Rest stop educates those who stop to read

For travelers driving east out of Paso Robles, CA (Pass of Oak Trees) there are essentially two places to stop during the hour drive on Hwy 41/46 over to Interstate 5:  The Jack Ranch Cafe, famous as the site where James Dean died in a wreck (and for the monument that now stands there in his honor), and a rest stop just east of Shandon.

I have stopped at that rest stop dozens of times.  Actually it is probably more accurate to say that for many years I hoped to stop at that rest stop, and often times I really, really needed to stop at that rest stop (given the amount of coffee required to drive that barren stretch of highway in the wee hours of the morning without, at the risk of sounding insensitive, doing my own imitation of James Dean), but it always seemed to be closed for renovations.  For about 15 years. 

Thankfully the rest area is open now and has become a frequent stopping spot for me while driving to and from the San Joaquin Valley for work.  The rest area is now a very nice one, with an interpretive display / historical marker in the walk way from the parking lot to the rest rooms.  It's beautiful.  It's informative.  So of course for months I walked right past it without even noticing it.  It was only while I was pacing around talking on the phone that I actually bothered to notice it, stop, and read it. I just about fell over.

(Click each photo to enlarge)

Which means this rest area in Shandon, CA has educated a lot more people in the last few months about acorns as food than this blog has!