Route 84, the Delta… CA

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

I had to make a short run the other day to West Sacramento, Freeways never being my favorite, this time with no fear to get lost, I found Route 84… a shortcut. For some reasons the side roads attractions were passing by too quickly, and I decided to come back to it… which I did yesterday.

     

From the start of the bridge to the end of my ride were I turned around, condos being build in proximity… 9 miles! Two ninety degree angle turns… the rest?… all straight! How boring you might say. It took us four hours, and as I rode it again this morning to go to Sacramento… I could have stopped for some more!

             

I feel that 84 must be the definition of the Delta itself. The prime example of what this area is like… I end up taking over 200 pictures and had to sift through them before posting them… I do try to limit them… sometimes!

             

I will jump forward to this morning however, as we participated with the “Good Morning Sacramento” Show, Channel 31 on CBS. Our segment was taped outside… and it was fun I have to say. Unfortunately Stevie, my gracious Host here, who arranged my involvement with the Show, must have had a “finger” malfunction with my camera… as only one picture appeared to be taken…

         

Oh! Well… it happens. Luckily, the Station has posted a couple videos of the segment, something very different from anything I have ever done. There was not much time “on air”. Two minutes initially… followed by a two minute commercial allowing me to… recompose… and the last two minutes to put together just part of the plate and show… another plate that was already made ahead of time!

       

And yes, I almost made my pan fly away… for as many years as I have cooked… the ultimate “error”… always tuck the handle in or sideway! Resting on my camping stove with a smaller diameter than a regular cook top… it was a great catch! Spirit… well… of course was the Star! For some reason he did keep his Doggles on… appeared every time he was called… he knew what was going on and the competition between him and I was fierce! (smilie here…). The two videos intros by the way are the two little windows on the top let of the video screen…

    

There were what they call a couple “teases” before the actual cooking, were Tina talked to us and presented us for about 15 seconds… on the air. During one of those teases she sat on the rig, and of course Spirit again was a total “actor”. I am hoping that someone will have that tape and we could pull a picture out of it as the Station’s video does not have it on the screen.

        

The crew was incredibly nice, interesting people to talk to when I arrived early, around 7am… for our appearance at around 9:20am. As I took my two plates in for the crew to enjoy, before leaving, I realized that I myself was starving… having totally forgot to eat anything this morning! All I could do was smell those scallops and shrimp wrapped with prosciutto…

 

  

Anyhow, back to the ride on 84! Pictures are of all the different crops, much grapes of course. Rose bushes are planted at the end of each row to attract the grape eating insects, besides… makes the crop look real colorful. 

                 

     

Grapes at all different stages of growth, some just planted, still surrounded by their cardboard tags, some bearing fruit. The harvest is not till September, a busy time for these fields.

             

I had to find out why those trees had a darker bottom trunk than the rest of it. English walnut trees do not take to this soil, so black walnut trees where planted, then cut and grafted with the present English walnut ones.

             

It really was not a ride… not when you spend 4 hours covering the 9 miles one way!… we end up stopping by a large pond, taking a break from the break… having some coffee cake, yes “we”! I have a very patient partner! He must be going nuts when I stop so many times, but his car is his little home, has his water, a few treats laying around… everyone tells him that he has the good life now… compared! We are both lucky to have each other.

 

      

Back to the bridge, resting against the guard rail, smelling some anise… thought that would be great for today’s show… nothing wrong with it in a black bean salad when you already have cumin, ginger and garlic. A great afternoon, quite a departure from covering 482 miles in a day… or… Deal’s Gap, 317 curves in 11 miles… how about my 9, well, round trip, 18 miles in four hours!

     

Enjoy, be kind to me if you watch the videos… just think of how much pressure I was under!!! I actually think the pressure was on them… one cameraman told me that their job is total organized… “chaos”.

           

A small donation? Increasing costs… is reading this Blog worth “one” dollar a month… in a form of a yearly donation? Many thanks to the ones that think so. No Paypal?… here is our Snail Mail address…                                                                                                                                 Ara Gureghian 853 Vanderbilt Beach Road #245 Naples Fl 34108                                                                                                                                                                        Till next time…  be well.                                       Ara & Spirit

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2 Responses to “Route 84, the Delta… CA”

  1. mel Says:

    Is this a good address a for donation?
    Gureghian 853 Vanderbilt Beach Road #245 Naples Fl 34108
    Or is there a paypal I can use for simplicity?

  2. Ara & Spirit Says:

    You are very kind. PayPal is so much simpler… aragureghian@yahoo.com
    Will be back…
    Stay well.
    Ara and Spirit

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