Driving at Twilight

The Husband turned right from Highway 156 onto Union Road. I leaned out the window and the camera went Click!

The Diablo Range

I pedaled up Hillcrest Road on the bicycle this morning. Puff, puff. Seeing the Three Sisters and Santa Ana Mountain near the top of the road was worth the struggle. Every time.

Walking in Downtown Hollister

Downtown Hollister is a great town to walk. So many possibilities. Walk up and down the main street, side streets, and alleys. Venture into the residential area beyond South Street or to the west of San Benito Street. Climb up Park Hill and enjoy the view.

If you'd like something a bit more organized, check out these round-trip walks designed by the Downtown Hollister Association. You can download a copy of its brochure describing the walks here. I've summarized the walks below, providing links to past posts on Take 25 to Hollister that give you some background on the subject matter of many of the walks.

• Sacred Heart Walk, a one-mile stroll, begins at Dunne Park where Sacred Heart Church originally was located.
•  Downtown Shop Walk, 1.2 miles, allows you to see and visit all the shops and businesses in downtown Hollister.
• Historic District Walk is 1.3 miles long, covering the Downtown Hollister Historic District. 
• Fault to Fault Walk is a 1.3 mile walk along the Calaveras Fault.
• Vista Park Hill Walk, 1.5 miles, takes you up to Park Hill, the highest point in Downtown Hollister. 
• East of Eden Walk is 2.2 miles of some John Steinbeck history and movie settings for the East of Eden movie.
• Hazel Hawkins Walk, 2.3 miles, starts at the original Hazel Hawkins Hospital and goes to the IOOF Cemetery on Buena Vista Road.

Have fun walking through downtown Hollister!

Artichokes of Hollister

Artichokes grow in Hollister?

I always thought artichokes grew in foggy, sandy areas, so it still surprises me whenever I see the artichoke fields around here. Workers were harvesting the artichokes in the fields along Union Road this morning. One of them mentioned that Bertuccio's Market on Airline Highway (aka Highway 25), near Union Road, will be selling some of the artichokes.  Yaay! Beats driving all the way to Castroville for fresh artichokes.

Being Spontaneous

The last time the Husband and I were in downtown Hollister, we suddenly decided to pop into the Fifth Street entrance of the old Elks Lodge building, climb the three flours to the top, and walk down the other side of the building to exit on San Benito Street.

It's been awhile since we young old fogeys climbed more than one flight of stairs. Puff, puff, puff.

Alas, we couldn't complete our spontaneous plan. The glass doors at the top floor were locked. Oh well. The floor tiles up there are gorgeous as you can see.

By the way, we took the elevator down. Yup, an elevator, one of the few elevators in Hollister. Giggle.