We left the house Friday, around 11am, after mail was up at the Post Office. As I might have mentioned, we took a meander along the West bank of the Sacramento River rather than just bomb down I-5 to Winters, where we were to meet other participants of the drive.

State Route (SR) 45 runs along a levy for about 30 miles. On one side, the various sloughs of the river, on the other side, some of the richest farm land in the world, in this area dedicated to Walnuts, Almonds and Rice. Much of the harvest is over and rice fields are plowed for the next crop.

Our first stop was an empty parking lot of the Packer Wildlife Preserve. I promised pictures, it seemed a good place to start. Across the road you can see Almond trees that have already been harvested.


It's all gravel in here so Nix stood guard while we walked up the levy road.




I also got a shot below, of the natural state of the landscape where it's not cultivated.


Nix wasn't the only big cat in the area. A sign warning of Mountain Lion sightings.


Topping the levy we could see the slough. I estimate this levy is 30 feet above natural ground level. I don't know how wide the water course is here, it could be a matter of a few hundred feet or 1/4 mile.




From up on the levy we looked back at Nix, and were surprised to see a local landscape contractor pulled up under a tree admiring her from the road. When they noticed us returning they left. Nix finds admirers wherever she goes.


Boulders lining the parking area were interesting. Husband "chose" one as a possible garden seat. I like that idea!


Soon we came upon a rice elevator, where rice is stored waiting for transport to market, either by truck or rail. If the harvest is especially abundant (this also goes for almonds) it's piled on the ground temporarily, for a Very short time (no more than a few days) until it can be either stored or hauled away.




After the rice harvest is finished, the ground is tilled and re-leveled for the next crop. You can see in the picture below, the valley floor is so flat you can see the curvature of the earth!


When we finally reached Winters, I discovered it's the same small farm town I grew up in.


Well except for it being a town of 4-Way Stops on nearly Every intersection. There is ONE traffic light in the whole town. I stopped for gas (147 miles, 7.3US gallons, $2.99/gal) and as soon as the station keeper saw Nix he hurried out to drool over her and "help" me fill up. But his shut off didn't work correctly and he spilled gas on both fenders! He apologized profusely.

Then we looked for the Bed & Breakfast were we had reservations for 5pm. (Inn keeper doesn't live on site, check-in appointments required.) Nix spied her favorite prey Immediately and caught it!


Then we noticed we were Right across the street from City Hall and the cop shop, and TWO MORE WERE PARKED THERE!!


As the evening rolled on, we discovered the place is Infested with Prii!! (you're probably aware that the plural of Prius is Prii) There were Dozens roaming around the streets! We were astonished, never having seen such a concentration outside a dealership! No matter how voracious, a single Jaguar can only catch so many Prii. On the whole trip she caught 5!

Back to the 5pm check-in appointment: We were tired. 5:00 passed, 5:05 passed, 5:10 passed, and I started calling the number in the window. I left 2 messages, the 3rd time the guy answered. I said, "We're here sitting on the porch waiting for our 5:00 check-in!" He was there in 10 minutes, very apologetic, gave us a $20 gift card for breakfast.

......To Be Continued in Part 2.........

 

Nice pics Elinor, looks pretty dry out there.
Nix is looking great as usual, hope you enjoyed the weekend.

 

Thanks for the piccies and as Clarke said looks very dry.....glad Nix found some prey!.......enjoy!

 

Apart from the absence of gum trees, that landscape and the little town could be anywhere in rural Victoria during summer - so similar - and now we're heading into the dry "burning" season as you are leaving yours. Hope you get some rain soon.

 

Thank you, Tony,
I have another friend on a different forum who lives around rural Melbourne area, who has told me a great deal of the similarities between our two locations; especially the fire danger.

She narrowly escaped burning alive during one particularly nasty burn episode, 2009 I think, in fact, her whole town did burn and she lost Many friends. During our recent Middletown disaster she emailed me to see that I was safe.

Yes, Many similarities in our far distant areas.

Rain is forecast for Wednesday, but it's merely getting tuned up and we're told not to expect very much. And the whole system may stay far to the South of us, as the Gully Washer did last week, wreaking havoc on the burned off hills of Southern California!
(';')

 

A few of us in the Vic forum recently did a run which included passing through that lost town. It was a total tragedy, but now substantially rebuilt (physically anyway). Glad to hear your friend was a survivor. Another town was lost a few years previously with major loss of life also. I've often heard that California, Victoria and Southern France rank among the most bush fire prone areas in the world. Hot, dry and windy summers with low humidity seems to be the formula.

Let's hope the heavenly powers send you some wet without all the havoc!

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but sometimes these side issues are fascinating. Stay safe.

Cheers,

 

Thank you, Tony, but if it's not a technical subject I don't mind a little hijacking, because, as you say, sometimes the conversation is fascinating, not only to us, but perhaps also for other readers.

We are in little danger here at the house even from grass fires. Our irrigation district had water through the season (only shut down this past Friday), so it's mostly greener than the prairies around, and now it's about to rain. Maybe not much, but our Wildfire Season will soon be declared finished.

And after a Very short playtime, Nix is about to hibernate again, only coming out on Bright Sunny days when there isn't a cloud in the sky.
(';')