Well, I had quite the surprise this morning. 

My routine is that when the sun comes over the hill, I get up, let the dogs out, and pee … In that order. On nice mornings, like this am, I leave the door open so any of the dogs that want to come back in, can.

After I pee, I get back in bed. Sometimes I go back to sleep, but mostly, I don’t. This morning, I heard a dog next to my bed, looked down to see which one it was, and was surprised to see a new face greeting me. Surprise, surprise …

This is the face that greeted me this morning:

“Oh, my. Who are you, Missy?” I didn’t even know whether she was a Missy or a Mister, but that is the first thing that popped out of my mouth when I turned over and saw her at my bedside.

She is very skinny and covered with tics. She is very sweet, comes up to me, whether I am standing or sitting, and immediately sits. I fed her two cups of dry food, which she scarfed. She would have eaten the whole bag, but I don’t want her barfing, so I’ll give her another two cups later this afternoon. We are working on the tics.

She is a border collie. She has a collar, but no tags.She does not bark, and seems to come from a one dog household, as she snarls whenever one of my dogs gets near her. She has very long legs, but probably only weighs 20-25 lbs – not sure as I haven’t tried to pick her up. .

If anyone recognizes this dog, please call me at 831-818-8026. I am sure there is a heartbroken owner somewhere. She immediately took to me – or just so grateful for a place and food out of the wild. Pass the word. I will post this to FB, also, so it can be easily shared. Much as I am taken with this dog, and would easily add her to my pack, I am happy to reunite her with her owner.

After a few weeks with her, I came to think she was purposefully abandoned here in the back country based on her aversion to getting out of the car anywhere but at home. She didn’t make a sound for about six months. She survived out in the wild for a couple of weeks alone, per the vet. Eight years later I cannot imagine my life without this fur baby. She is no longer skinny, in fact, she is a little chunky, her tail wags constantly, and she stole my heart.

Andrew, our Postmaster, asked me to pass on his assurance that during the closure at Rat Creek, he would be having mail delivered Tuesdays and Fridays for the duration for those of us south of Rat Creek. Obviously, it is not carved in stone as there are many factors that could affect this, but that he was doing everything in his power to make sure that happens.

Date:	Monday, February 1, 2021 at 1 pm
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Kevin Drabinski or Jim Shivers
Phone:	(805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UPDATE #3

AFTER PARTIAL LIFTING OF EVACUATION ORDER RESIDENTS NORTH OF RAT CREEK RETURN; THOSE SOUTH STILL SUBJECT TO CLOSURE OF HIGHWAY 1

MONTEREY and SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – Today, Monterey County partially lifted an Evacuation Order that had been in place since January 26, in advance of approaching rainstorms for areas downslope of the Dolan Fire burn scar which were subject to debris flows. At the request of the California Highway Patrol, and in support of this Order, Caltrans had initiated a 44-mile closure of Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast to create safe conditions for evacuations to take place.

During the intense rainstorms, and in an area below the Dolan Fire burn scar, a section of road washed out at Rat Creek, severing Highway 1 and creating a 150-foot chasm in the roadway at Post Mile 30.2.

Although the wash out at Rat Creek was the most apparent and significant devastation, it was not the only location on Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast to suffer damage.

Caltrans and contractor crews working north and south of Rat Creek on Highway 1 continue to clear multiple debris piles, remove slides, remove accumulations of water, clear and repair drainage systems, and stabilize damaged sections of roadway at approximately 60 locations that were impacted by storm damage.

Several of these locations still need to stabilize and dry out before final cleanup and repair work can restore the highway to allow for public use. At Rat Creek engineering alternatives are being analyzed and data is being gathered with no timeline available for complete reopening at this time.

Today, the northern limit of the Highway 1 closure will be relocated to the vicinity of South Coast Center near Post Mile 34.

A traffic control checkpoint at that location will be staffed 24 hours a day allowing only locals to pass and return to assess any damage at their homes. There will be sections of the road between the South Coast Center closure and Rat Creek that will be restricted down to one lane and local motorists are advised to drive with appropriate caution. During daytime hours contractor forces will be working in this area and may cause short delays.

As crews effect repairs and stabilize the roadway over the next several weeks, the northern traffic control checkpoint should continue to move southward until it reaches the approach to Rat Creek.

Damage to Highway 1 south of Rat Creek remains in such condition that it will delay the ability of residents who live south of Rat Creek to return to their homes.

The southern closure, currently at Ragged Pont, will be moved north to Willow Creek Rd. at Post Mile 11.2 today at 6 pm.

In similar fashion as in the north, the southern edge of the closure will continue to move tracking the progress of maintenance and contractor crews as they work north.

While there is no current timeline for the complete reopening of the southern end of the closure, continuous updates will be provided in the days and weeks ahead.

Here are a couple trouble spots on Plaskett:

The road curves up through that wash out spot then curves around to the left when viewed from this photo, so the top of the wash out is depicted in the next photo. If the erosion is not stopped, it could result in partial loss of road in two places.

All the photos below are of Nacimiento-West, as we are now calling it, and were taken by Tom Collins and Colleen Wilson