Pistachio-Land

ou Going south from Oregon you know you are in California when you see Mt. Shasta...


... and it's only in California can you have a town called Weed.


A little roadside entertainment courtesy of Caltrans and The California Department of Forestry (CDF)


The real excitement of the day was Valley Pistachio's Country Store.


Set up in an old house...


... and colorfully decorated with snowmen and ...


Geese the store is located at 20865 Avenue 20 in Madera, California.


They have a great and welcoming staff...


... and they do ship wonderful gift packages.


They are definitely ready for Christmas.


They specialize in quality gourmet foods and gift baskets.


Offerering a wide array of nuts including pistachios, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, flavored almonds, candied almonds and pistachios, dried fruits including, apricots, strawberries, pango, plums, raisins, flavored raisins, along with many other yummy treats.


Its not just bulk packaging...


...they also create custom gift baskets...


...and ship our products all over the continental USA.


They have a nice web presence at valleypistachio.com



It is worth a call at least and help support some nice people who hang nice flowers in the winter.

No Scrabble today.

Quote of the Day ~

"Pistachio nuts, the red ones, cure any problem." ~ Paula Danziger, American author

Christmas Lights in Oregon

Shore Acres State Park

A community tradition was born in 1987 when the Friends of Shore Acres decided to "string a few lights" to help celebrate the holidays. That first season, 6,000 miniature lights, one Christmas tree, and the decorated Garden House drew 9,000 visitors.

Now, 275,000 lights - both holiday L.E.D. and landscaping...


... many Christmas trees..


... lighted sculptures...


...entertainment in the pavilion...


...and a beautifully decorated Garden House...


... draw 40,000 to 50,000 visitors each season.


It was a very cold night...


... but Sharyn, Jill, Gail and I ventured out for the wonderful sight.


The whale was spouting...


... the pavilion had carollers...


... the cranes in the Japanese lily pond were as elegant as ever...


... and the frogs were jumping...


... and jumping.


The cottage was all lined with lights and surrounded with colorful displays.


The bridge was also lit and colorful as ever.


The bushes were wonderfully lit the blue over white was lovely.


Of course Sharyn loved the puffins.


I thought I'd give one view across the length of the park so you can get some idea of scale.


I did get close to the whale...


... and work my way to the pavilion...


... where the carolers were singing.


Inside the cottage the view out of the window was beautiful.


What a great view...


... from the window.


Inside Santa was taking a bath...


... and getting ready for a nap.


I went back to the window...


... for finale few shots...


... then left ...


Taking one last shot of the cottage.


We then went to the Mill Casino for a nice dinner and quick walk on a cold boardwalk.


When we turned the corner we spotted an ice sculpture left outside and definitely not melting, brrr.

No Scrabble - Company in town

Quote of the Day ~

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." ~ Alan Dean Foster (American Writer and Author of Science-fiction)