Two Days Off!

If you are

lucky enough

to get two days off

...well then,

take

a

road trip!

Toulouse

stayed

at home.

He is a bit

too small

for me,

John

AND

Nottie, Huckleberry, Phinn

and the camera.

off we go

.......

About an hour

north

from

SLO

begins the

Salinas Valley,

appropriately

named

"The Salad Bowl to the World"

Acre after acre

of

crops

growing,

being harvested,

harvested

or

being planted

It is quite amazing,

thinking

about

the amount of

food

that is grown here

and

is shipped

E V E R Y W H E R E

all around the world!

Strawberries,

broccoli,

lettuce,

peppers,

beets,

spinach

wine grapes..

anything

grows

in

the Salinas Valley.

I love the town of

Spreckels!

Spreckels

is a charming little place

in the

heart of the Salinas Valley.

It has quite a history.

Ever heard of

Spreckel's Sugar?

I remember my dad

telling me about the

plight

of

Claus Spreckels

and his

sugar beets.

...then there

was

story about

the

old maps

of Spreckles

drawn on

paper napkins.

The original

sugar beet

mill

was damaged

in the

1906 Earthquake,

and

financially

ruined

during the

depression

by the

Curly Top Virus

that

killed the beets

...

poor beets

Highway 68 heads west towards Monterey and Carmel from Spreckels.

There is so much history here...

the Steinbeck Museum

Monterey County wineries

Fort Ord and

California State University Monterey Bay

Pebble Beach

17 Mile Drive

Carmel Valley

The Monterey Bay Aquarium

etc.....