Wild and Crazy

We had a wild weekend of storms.   The wind was raging all day Sunday,  and I was a little concerned about trees and branches.   When the ground is so saturated after drought years, it's not unusual for the wind to take down the trees.   And it's happening all over California, causing roadways to close, power lines downed, and at times cars or houses to be hit.   We had a tree land on our garage about 8 years ago so I'm always wary.   Then the rains came and absolutely poured for a few hours Sunday evening.   We got close to 2 inches in those hours.   The local weatherman said California, specifically our area, now has a surplus for this season.   It's so very welcome but with more to come, also hazardous.   It really is feast or famine, isn't it?   

There is a creek in Cambria that breaks through in heavy rains, rushing into the ocean and causing locals to rejoice.   This is Moonstone Beach which I've shown several times in photos on this blog.   The creek is rushing so hard that it hit the beach, splitting it in half and creating a little sand island for the ever present gulls.   



We couldn't drive Highway 41 over to Morro Bay because it's closed due to a rockslide.   I read that it will likely be closed for a week.   So we headed over Highway 46 and fought the high winds.   We stopped at the vista for some photos and I could barely hold the camera still.   I finally ducked behind a boulder and rested the camera to attempt some shots of the hills and Morro Bay.   Holy cow, I thought the wind might snap off the door of the truck when I opened it.   

The hills are greening fast.   There are cattle down there, maybe you can see the black dots.   I bet those are the happy cows of California that have been featured in milk commercials.   Well, they aren't dairy cows, but you get the idea.



Then Sunday evening we had no hot water.   We had a new water heater installed two years ago when we had the kitchen and more remodeled.   The previous water heater was maybe 8 years old, still working, but close enough to the end that we opted for a new unit when we relocated it.   The relatively new unit was leaking.   It was under warranty which sounds good until you pay a plumber (two guys) to diagnose/talk to Rheem for an hour, remove the old water heater, take it to Home Depot for a new unit, return and install it.   Home Depot didn't really honor the warranty because they tried to charge an additional $150 due to the old model being upgraded and therefore demanding a higher price.  WHAT??   The plumber got them down to $76 and I'll have to take up the issue with Rheem.   With that and all the plumber's time, the replacement of the two-year-old unit cost us $800.   So now I can send all pertinent information to Rheem and they may reimburse $250 of that.   Great warranty program, huh?   Thanks Rheem and thanks Home Depot.   I am not a happy customer.

So I missed out on a no rain/no wind day by having to stay home with plumbers.   I accomplished a few things outside, managed not to get too upset about the water heater, and that was that.   Now the rain is coming back today.

And the grass keeps growing and the dogs keep playing between storms, and life is good.


Comments

It looks like you were out on Sunday which to me means you are one brave woman! We really wanted to go down to SLO but the winds were so high I balked at having to drive over the grade. But you got some beautiful shots!
Tabor said…
Looks like a lovely spring there. I have at least three more months before that! Those green hills are lovely...perfect for a picnic.
Those hills rolling down to the sea is quite a sight! Beautiful -

Sad to hear the old Drive thru tree was toppled in your storms...

This N That said…
Never a dull moment..Sorry about your hot water heater..I hope somebody makes good on the warranty..Your pictures of the hills are magnificent..Glad you finally have rain and things are greening up.
Cloudia said…
Wonderful photos. Yes, here in Marin it felt like a monsoon. Sun on Friday they say! Lovely photos of California hills.

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