Post 999: Alleys of Hollister

I have yet to find an alley in Hollister that dead ends at a brick wall on all sides. You know, like in the movies. Nor, for that matter, an alley with a tumble down or rickety fence to climb up and over to run away from the "bad guys".

As some of you, dear readers, know, the Husband and I like sidetracking through an alley when we suddenly come upon one whether walking, bicycling, or driving. There are 18 alleys, according to the Google map of downtown Hollister. For past posts about some alleys, check out this link: Alleys.

Driving North on the Bolsa

This coming Wednesday will be post #1,001 for Take 25 to Hollister. Yup, I'm amazed, too. I didn't think I'd ever last this long. So, for the next three days, I shall link back to a past post.  The Husband and I have driven out of town via the Bolsa, aka Highway 25, the last couple of weeks, so I shall take you back to the post that I published on October 14, 2008: The 25, The Bolsa—Same Difference.

Conserve Water!

As we go through this drought, some farmers will allow their fields to lay fallow and some homeowners will let their lawns go brown or die completely.  It's only common sense.

Yesterday, August 1, the emergency state regulation to restrict water use in California went into effect for 270 days.  To learn more about what that means for residents of San Benito County, read the article, "State Water-use Rules Allows $500 Fines" by Adam Breen at BenitoLink.com.

Coming Into View

  

All of a sudden, there it was—the Pinnacles towering over the Salinas Valley. The Husband and I were driving north on Highway 101. The sun was on its way to setting as we passed by the ancient volcano.

I've entered the Pinnacles National Monument, excuse me, the Pinnacles National Park, only a few times from the western side in Soledad. Even though there is no front or back sides to the Pinnacles, I think of the western entrance as the back way in. I wonder if some folks in Monterey County think the same way about the eastern entrance.

Remembering the Tres Pinos Hotel

Standing at the corner of Fifth Street and Highway 25 in Tres Pinos is an E Clampus Vitis plaque commemorating the Tres Pinos Hotel that was there from 1873 to 1958. The hotel was originally known as the Southern Pacific Hotel, which Southern Pacific built when it brought the railroad to Tres Pinos. If I understand the various references correctly, Juan Etcheverry, who owned 1,400 acres of land in and around Tres Pinos, took over the hotel and it became known as the Etcheverry Hotel.

What was the hotel like? Here's what Marjorie Pierce wrote on page 129 in East of the Gabilans:

". . .the hotel was a bustling place. It was to Tres Pinos what the Plaza Hotel was to San Juan. Hay and grain buyers and stockmen would come and stay. The train would stop overnight before going back so the railroad men also were guests. The station was across from the hotel and the turntable was a short distance away. In the kitchen there were three Chinese cooks to handle the busy dining room. There was a pool room, a public room with a fireplace and poker tables, and a bar which was probably called a saloon in those days. . . ."