On Arrival in California

Mary and I are away on vacation - we decided to repeat some elements of past trips and are visiting Northern California this time, with our stay centered on an old favorite of ours - Mendocino.  There'll be highlights from there soon enough, but today's post will be about our visit to Olson's, a little farm market in Sunnyvale.  Our host, Cathy, and her daughter took us on a short walk around the neighborhood, and we ended up in the little green grocer's store there.

It is cherry season, so there were several varieties for sale, and Cathy's daughter knew all the names of them (she also took me around to show me where the best samples were - I had no idea about chocolate covered cherries before she pointed them out).  In fact, most of the stone fruits were already in, so the arrays of peaches and nectarines were simply overwhelming.

We picked up a few items to enjoy while we were out on our drives between vacation destinations.  Then we went off on a second walk for a few blocks, to a small orchard that is nestled into Sunnyvale, 10 acres or so surrounded by development - and the fruit was in season on the trees!

Being at the store with our friend's daughter reminded me of a similar market that was near our house in Sanford, Florida, when I was about her age.  I remember the smell of the fresh fruit and the sight of all the baskets that the fruit was packed in and displayed from.  It was a short walk from the house, maybe a little farther than our walk that day, but not by much.

When we got old enough to take the walk ourselves, mom would give my sister and me a few cents and we could go over there to by a rocket pop or some Mary Janes.  They didn't have any of this at Olson's, but the apple smoked almonds I picked up are really good!

From Sunnyvale, we head up to Mendocino a few days, stopping in Healdsburg for the night before heading over to the coast.  Then back down to the Bay Area, staying in Oakland, near Jack London Square, before flying home next weekend.  As long as I have reliable internet, I'll put up a couple of additional posts from the road, and finish up the vacation posts next week when we get back.