Washington Bound - Day One

We're off and running - got on the highway at 1:00 PM heading North on I-5. There isn't much to see along the way, except lots and lots of trucks, and farms!

You're probably aware of all the controversy over water in the San Joaquin Valley. This area is/was full of lush farmlands and produces a huge percentage of our nation's produce. I don't know all the gory details of the dispute between the farmers and the politicians over water in this area, but it's very obvious that there isn't enough water to take care of the fields, and many of them are now barren. We did see some groves of nut trees and grape vines, some fields of corn and what looked like tomatoes - but it's hard to be sure when your whizzing past at 70+ mph! I think all farmers should post little signs along the highway identifying their crops so us novice people would know what we're looking at. Some do, and it's very helpful and educational. If I were a farmer, I totally would do that! I'm just saying . . . .

But back to my story. Some of the fields were empty, some were planted, like in this picture . . .

Then there were groves of really sad looking trees . . .

There were many many signs posted in the barren fields like this one . . . .


It's blury because I took it out of the car window, but it says "Stop Congress Created Water Crisis - Boxer Costa Pelosi". Other signs said "Stop the Dust Bowl". It's pretty obvious the farmers are angry! And the sad thing is, the California Aquaduct runs right through this valley, so the water is right there! Hope they can come to some agreement soon.

A little further along, we came to a huge cattle feeding area. There were probably thousands of happy cows there, with water being sprayed over them and lots of food. Little do they know they are headed for someone's dinner plate!


There were also some interesting rolling hills that looked to me like sand dunes (they weren't) . . .



For us, no trip up I-5 is complete without a stop in Santa Nella at Andersen's . . .

for the Traveler's Special (split pea soup, chocolate shake, and garlic cheese rolls) . . . Yum!

What fun to fine Hap-Pea and Pea-Wee hiding in the bottom of the bowl!

This is a a bottomless bowl of soup - I can manage about 1 1/2 bowls and I'm stuffed. Our waitress said the record is 14 bowls! And his prize for eating that much soup? A free dinner afterwards! Huh?

Now we're just outside Sacramento for the night. Heading for bed . . . Stay tuned . . . .