Sights, Sounds, and Smells of the Central Valley

People often turn up their nose at the vast swaths of farmland in between Southern California and the Bay Area, but there are actually lots of fun places to stop and visit in the Central Valley.

Heading up on our usual route up (The) 5, we stopped at Harris Ranch, which is the largest beef producer and ranch in the Western U.S., and the birthplace of many racehorses including Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome.  Ava had a tasty tri-tip lunch, and we enjoyed the country store and holiday decorations.

On the way back, we took State Route 99 (formerly known as the "Golden State Highway" or "The Main Street of California").  Our first detour was to Hilmar, home of the Hilmar Cheese Company.  Hilmar allows you to look into the cheese factory from windows on the second floor, and had lots of great exhibits for kids of all ages - not to mention cheese samples a cafe serving grilled cheese, cheese soup, and other cheesy treats.

Going off the beaten path, we ended up at Buchanan Hollow Nut Company, where we sampled locally grown almonds and (of course) purchased some to take home with us. 

Just off the highway in Kingsburg is the Sun-Maid raisin plant which has a fantastic market selling lots of dried fruits and nuts you can't find in stores.  More importantly, it's the site of the world's largest box of raisins (12' high!), which was once filled with 16,500 pounds of raisins.

Staying off the main highway, and travelling past plenty of ranches and small farms, we ended up in the quaint town of Hanford.  Escaping the cold and the stench of cattle brought in by the winds, we had a real treat at Superior Dairy Products Company, which makes its delicious ice cream in-house and serves ginormous portions.

Ava couldn't come close to finishing her one-scoop sundae, and Abby and Chris hardly made a dent in their three-scoop banana split.

The last stop of the day (and our main event) was at the Rabobank Arena to check out Bakersfield's new AHL team.  The AHL is just a step below the NHL and the Condors are the top affiliate for the Edmonton Oilers.

Ava got to meet Baby Cal, one of the Condors' three mascots.

We enjoyed a high scoring Bakersfield win including two goals from defenceman Brad Hunt, who was called up to Edmonton the next day.

The next morning we started at a coffeeshop for breakfast.  Ava's feast consisted of a Mickey Mouse shaped pancake with whipped cream, mini-M&Ms, bacon, and eggs. 

After a pitstop at the outlet mall, Ava curled up into a ball to catch up on sleep as we drove home.