North to Fresno

I had heard that there are a lot of eucalypts in California and it's true. They're everywhere. And look in great shape too. Maybe they don't have all the usual leaf-eating insects defoliating, nibbling and munching. (I'll have to read up on that.) We were talking to a local who said that plantations of eucs were planted to provide railway sleepers quickly but the plan was a bit of a failure because the wood twisted and didn't hold the gang nails in properly.

Eucalyptus lined highways

We drove north from Los Angeles to Fresno which sits in what they call a valley but what I think looks like a flat, irrigated plain. It reminds me of Werribee. But first we had to climb over the mountain range that separates northern California from southern California - that was a surprise to me. I'm learning how ignorant I am.

Highway I-5 through Angeles National Park north of Los Angeles.