A casual stroll past Casual Ct.

After the monsoon we experienced a few days ago, Patrick & I decided to walk around the neighborhood Saturday to enjoy the sunny day and some of the sights between our house and the university. We took turns snapping photos so we could share some of those sights with you now!

We're not sure if anybody actually lives here since the yard is a bit unruly, but the padlocked gate on this multi-family dwelling, inspired us to call this isolated fortress "The Commune."

Across from The Commune is a small orchard that looks lovely all abloom.

A palm on the edge of the bike path that leads to the university. There seems to be quite a few varieties of the plant, as you'll notice in other photos.

There's lots of pasture on the path to the university- you can see the cows and the mountain foothills off in the distance. The puddles are evidence of the rain we've had. I like how the sky is reflected in them.

On hazy days you may see the silhouettes of foothills or nothing at all. On clear days you can see snowcapped peaks and the foothills in more definition. On an in-between day like this, you get an imperfect view, but still a view.

We rode our bikes to the university on Presidents Day and a large group of cows was grazing near the fence. They started following us and a few even broke into a run for a full-on chase. It was hilarious! They were too far away to even notice us Saturday though.

Cherry blossoms, I believe?

A few of the trees crowded the barbed wire fence lining our route, giving us the chance to appreciate their beauty up-close.

A side-street looping us back near the start of our walk hosted homes bordered by these trees. We thought the dark, large-thumb-sized fruit on them might be olives. A quick Google Images search leads us to believe our guess is correct.

Orange trees in a few nearby yards have really tempted me to become a trespasser. Our thoughts were these might be grapefruits since they seem more yellow in appearance and the plant is larger than the orange trees we've seen. Either way, the scrumptious appearance is stirring up the the suppressed fruit-thief in me.

Fields of this golden wildflower waved gloriously in the sunlight. We picked a few to adorn our dining room table.

This full-grown tree emerging from the concrete seemed a bit of an oddity, but its location certainly gave it more character, especially combined with the vivid blue & green colors in the background.

Spiky palm plants, of some sort, landscaping a residence.

This vine flower creeped along the ground. I leaned in for a closer glance to determine whether it was a morning glory. It's not, but looks lovely nevertheless.

One thing Patrick & I noticed not long after arriving in Merced, was a stronger presence of classic cars (makes sense due to the lack of snow & salt, but still stood out to us). I have a feeling this baby-blue beauty isn't its owner's primary vehicle, though. It looks to be in pretty stellar condition!

The rust-orange, longer fur on these calves made us wonder if they've got some Highland blood in them. Three other cuties were crowding the bale of hay off to the left, but these two were more curious about us.

This waxy, wild-looking cactus was part of an island of exotic botanicals acting as a donut-hole for the circle driveway in front of someone's house. It's actually a rather messy yard arrangement, but simultaneously intriguing.

A close-up of the red growths on the cactus shown above.

More palm varieties, sheltering a huge spikey plant in the back right region of the island.

We pass this electric tower all the time, but it wasn't until this walk we noticed the vicious metal teeth protectively placed near the bottom, deterring hoodlums from climbing. Remember you can click on any of these photos to enlarge them.

Springtime colors are really starting to pop around here!

April showers bring May flowers in Michigan, but it seems that in California it's February that brings both. Strange for us, but we're relishing the mild-weather and invigorating scenes this season brings before the summer heat comes to town!