Visiting the New and Old in Our Travels

We enjoy taking random drives through the countryside as we get to know a new part of the USA. As we drove towards the coast during our stay near Monterey Bay, we purposefully took the longer route because we wanted to see the Salinas Valley.  With all the rain this year, the horses in this valley must be very happy with the abundant grass.

Denisa noticed that the GPS was taking us on a longer route through some of the towns of Salinas Valley. There was a shorter, although squigglier route available. We headed on that alternate road, and soon found that the GPS was just trying to keep us off one of the most narrow and winding roads we had ever seen. But this new route also gave us some of the prettiest views!

While some areas had tree cover, we think the hills with only grass look like green velvet. Since this is our first long trip through California, we will think that this bright green is normal. But we have heard over and over that Californians have grown used to these hills being brown during the drought for the last six years. It's hard for us to imagine that they have been experiencing water rations and dry landscapes for so long. On the news they reported that many areas have received twice their normal rainfall this year. The good news is that all of the state has now officially been removed from designated drought conditions.

Besides green velvet fields, this area is known for their lettuce and vegetable production. We've seen a lot of that in our travels this year, but we saw a new crop here. It's hard to identify what we were seeing as we sped down the highway.

But when we had a chance to stop at this field just a few miles from Dale and Carelyn's house, we could see all those artichokes almost ready to be harvested. We were seeing a new crop in that field of artichokes!

One of our other favorite activities in this area is shopping at the local fruit stands. We found that our beautiful store at CASA Fruta is expensive, but these roadside stands are vying to get cars to stop with their posted specials. As good as it sounded, we weren't interested in the garlic ice cream. It seems that nearby Gilroy, California, is the garlic capitol of the world.

It looks like we are on the northern edge of citrus production, so we are stocking up. We are taking advantage of that posted special of 7 grapefruit for $1. But the real fun was finding six pounds of oranges for $1. That wasn't 6 oranges--that was 6 POUNDS of oranges for one little dollar. They were the smaller navel oranges shown in the foreground of the picture, and we ended up with a bunch of those!

We counted ten different fruit stands in a twelve-mile stretch. We think there's a competition for the cheapest price for avocados, as they obviously keep changing the number on the sign.

At this price you don't expect huge avocados, but these were tiny. You know they are small when four will fit easily in Denisa's hands. But they really are a great size to slice up for a sandwich or with crackers. We've also had lots of guacamole since we've been in California!

Strawberries are also in season right now, and we've seen acres of them along the roads we travel. We see the signs for cherries, but we are too early for that crop. That is one of Denisa's favorites, so we are certainly hoping to find them in roadside stands before we leave the northwest this year.

After five days at CASA Fruta RV Park, we are headed down the road to our next destination. We have never been to San Francisco, so that will be a new city for us. We find that RV parks in big cities are either non-existent or are terribly over-priced. We have gotten the advice to stay in the East Bay area. So we are driving to the pleasant little town of Pleasanton, California, for our next stop. Still one of the most expensive parks of this journey at $40 per night, that's better than some of the area alternatives that charge $75. We also found a farmer's market downtown the next morning, and Denisa is happy to replenish her garden pea supply for another week. Again, she had to brave the rain to get her fresh peas, but she is a tough pioneer when it comes to farmers' markets.

The day's purchases make us feel very Californian. Besides the two packages of garden peas, we bought Gouda cheese curds made with local milk, and spinach filled flat breads and sweet jalapeno sauce made by a local Afghan gourmet company. We love trying new food, and the free samples did a good job of selling us on some new items.

But the best part of staying in Pleasanton is its proximity to a friend from high school. Mark and Denisa graduated from Beaver high school the same year, and another of our classmates is living just 30 miles away from here. So we had a little class reunion with Chris, and his wife Mon, one afternoon. Mark and Chris went to school together from first through twelfth grade. They both played football, and they also hauled hay together one entire summer. That was the summer of 1980, when there was a record number of days over 100 degrees in the Oklahoma panhandle. Denisa and Mon found out some interesting stories we had never heard about that summer while we enjoyed a long lunch together.

It's fun visiting new parts of the country, but it's even better seeing old friends. That's another part of our travel that we enjoy. So if you are a classmate that has wandered away from Oklahoma, you should be expecting a phone call from us as we pass through your new neighborhood!