As you may recollect, dear Reader, my retired teacher friends and I headed to small town Reedley on the first day of school this year. 
One of my friends had never been there, and she enjoyed that visit so much, she was willing to drive out through the countryside again last week with me. That’s when we stopped and looked at the raisins on the ground in the previous post.
I frequently drive the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, through almond orchards, dairies, and cottonfields, on my way to the bay area to see my darling grandchildren. It was on the latest foray out that long, straight highway that I got a hankering for a drive to the east side of the valley, heading towards the Sierras. Each drive has a totally different feel to it. As one heads east, towards the hills, the roads are often winding, coming up on the Kings River in various places. There are peach and plum orchards, and of course, all those vineyards that produce a bounty of grapes. Lots of citrus groves, too. It can get mighty cold on the east side of valley in the late winter, and often frost reports scare the orange and lemon farmers, prompting them to keep an all-night vigil on their orchards. Sometimes they turn on wind machines; sometimes they burn peach pits; sometimes they flood the rows with water. All to protect the valuable fruit that could be destroyed in one freezing night. Now that I’ve given you a brief description of farm practices in this valley, let me move on to the city life!
My friend and I parked right in front of the 
Main Street Cafe when we got into downtown Reedley. As I’ve said before, this is like stepping back in time to 1957. I love this downtown. I had a delicious German sausage sandwich which I had been wanting to try on previous trips. Main Street makes their own sausage so I figured it would be pretty tasty, and it was, just like their fine pies. My friend got to have a piece of blackberry pie this time. Previously, I had eaten the last piece they had!
After such satisfying lunches, we had to walk off those calories before getting back in the car. Almost next door to the restaurant are two wonderful shops that are pure eye candy. Garnishes has a myriad of accessories that dazzle the eye. The collection of rings with huge, eye-popping designs was fun to try on.
Laughing at time
Next door is a store where I have shopped for years, David’s of Reedley. When teaching, I would buy holiday gifts for my department here. They have the most beautiful unique things.
At David's
They also have a blog (as well as Twitter & Facebook) that I enjoy. Seems we have a running conversation going most days! This time I bought a Halloween mask: 
