to the park and he told me the overflow from a creek higher up was being piped into the lake. However it gets there, I'm glad to see it.

I'm sure the birds are, too.
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