Stops 5 & 6

Stop 5 was Jackson Rancheria in Jackson California and I rate it a 9. Beautiful peaceful scenery with a woodsy Vermont look.

Although a little bit out of the way from the town this charming RV park has large paved lots and a grassy area. There is a really nice paved walking path around the park. The park is owned by the Indian Casino across the way and they have a shuttle that comes into the park every 30 minutes to take people over to the casino or into the quaint town of Jackson.

Pickleball of course in Jackson at Deter Park. The guy below in the shirt with the orange sleeves is 91 years old and he was my partner in one of the games. He was not able to run at all and missed the ball a lot but at his age he gets an A+ for coming out and playing.

We checked out the cute downtown of Jackson.

On the way there we stopped at the “Metal Zoo” and adopted a new dog…metal of course. Here is the manager cleaning up the dog for us. Before the dog was cleaned up, I would have called him “Rusty”.

The downtown area has mostly antique shops but I was able to find some spice at the Kitchen Store as seen below as well as some candy at the candy store.

Some nice scenery on our way to the next destination.

Stop 6 was in Marina, California at Marina Dunes Resort not far from Monterey. I rate this park a 6.

The lots were tight with gravel and dirt and there was a lot of highway noise but the location was good.

Pickleball at Forest Hill park near Carmel. Lots of challenging play with mostly younger people.

The path across the street from the RV park was only 500 yards to the beach.

With all kinds of unique succulents on the side of the path.

Sunday we went to the Marina Farmers Market to try some of Huay’s sourdough bread. We met Huay (wee) who is from Viet Nam Saturday at the pickleball courts. His bread is one of the best we have tasted. Huay told us he learned to bake bread by watching YouTube videos at the pickleball courts when he was between games.

Some of the other vendors had the most interesting looking produce.

From there we went to Pezzini Farms in Castroville just a few miles away. California grows nearly 100 percent of all the artichokes sold in the US. Castroville, CA is known as the “Artichoke Capital of the World.” It is believed that the first artichokes grown in California were brought from Spain or Italy and raised in mission gardens. As the immigrant population grew in the 19th century, so did the variety of crops.

An interesting fact that I found…Artichokes are low in fat while rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Particularly high in folate and vitamins C and K, they also supply important minerals, such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and iron.

While visiting Pezzini Farms we saw a large cycling group stop to meet up. It reminded me of some of our biking trips taken in the past.

We did not leave the artichoke stand empty handed. Lots of dips and sauces to try.

Next stop will be # 7 in Paso Robles a city in California known for its wineries and olive groves.