California's Best Trips 2 - Full PDF eBook

sun-soaked zins at the

Lodi Wine & Visitor

Center (www.lodiwine.com;

2545 W Turner Rd; tastings

$5; h10am-5pm), where

100 local vintages are

sold by the glass at the

tasting bar. Another stop,

where you can sip the

region’s boutique wines

and sample experimental

labels by more famous

names, is the Italian-

style Vino Piazza. Park

the car, order a bistro

lunch and amble between

tasting rooms.

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The Drive » Before leaving

Lodi, make a circuit of its small

but developing wine region –

there’s a map available at

the visitor center. Follow Hwy

99 south through the valley,

passing Stockton along the way.

You’ll reach Turlock in one hour.

3 Turlock

Turlock is a city that’s

become a kind of Grand

Central Station of

Central Valley’s cattle

trade. Turlock is tiny,

so it isn’t hard to spot

the stockyards near

the center of town,

where livestock options

happen daily. A quick

jog south on Rte 165

approaches the Hilmar

Cheese Factory (www.

hilmarcheese.com; 9001

North Lander Avenue, Hilmar;

admission free; h7am-7pm

Mon-Sun; c). Aptly on

scale with the agri-

industry of the valley,

it is the largest cheese-

manufacturing site in

the world, processing

a million pounds of

cheese a day. The product

isn’t gourmet (many of

those million pounds

are simple varieties of

cheddar or jack); the

stars of the expansive

visitors center are

‘Squeakers,’ young curds

of cheese with a texture

that squeaks as you chew

them. A robotic cheese-

making exhibit led by

an animated Jersey cow,

Daisy, is likely to thrill

kids and creep out their

parents.

The Drive » Leaving Turlock

you’ll get a glimpse of the

California Aquaduct, which

diverts the Sierra snowmelt to

these farms. You’ll also pass

Chowchilla, which translates as

‘murderers’ in native Chauchila.

Appropriate, since the town

is the site of two correctional

facilities. The drive to Selma is

about one hour and 20 minutes.

4 Selma

To taste more fresh

goods, travel another

hour and a half down

Hwy 99 to Selma (the

‘Raisin Capital of the

World’), where you’ll find

the Circle K Ranch (www.

circlekranch.com; 8640 E

Manning Ave, Selma; h8am-

6pm Mon-Sat; c) just east

of the highway amid

orchards of peaches,

plums and nectarines.

The store has seasonal

fruits and nuts from May

to November, but the best

deals are in the adjacent

packing house, where,

aided by some passable

Spanish, it’s possible

to barter for a few

bushels of freshly picked

goods for a fraction of

supermarket price.

KINGS OF BAKERSFIELD SOUND

Driving down Hwy 99 requires getting on a first-

name basis with Bakersfield’s two drawling titans:

Merle and Buck. Masters of twanging Telecasters

and hayseed heartbreak, they’re the country kings

of the Central Valley.

» I’m Gonna Break Every Heart I Can – Merle

Haggard

» I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail – Buck Owens

» Okie from Muskogee – Merle Haggard

» Second Fiddle – Buck Owens

» The Bottle Let Me Down – Merle Haggard

» Under Your Spell Again – Buck Owens

» Swinging Doors – Merle Haggard

» The Streets of Bakersfield – Buck Owens and

Dwight Yoakam

CENTRAL.CALIFORNIA.

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(^) HIGHWAY 99 THROUGH CENTRAL VALLEY