California Farms & Napa Valley

Day 1:                                     Arrive in Sacramento, California
Fly into Sacramento, California, and shuttle to a nearby hotel to meet your Tour Guide and for your overnight stay.  

Day 2:                                     Sacramento / San Joaquin Valley / Modesto
and depart your hotel at 8:00 AM and travel through the very fertile San Joaquin Valley, eight counties of the most fertile soil in America.  Extending from Shasta County in the north to Kern County in the south, it covers about 18,000 square miles and parallels the Pacific Coast for about 450 miles.  It’s about 40 miles wide and surrounded by mountains.  This delta type soil can grow almost anything but is often written off by Californians and nicknamed “The Other California” because its character is distinct from the state’s tourist and metropolitan areas.  The farms here are not large by today’s standards.  They range from 60 to 1000 acres or more and cover over one third of the state.  During The Great Depression, wells went dry, and many farmers failed. This prompted the federal government to launch the Central Valley Water Project, building dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, tunnels and lateral ditches to send water up and down the state.  This rich valley now produces tomatoes, rice, almonds, walnuts, plums, peaches, wheat, olives, corn, alfalfa, pears, sunflowers, grapes, kiwifruit and hay. The variable soil types in the Valley influence where specific crops will be grown.  California grows virtually all the nation’s almonds, with plenty extra for export.  We’ll travel to a large farm near Escalon, California that grows numerous crops but its largest is almonds.  This farm has a large shelling facility that processes the farm’s own production as well as custom shelling. Since they will be harvesting, you’ll see the actual harvesting of the almonds which includes shaking the trees with state-of-the-art equipment and sweeping the almonds to complete the harvest as well as shelling.  Learn about shelling and the mountains of shells that have a myriad of uses.  After lunch we’ll visit Ryan Van Groningen & Sons. Van Groningen is part of the fourth-generation farm operation from Manteca, CA.  They grow and ship watermelons, sweet corn, pumpkins, almonds and walnuts. Ryan found his niche in the family business as the sales manager and today Van Groningen works alongside his brother, father, cousins, uncles and even his 87-year-old grandfather.  We will stay the night in Modesto, California.  (B, L, D) 

Day 3:                                     Modesto / Yosemite National Park / Modesto
Today we visit Yosemite National Park, the most celebrated National Park in the world. Yosemite was the name of an Indian tribe that once inhabited the area, but miners and fur trappers were forced to usher them off since they were stealing and robbing from the miners and fur traders as a form of retribution for invading their area. The first protected park in the United States, has the strength of granite, the power of glaciers, the persistence of life, and the tranquility of the High Sierra. You are sure to enjoy the marvelous scenery including the giant sequoia trees. We will stay the night in Modesto.  (B, L, D)

Day 4:                                      Modesto / San Francisco / Emeryville
Today we will change the pace a bit and travel across the mountains to San Francisco for a luncheon cruise on the San Francisco Bay. You’ll see why Tony Bennet’s famous song, “I Left My Heart in San Franscisco,” typifies this beautiful and romantic city.  Cruise the harbor while enjoying a delicious lunch and see the once famed prison, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as other coastal hightlights. We’ll cross the Golden Gate bridge and overnight in nearby Emeryville, CA. (B, L, D)

Day 5:                                      Berkeley / Napa Valley / Ukiah
No California trip would be complete without a visit to the Napa Valley, about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco and home to more than 400 wineries and tasting rooms. This thirty-five-mile valley is known for world-class wine, beautiful countryside and nearly perfect weather all year round.  I don’t think we can see all the wineries, but we’ll have fun trying!!! Napa Valley epitomizes the productin of fine wine. After we’ve enjoyed a lovely meal and sampled some wine, we’ll travel north of the Valley to Ukiah, a town of about 16,000 for our overnight stay. (B, L, D) 

Day 6:                                      Ukiah / Redwood Park / Ukiah
Your tour continues today as we travel a bit over an hour north through the ranch country and the giant redwoods.  We’ll visit Chandelier Tree, 315 feet tall, 21 feet in diameter and 2,400 years old.  You may have seen a photo of this huge tree with the tunnel through it with a passing car.  We will also visit Humboldt Redwoods State Park, home to the tallest and most populated redwood forest in the states along with the beautiful scenery accompanying these huge trees. Overnight again in Ukiah.  (B, L, D) 

Day 7:                                       Ukiah / Sacramento
Travel back to Sacramento via Williams, California, where we enjoy lunch before continuing to Winters, CA. Visit Dixon Ridge Farms, where Russell and Kathleen Lester produce organic walnuts on 500 acres of their 1,250-acre farm site. Their innovative use of alternative energy significantly reduces their overall carbon footprint. Since 1979, the farm and processing operations have worked to develop, promote and educate others about sustainable agriculture. In 2007, Dixon Ridge set an ambitious 5-year goal for energy self-sufficiency and became the first on-farm user of a 50-kilowatt co-generator that converts walnut shells into renewable energy. Dixon Ridge was awarded the state’s highest environmental honor in 2008, the Governor’s Environmental & Economic Leadership award. In addition, Dixon Ridge Farms is the nation’s largest handler of organic walnuts who grow, hull, dry, shell, sort, store and package them.   Overnight in a hotel near the Sacramento Airport for your convenient airport departure the following day.  (B, L, D) 

Day 8:                                       Depart Sacramento / Arrive Home
Depart from Sacramento airport to your home destination.  (B)

 Rupiper Tours reserves the right to make minor adjustments to the itinerary if necessary.