A sign high over Merritt Street, the main drag of Castroville, CA, proclaims, The Artichoke Center of the World. No, not just of the United States, but of the world. Here's a link posted by the North Monterey County Chamber of Commerce. And they're already promoting the 2011 Thistle-Fest on 21 & 22 May.
And here's a question on the model who was queen of the First Festival in 1948. What was her birth name and under what name did she become internationally famous?
While I was parked at the closed Burger King next to SR156 a couple of people thought I was inside having lunch; but after they found the front door locked they discovered that I was free-loading on BK's WiFi while seated in the cab of my rig.
Though most McDonald's and Starbucks outlets have free WiFi, not all Burger King stores are so equipped; for instance, when I stopped for a late lunch in Chico after driving from Redding through Yuba City/Marysville I was surprised that a BK only 5 blocks from Chico State did not have WiFi.
As the owner of the Old Orchard RV Park in Orland, CA, told me, "Try the library." While most libraries offer free WiFi, a few do require that you have a UserID and a password; if they're open, they will often provide those for you, but if you're trying to use their WiFi after hours, you'll have to look elsewhere. One place that is open long hours are the newer Safeway stores -- and not just those which feature Starbucks' coffee. And, if you're a coffee drinker who likes the ambience of local coffee houses, Chie Kawahara, one of the new owners of our former home, suggests you check yelp.com.
While sitting outside of the Buena Vista branch of the Salinas [Monterey County] I realized I had not written checks for four of my grand-nieces & -nephews. Hence I got to Corral de Tierra, where my sister Jane's son Blaise and his wife own a home, slightly later than I had planned. Eventually, the "usual suspects" showed up: Jane and her husband Phil DiGirolamo, their daughter Lori, her husband Greg Voogd and their 2 sons Nicholas and Tyler, and Michelle's mother Georgia and her grandmother Esther. Of course, Blaise and Michelle's two kids, Madison and Marco, were also there, for a total of 11 attendees.
For those of you who were wondering what happened to my mother's Frederick Cabinet Grand piano, which her mother bought for $35 from a friend of Jeannette Rowland in the early 1950s when we lived on California Street, Lori told me that she had been enjoying playing it even though it needs to be tuned and have some of the missing ivories replaced (mainly in the 2 octaves adjacent to Middle C). And her older son Nicholas is interested in learning to play it also.
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The food (roast beef, not turkey) was outstanding -- especially Phil's gravy. (Guess he learned a thing or two from his father while working at "Angelo's," the family restaurant on the wharf at Monterey.) And Georgia's cranberry-apple crisp was also very tasty.
While I went back for seconds of many things, my usual mantra was that I'm one of the few people in the universe trying to gain weight. [Think Jane, who was sitting next to me, muttered more than once, "Oh, shut up!"]
Last year Jane had her camera but no one reminded her to take some photos; like most Lemmons, she was busy talking. This year I brought my own camera. But, alas, there was no photo-taking session since I preferred to play Blaise & Michelle's piano; in fact, I was finally getting warmed up about the time everyone left. [No, they didn't leave because of my piano-playing; some were plumb tuckered out becuz they had attended a Christmas Eve Seafood dinner which Phil has continued since his father was no longer able to do it as well as a present-opening session Christmas morning at Phil's mother's home in Monterey.]
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I didn't realize that we had not taken any photos for the 2d year in a row when I felt my camera in my windbreaker pocket as I was gathering up my things to head for the Laguna Seca RV Park, which was only 4-5 miles down the road from the road to Blaise's house.
There are some outstanding views from some of the campsites at Laguna Seca; here are three photos I took just before I loaded up my rig and headed for Salinas. While I'm not as well-versed on the trees of the Monterey Bay as my late father, I think most of the oak trees were live oaks, which are much smaller than the white and black oaks found both inland and in dryer portions of California.
While fixing breakfast I heard gunfire -- both smallbore and largebore. As you can see if you click once or twice on this photo, there are adjacent pistol and rifle ranges, either on Laguna Seca or the former Fort Ord.
The main feature of this photo is the jet descending for a landing at Monterey Airport. [Click once or twice to see the fire from the engine.]
In case you missed it on the North Monterey County Chamber of Commerce web site, the 1948 Thistle-Queen was Norma Jean Baker, who was even more widely-ogled when she moved to Hollywood and became Marilyn Monroe.
Sun 26 Dec Route: Laguna Seca - Spreckles - Salinas - San Juan Bautista.
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