Santa Margarita Ranch Photo Tour I

Yesterday afternoon right after my final Cuesta College Spring 2014 semester final I drove directly to my security job working a wedding at Santa Margarita Ranch from 3 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. Needless to say, it was a productive but exhausting day. I had a spare half hour before work and elected to get on-site and be in position to work before something could go wrong like car trouble or other such. I decided to spend that time taking these images after I had checked in with ranch staff and was debriefed on the day's duties. Below is what I captured of the Main House structure and grounds as well as of the Big Barn In Back where the wedding dinners are served. The grassy grounds adjacent to the Main House which are not fully pictured here are where the ceremony was held as they usually are.

*Note: this locality (both Main House and Big Barn In Back are both reputed to be haunted). During the day these two structures are innocuous-looking enough but in the middle of the night (I have spent four overnight periods with them in the past) they have a very different vibe that I have not experienced anywhere else on Earth at night.

Main House and front lawn.

Rustic, old Main House has a very different mood in the middle of the night.

East entrance to front porch of Main House.

Some interesting stones line this path to the right and left.

West-looking view of front porch of Main House.

View north from the front porch of Main House with view of front yard and Wedding Green beyond where wedding ceremonies are held (note white fold-up chairs at right).

Eastward view of front yard of Main House.

Main House viewed from northwest corner.

Eastward of front porch of Main House.

Caddywhompus Window internal view.

Earthquake bracing for failing wall in room of south wing of Main House.

Imprints of straw and such in the adobe bricks of a wall in a room in south wing of Main House.

Water tower

Northwestward-looking view of Main House and south wing.

South wing of Main House.

Caddywhompus Window external view.

Fountain at northwest corner of Main House.

Windmill adjacent to the Wedding Green.

Westward view of the Big Barn In Back.

Big Barn's south side room with stalls view looking west.

Classic old carriage.

Big Barn's south side room with stalls view looking east.
All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Helplessly Headstrong

By now it should be obvious that I love trance music as well as breathtakingly beautiful timelapse imagery of outdoor scenes and the song and music video below delivers on all counts. In fact, the same artist, Headstrong, has been featured on this blog previously last March. Shelley Harland provides vocals to this trance masterpiece.

Picture of the Day - Windmill & Three Cerros

In the background Hollister Peak at right and Park Ridge and an unnamed hill to the left of it each of which comprise but part of the Nine Sisters which are actually more numerous than nine. The windmill in the foreground is actually spinning but the high speed photo I captured today of this scene along Turri Road looking north doesn't give evidence of that motion.  Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all right reserved).

Panhandling In Texas

Today, Day Three of my journey to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to help my friend Dave do a Gem Faire event we traveled from Grants, New Mexico, to Tulsa, OK, traversing the entire East-West width of the Texas Panhandle. Below are some of the things I saw.

Monumental cross near Groom, TX, adjacent to I-40.

Downtown Shamrock, TX, on the US Route 83 drag of town.

Eastward view of I-40 from the US Route 83 overpass in Shamrock, TX, showing clouds that shortly thereafter formed into severe thunderstorms, some of which became tornado-warned. A short before we were here some tornado chasers were in town.

Large calcite boulder weathering alongside US Route 83 in Shamrock, TX.

Windmills in Western Oklahoma just over the state line from Texas.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Delta Windmills

Mercedes-Benz symbol orchard in the Sacramento Delta area. Image captured yesterday en route home from Willits, CA. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).