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Backstory Part I: One of the disappointments on our last roadtrip was the accidental deletion of a single photo. On the hike back from Cedar Creek Falls, we came upon a magnificent Phrynosoma coronatum blainvillii, sunning itself on the verge of the trail. Horny toads are usually skittish, and this specimen was no exception. It scurried for shelter in the brush, pausing just long enough for us to snap a picture. Cool! TSG loves those little guys.
Backstory Part II: Unfortunately, a few minutes later, we were reviewing the reptilian portrait and we hit the delete button by accident. What a bummer! If only we had pulled the SD card out at that point--it might have been okay. But no, we continued shooting, and the spiky lizard's image file was overwritten. (Recovery software confirmed it; the memory location now held a different file.)
Oh, but there was a kind of serendipity (and lack of same--but more on that later) on the final day of the trip. Our plan was to visit an oft-passed-by roadside attraction, the R.C. Baker Memorial Museum in beautiful(?) downtown Coalinga, CA. Well, butter our butt and call us a biscuit, what do we see as we roll into town? A friggin' GIANT HORNY TOAD. Not only that, but there are banners all down Elm Street proclaiming that Derby Day is nigh! Awesome!
Mission accomplished, we scarfed down the meager sandwich, slurped our shake, and hit the road again. The plan for the last leg was to take Los Gatos-Coalinga Road (the "back way" to CA25) and then on to Hollister and home. Well, dear reader[s], that ended up being a 2.5 hour side trip--due to 14" of water at a creek crossing 40 miles down the road. The old 4Runner would've splashed across with glee. The Mazda...not so much.
Oh well, it was a nice day for a drive.
*$3.75 for two slices of wheat
bread and a slice and a half of
processed cheese-like substance?
You've got to be kidding!
