Good evening, Campers! It’s Silver Cliche’ with you again. Tonight we are in Corning, California on the grounds of MoonBeam Farm. Is it me or is there something eerie about being at “MoonBeam” Farm on the night when the moon’s beams are going to be cut off by a total lunar eclipse? Come back tomorrow to see if this was actually a good idea!
Tonight is night 16 in California and night 40 of our trip. As of this moment, we’ve driven 5,136 miles since rolling out of our driveway. 1,400 of them in California alone. We aren’t quite halfway through with the trip since we are targeted for 102 nights, but we are getting close to the mid point and to the farthest point from home.
Tomorrow we plan to enter Oregon, although we do have an option to stay one more night in California at a Forest Service campground near Lake Shasta. I’m thinking tomorrow’s report will show a Fort Klamath, Oregon return address. If so, our last full day in California was truly a full day and a highlight.
We started today with temps in the 50’s surrounded by cherries and grape vines at Joe and Alina’s farm in Lodi. This post is a final “thanks” to them! We felt welcomed by them, appreciated their hospitality and were enriched by the chance to see the little corner of America that they call home. Zach loved taking his morning stroll on the dusty road where the Airstream was parked and leaving his leash at home. Romeo was intimidated by the open space, or maybe he recalled the bedtime story I read him about how bald eagles are making a comeback and small pets are disappearing without a trace as the number of eagles rises. He stayed right by the Airstream door while Zack rolled in the dust, chased sticks and generally acted like a dog on a farm.
We left Lodi at about 10:00 and headed to Sacramento. Specifically, East Sacramento which is a neighborhood with the larger city. Why “East Sac” as it’s known to locals? Because we had some specific shopping objectives and a Google search showed that East Sac was where we’d fare the best.
The last 16 days have been about seeing parts of California we had never visited. We had previously been to the large coastal cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego) and I had been to the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs). Beyond that... nothing. My image of Sacramento before today had been shaped by impressions of others... particularly from acquaintances and colleagues all of whom were from large coastal cities. What I expected to find was a cow-town with overtones of pigs feeding at the trough of state government. What we saw in East Sac was anything but that. Our first impression was the drive along city streets after exiting California 99. The neighborhoods were charming with mature trees including palms, conifers and deciduous varieties, interesting and varied houses that were lovingly maintained and an appealing variety of businesses. Now, the rest of Sacramento may be a cow-town that smells like a pig farm... but East Sac was probably the most attractive and livable place we’ve visited in 40 days and 5,100 miles... except for Vero Beach, Florida, of course! We immediately busied ourselves engaging the shopping and services that had drawn us there in the first place. They didn’t disappoint. Mrs. C’ found precisely what she was looking for and stocked up with some clothing for the next phase of the trip... and some clothing to wear back at home... and some gifts... and some jewelry. If a highlight film of her experience appeared on the 11:00 news it would have featured a voice-over track with “She shoots, she scores” and “She might go all the way”. Meanwhile I attended to family business including a swing by a local UPS Store... and all within a five minute drive. For me, Sacramento was a highlight. But time was ticking and our destination was awaiting. We rolled north again at a bit after 2:00.
As we headed north on I-5 we were still in the fertile Central Valley of California but no longer in the portion known as the San Joaquin Valley. The northern portion is the Sacramento Valley. It was equally impressive as an agricultural resource, but the crops changed. Sure, there were still acres and acres of almond groves (how many freakin’ almonds do Americans eat???) but mostly what we saw today were... what?... rice paddies? Yes... rice paddies. With distant parched hills as a backdrop, I-5 north of Sacramento is bordered by flooded fields with green shoots thick enough that one might be tempted to see if it’s possible to walk on water. This region of California produces over 4 billion pounds of rice per year. If humans could thrive on a rice and almond diet we’d all live here.
We stopped at Arbuckle, California for a late lunch. The choices were Mexican, Mexican or Mexican. We deliberated and chose Mexican using Google reviews to guide us. At 3:00, I walked in to “Mariscos el Capi” to place my take out order. This was a Spanish oriented restaurant. There was Spanish language TV on multiple screens. The menu was in Spanish with some English. The few other patrons in the place were speaking Spanish or looked like they could. I put on Latin airs to fit in. My polished performance probably would have worked better if I actually spoke Spanish and if I hadn’t chosen today to wear boat shoes with low white socks, khaki cargo shorts, a floral print shirt with a collar (untucked) and a ball cap with “Yellowstone National Park” embroidered on it. When Mexican school kids use their dictionary to look up the word “gringo” there is a picture of me dressed like that next to the definition.
Mariscos el Capi had various forms of shrimp and fish on the menu. They also had carne asada which sounded tasty but inconvenient to eat while driving. I asked the young woman who was taking my order if it would be possible to get the meat from the carne asada in place of the fish in the fish tacos. “No, Senior” she said “We don’t do that”. That kind of answer deprives me of the ability to remain neutral. It’s a “fight or flight” moment. Today I realized I was a stranger in a strange land and I replied “Ok... I’ll have the fish tacos”. Only later did Google translate clarify that “Mariscos el Capi” means “Seafood el Capi”. C’mon, Google... translate all of the words! The tacos were good.
We arrived at MoonBeam Farm a few minutes after 5:00. We are the only RV here tonight although there is space for 6 or more. Our host Caz who owns and runs the farm opened the store for us and immediately the education began. They grow organic lavender and loofa here. The lavender comes in many varieties for distinctly different uses. There are edible varieties for flavoring foods, highly fragrant varieties for oils and soaps and cosmetic varieties for lotions. I think Caz has more ways to prepare lavender than Bubba Gump had to prepare shrimp. I’m not sure if she said “lavender scampi” or “lavender po boy”... but she might have! After we stocked up, Caz took us for a walking tour of the lavender patch (maybe it’s a field, grove or orchard... I’ll have to check). Several varieties are blooming now. Bees from natural colonies were plentiful. The light breeze was heavy with the scent of lavender and it still is since the plants start about 30’ from where I am sitting to write this. Caz is a lavender encyclopedia. We also saw the first loofa plants emerging from the soil. Loofa are annuals, so it will be months before they bear fruit (which looks like a zucchini on a vine supported by a trellis system based on what I learned today. Caz was a gracious host who can’t suppress her passion and who willingly shares her knowledge. She has a great website including a section on the products she makes from the lavender and loofas. https://www.moonbeamfarm.com
Here are some pics including one that I’ll call “moonrise over lavender”
So, tomorrow we continue north... shooting for Oregon, I hope you’ll join us.
Later...
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