Stockton, California

Stockton is a farming town in central California that has produced a lot of publicity lately by being the largest city in California to file for bankruptcy. It really doesn't matter who you blame, unions, politicians or greed...it only reminds us that Muni's, a favorite source of "safe" income for seniors, are not always safe.

I was drawn to the Stockton promenade at the waterfront by ads on TV and in the newspaper.

Well, they put plenty of the money into the brick lined sidewalk with publicly funded ballpark and money losing arena but apparently they now can't keep it up now. The water irises were clogged with trash and the public bathrooms on the walk were locked...how rude!

I tried finding out about this old building but came up empty on the internet, whatever... it still looks great. I just got an update from my dear friend Nona who does research for a living and pointed me to some historical documents about the Stockton Iron Works.

Maybe it is because of the money woes in Stockton but slippage for a 50 boat were only $400 per month, now that's a deal....I know!

Outside of Stockton are acres and acres of grapes. Everything is just starting to bud, some more than others.   

I found it odd that some of the grape vines are trellised heavily with wire and anchor while others like these above are unsupported other than a single metal stake for the trunk to grow on.

I did not know until we stopped to look at these hedge rows that they where olive trees, trained in easy to harvest rows.

With all that great grass between the olive tree hedges, the perfect way to manage it is to have sheep go up and down the rows eating the grass while adding fertilizer to boot!