Well hello out there! Can you believe that I’m actually on the move yet again. I’ve basically been on vacation for the past month and now I’m off once again. This gal right here just can’t sit still for a minute... Currently I’m on the road heading to Washington state, with stops along the way in Northern California and in Oregon. My ending destination for today however will be Fairfield, CA. And my route will take me over the Grape Vine to the Tejon Pass and then through the Central Valley of California. Let’s learn a bit about this region together, because I sure as heck didn’t know any of this stuff until just a bit ago... The Central Valley is a flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is 40 to 60 miles wide and stretches approximately 450 miles from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Credit: Wiki And while there might not be much in terms of beauty or sightseeing, this land is known mainly for its agriculture. It comprises the largest area of the richest soil in the world. Most farmers don’t like the generic term Central Valley because it expunges the distinctiveness of the two valleys that grow more than 230 crops and one-third of the nation’s fruits and vegetables. Credit: Visalia Times Wow. Who knew?! One crop that I’m constantly passing by and noticing on these drives is Almonds... DID YOU KNOW: California’s great Central Valley -- where 99% of all U.S. almonds are produced! How about a few more nutty facts about Almonds...
And lastly it seems that I’m always driving passed this Tule Elk State Reserve sign. Yet never seeing any Elk. So I finally decided to look into what this is: The Tule Elk State Natural Reserve protects a small herd of tule elk, once in danger of extinction. In the 1800s, the vast herds of tule elk were greatly reduced in number by hunting and loss of habitat. In 1874, cattleman Henry Miller began efforts to save them. At that time few tule elk remained. In 1932, the herd was given permanent protection on the land now known as the Tule Elk State Natural Reserve. Pretty cool. I’ll have to make some time on a future trip and check it out!! Okay that’s about it for me right now. I’ll be back tomorrow with more, -Travelin’ Tanya | Howdy Folks!! Sorry about yesterday for being MIA. It was actually a bit of a crazy day - two kids working from home remotely and working on a number of Travelin' Cousins videos. If you are wondering why you haven't seen videos in a few weeks, it's because we are actually in the process of changing our video platform. We will be moving from YouTube to Rumble! Kindly bear with us as we should be up and running in the next week or so! Stay Tuned! Today, Tanya is off on another road trip adventure. This time she'll be going from her home in Southern California up north through California to Oregon, her final destination. You can bet that she'll have lots of scenic photos along the way. Her destination for end of day today will be Fairfield, in Northern California, via the Tejon Pass, better known as "The Grapevine." If you are not familiar with it, Tejon Pass is a mountain pass between the southwest end of the Tehachapi Mountains and northeastern San Emigdio Mountains, which links Southern California north to the Central Valley. Tejon Summit, which has a vertical descent of 2,613 feet over 11.6 miles, northbound on I-5, for which 2-3 miles of it is quite steep, is located on Interstate 5, roughly 70 miles north of Los Angeles. There are some interesting facts about Tejon facts in the state's history. According to A History of Gorman. by Bonnie Ketterl Kane. "The settlement of Gorman has the unique honor of being one of the oldest continuously used roadside rest stops in California." This includes:
Check out Tanya's side for a few photos taken as she drove through "The Grapevine" today!! As for me, I'm thrilled to announce that I was asked to write an article for Mangia Magazine, a digital site about Little Italy in The Bronx! The story features Ann and Tony's Restaurant, a five generation business located on Arthur Avenue. Six Secrets of Success to A Five Generation Family Business Have a good one!! -Travelin' Elisa xoxo |