Thursday morning (approx 9am) we headed out of Ramona on our way to Hughson, CA to pick up our much-awaited vines.  We packed up the dogs, toothbrushes and toothpaste, change of clothes and we were on our way.  Mike drove his truck with the enclosed trailer attached.  He had the trailer all rigged up with a fan, a table for double stacking and a mister to spray the plants each time we stopped.  We saw some amazing vineyards and almond trees planted over what seemed like millions of acres along the 5 north.  Here’s a picture taken from our cell phone. Way off in the distance you can see a vineyard.  We assumed all these vineyards were table grapes used for fruit and grapejuice. 

After making a few minor stops at the rest areas and gas stations, we finally arrived to Duarte Nursery around 6pm.  We knew they were closed but wanted to see where they were located and to see where the nearest hotel room was.  We were content that we knew where we were going first thing in the morning, found a hotel room and a great Mexican restaurant in a little town called Ceres. Ceres and Hughson are closest to Turlock and Modesto.  After we ate we went to the hotel room.  I think I crashed out around 7-8pm.  I was beat from the long drive.  Mike followed suit soon after. 

We had a good night’s sleep and were up at 6am on Friday morning.  Got ready, had breakfast in the hotel lobby and rushed over to the nursery by 8am. Duarte Nursery was very organized and the people were very nice. We basically pulled up, went to the office, paid our bill, went outside and there were our plants, on the bench ready for loading.  We had a little difficulty in the placement of the trays in the trailer.  It took a few times to get it right but after an hour of putting them in and taking them out, we finally got it.  Mike gave them their first spray and off we went! 

The next stop, Home Depot.  We found one somewhere between Los Banos and Fresno.  We loaded up with soil amendments and fertilizer for the big planting day tomorrow.  Of course I can never go into a Home Depot without sneaking in a plant or seeds.  I got a few