THE MISSION OF SANTA YNEZ, NEAR LOS OLIVOS, STILL PRESERVES MUCH OF ITS OLD-TIME OUTLINE
CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL NEAR SAN LUIS OBISPO, WHERE DIPLOMAS IN USEFULNESS ARE AWARDED
LONELY MORRO ROCK, THE HAUNT OF SEAL AND SEA FOWL.
NEARING HORSESHOE CURVE—AFTER LEAVING SAN LUIS OBISPO THE TRAIN CLIMBS THE SANTA LUCIA RANGE—MARVELOUS SCENES AT EVERY TURN
At Atascadero one may see the maneuvering ground of a recent encampment of national guard and regular army soldiers. If men who go to war could have their choice of an ideal camping and fighting country they would surely select a spot like this, with plenty of shade, plenty of water, rolling hills for defense, and ambuscades of chaparral and manzanita on the hillsides for shelter. This site is one of several recommended for one of five permanent army camps, where volunteers and regulars may be drilled side by side. Another is the great Nacimiento ranch that lies beyond the Mission San Miguel.
Beyond this point the valley broadens and the road enters the hot spring region, in the center of which is El Paso de Robles, the “pass of the oaks.” Here at Paso Robles and at Santa Ysabel, close at hand, are mineral springs of all sorts and temperature, clay-mud, sand, iron, sulphur, soda, lithia; all within a small area as if marshaled for the healing of the nations. The elevation is 720 feet above sea level, about that of Carlsbad, Baden-Baden, or Kissingen. A flowing well furnishes 2,000,000 gallons daily of hot sulphur water, excellent for both internal and external uses. The hot lithia spring is 124 degrees; the great sulphur spring 107 degrees. The sanitary value of these wonderful founts of healing was recognized long ago, and every season seekers for health come to be cured, as the sufferers of France make pilgrimage to Lourdes; the dry air, the sunshine, the healing waters from Nature’s laboratory soon make the patient feel as good as new.
