March 13 and 14, 2011---Tulare and Visalia, CA

Today is Wednesday the 16th and I am way behind on my blog. We have had a few very busy days and today is time for catch-up. Sunday the 13th was a day for church and housekeeping. We went to a church here in Tulare. They had many masses over the weekend. Some of them were Spanish and some were English. The priest was very fluent in Spanish and had a heavy Spanish accent. The masses were very close together so when we left the church many people were coming for the next mass. The church was very unique in the fact that the design was so different from Mercer County. The church had a dark brown wood ceiling and very light colored walls with beautiful painting details. They also had a brightly painted statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady is a very important person to the Spanish speaking people. They also have the Infant of Prague statue in each church. It brought back memories of when I was working shortly after graduation and one of my tasks was to change the clothes on the statue.

On Monday the 14th, we drove to Visalia at about 10:30 am and enjoyed a very vibrant downtown area. I saw a fabric store as we were driving down Main Street and spent some time in the store while Walt took a walk down the street. The fabric store had materials for all sorts of hobbies. They also seemed to have a great many samples and patterns of aprons. They were at every turn. I have seen a lot of aprons in the stores here in California.

After eating a delicious Mexican lunch in an outdoor dining room we continued shopping for some things we needed. Walt needed some coffee for his coffee machine so we ended up at Bed Bath and Beyond. It was an interesting walk thru the store. I like to look at the bedding and what they have to offer. It seems they always have bedding which fits the area. When we were in Texas they had bed spreads with designs of barb wire on the edge. This store had some very light colors which reminded me of the desert and sea.

When 4 pm came we were at some friends home in Hanford, California. Walt had worked with Ron for a long time so we did a lot of reminiscing and got a tour of their ranch. They grow corn, hay, wheat and cotton. They also use irrigation as all of the farmers do in this area. Walt had all kinds of questions about how they do things on the ranch. We then went to a casino for a wonderful dinner. When we got home it was about 11 pm. A very long day but very enjoyable. As I have said before, "It is great to see people that have been a part of our lives in the past."

Here are a few pictures of the day:

I forgot to tell you that we went to the World Ag. Expo Center for some info of the area before we went to Visalia. We found they had an old tractor museum located at the same area so Walt spent some time in the Museum.

This is an old tractor which was used in the area.

One of the beautiful trees which is in blossoms. We traveled part of  the Blossom Trail when we went to Visalia.


Note the beautiful blue sky. It was very warm shirt sleeve weather.

A field of wheat which will be harvested in a few days for silage and then it will be planted with cotton.

A flooded field after it is planted.

Note:  the seeds are planted on the raised ridges in the field and the water floods the lower area. In some areas the gophers work in the ground curbs and the water spills into areas were it is not wanted. Gophers and squirrels are a big problem to the farmers who flood their fields.