Tuesday February 11, 2014

We all left at 8:30 this morning for El Centro going to the University of California Farm Extension Tour. We rode with Brenda and Gordon, Ken, Judy and Jan took their car and Pat, John and Eddy rode in their car so we had a caravan driving over.

We arrived at the U of C at about 9:15 California Time. We went on in and found our seats for the opening talks. They always make something with their produce for our sampling and today they made Hummas and it was very good. We then went to a classroom and they gave a presentation of the farming procedures in California and Arizona. This is always very interesting as they explain how the farmers order their water which is delivered through canals from the Colorado River. They talk about the migrant workers and showed the type of machinery used to harvest different produce.

We came back outside to the eating area and had a wonderful salad for lunch. Several of the people who work at the university entertained us with music while we ate. After dinner we loaded onto wagons and they took us out on the farm explaining all the test projects they are working on. They have cattle that they feed test foods and then keep data, including testing the contents of their stomachs. They took us by a plot that will be used for organic crops and the plot takes 7 years to go through the 'soil cleansing' process before they can plant.

We stopped at a couple of plots that they allowed us to pick fresh produce to take home. We picked red and white radishes, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. They had carrots, celery and some type of greens, which we did not bring home.

We rode around the farm on the wagons for about 2 hours and then came back again to the outdoor lunch area and had ice cream sundaes. We left about 3:00 to head home. Before we got back on the highway, Ken wanted to take us to the hot springs in Holtville. They had been there last year and wanted to show us where it was. We stopped there and they had a couple of small concrete pools that had about 20 people crammed into them. I told Larry when we left, they would have to hold a gun on me to put my body in that water because there must be every disease imaginable floating in the water! There is a big 'boondocker' area across the road where RV's are parked in the sand with no water or electrical. I'm sure the people in the hot springs pool hadn't bathed for several days!

We left there and drove back to the Foothills and went to dinner at Applebee's with Gordon and Brenda. By the time we finally got home, we were worn out. The day was very warm and very long so we turned on the air conditioning in the motor home and I went to bed quite early.