Happy Birthday to me! Again this year, I've had a wonderful birthday week. Love having a fall birthday! Anyway, today is a travel day so there isn't much to report! Our route is through the San Joaquin Valley and over to Highway 1 back to San Francisco. We decided to take the ocean route since we have the time. The only goal was to have the rental car back before they close at 6:00 and our goal is 4:00.
Driving through the San Joaquin Valley, you could see how desperately California needs rain. The San Joaquin River was dry. We saw lots of different crops along the way - grapes, cherries, strawberries, tomatoes (even huge trucks with double trailers hauling the tomatoes to a canning factory), almonds, walnuts, artichokes, brussels sprouts, and pumpkins. (Some of these were along Highway 1.) We drove through Gilroy which is where garlic is grown. You could smell the garlic as we drove through there!
We stopped just outside Gilroy where there was a small roadside park and had a picnic lunch. Then it was on across the Coastal Mountains to Highway 1. I'm always excited to see the ocean! I wish there would have been time to stop but we had to get the car back to the rental place before they closed.
Either almond or walnut trees (we saw both kinds)
Note the sign - Avenue 20 1/2
Baby almond trees
They grow lots of cotton in California too!
Easy to see how dry it is out here
Driving along......
Happy Cows - grazing on brown grass
Irrigating the artichoke crop
Garlic factory in Gilroy
We think this is the keep the sun off the crops.
Brussels Sprouts
Strawberries
Pacific Ocean
Looks like the bank is about to collapse
Ocean along Highway 1
Pumpkin crop along Highway 1
Too soon, our day and our trip was coming to an end. We checked in to our hotel near the airport, unloaded our luggage, then headed on to downtown San Francisco to return the car. Brent and Jackie picked us up there and we headed back to their part of town for birthday dinner at a great Chinese restaurant. They took us back to the hotel and visited for a little bit and then the worst part.....saying goodbye. It sure is hard to have family so far away. We're just thankful that we have the time to visit when they don't have time to come here.
It was a great trip and if you haven't been to Yosemite or Sequoia, you definitely need to put it on your bucket list! So, that's another check mark for us. Now it's time to start planning our next destination! Hope you've enjoyed this trip as much as we did!
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