They grow raisins here

They grow raisins here....well, actually, grapes are grown here - lots and lots of grapes.

We stopped by the Sun-Maid Raisin Company's world headquarters today in Kingsburg, California. Learned a bit - sampled more.

Before seedless grapes were introduced in 1876, raisins had seeds. 50% of the world's supply of raisins are grown in the San Joaquin Valley and the majority of them are made from Thompson seedless grapes.

Grapes are cut from the vine in August. Dark raisins are laid on paper in between the rows and are left to dry naturally for up to 3 weeks while golden raisins are sent to be processed immediately upon picking where they are oven-dried and cured with sulfur.

We need the bees

Well, in December (12/7) we wrote that the citrus growers were griping that the bees were causing seeds to grow in their seedless fruit. They didn't want the bees around.

Now come spring, the almond growers are distressed. There aren't enough bees for cross pollination of their crops. They've even imported bees from Australia.

Boron, Borax, or Borate

Heading across the California desert we stopped at the US Borax plant in Boron.

We learned lots about boron at the visitor center. Marveled at the teeny ore haulers (3 stories tall) traveling through the open pit mine below us (1.5 miles x 2.5 miles x 850' deep).

We learned that boron is the 5th element in the atomic table and the name of this town, that Borax is the company and a common name for boron, and that borates are minerals made from combining boron and oxygen and other elements.

We learned that boron isn't just used in Boraxo. It's used in many products and processes: insulation, drywall, circuit boards, fireworks, crystal, film processing, metal-working, Pyrex, wine, heat-resistant cookware, pool chemicals, laundry detergent, wallpaper adhesives, gold processing, fiberglass, cosmetics, hair dye, shaving cream, fertilizers, halogen headlights, copper wire, paints, water tanks, carpets, charcoal briquets, knife sharpeners, motor oil, hydraulic fluid, leather tanning, air bags, and Silly Putty. Just to name a few!

This innocuous rock pulverizes in a 6-step process. US Borax supplies over 50% of the world's demand for boron and they ship this around the world. They own 800 train cars to move the boron to shipping ports and manufacturers. They rank in the top 10 shipping ocean containers out of the Port of Los Angeles.

And one more thing you just might not know...Twenty mule teams were actually 18 mules - 2 horses.

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.There is so much to see and learn in this life!

We're taking joy in the journey!

And this is why we DON'T make reservations!

So as we head north toward home, we tentatively plan our course of travel. Tentative.

We originally thought we'd head up to Kingman and visit a cousin but 40mph winds and the snow level down to 3000' (Kingman is at 3500') caused us to rethink that route.

Then we thought we'd go to a favorite county park on the Colorado River north of Parker, AZ, but when we called the park found out they were full as there was a national bluegrass festival there. Hmm!

Well, let's travel up the Colorado anyhow through Lake Havasu and see what's changed and spend the night in Needles. No such luck, we were turned back to Quartzsite because of an overturned and leaking gas truck. They had no clue when the road might reopen. But the road was reopened the next morning and we traveled north checking out the river and the new construction. We are in Needles, California now. The winds are at a gale, the sun is shining, and it's 65 degrees.

We traveled 325 miles zigging and zagging just trying to make it out of Arizona :o). It's all an adventure. We're having fun.

Taking Joy in the Journey!