More on the "lost month"

On our way back from Tahoe we spent a night in Modesto. Yes, it was planned - and actually a nice stop instead of driving all the way home after the gold mine exploration.

Everyone always talks about the Bay Area, or southern California areas and how nice they are. The central regions of California really have their own beauty to them. Even in the dry summer months, the background sea of dried yellow grasses with the oak trees sprouting from below are quite a sight. Coupled with the sheer agricultural output of the area and it's amazing. We visited a cheese factory, yes a cheese factory, that produces one million pounds of cheese each day! Not bad for a place almost in the middle of nowhere, eh?

The other amazing thing is how much the area has grown, how much new housing is going up - many parts are looking too much like Irvine, or Thousand Oaks, or "insert your local new area here". It's unfortunate that urbanization/modernization is causing many areas to lose their community character. Or they need to rebuild downtown to reflect the "bygone" era to retain a sliver of what it used to be like.

More later...