ACE Train 9: Del Monte

http://www.historysanjose.org/cannerylife/through-the-years/1917-1966/cal-pak/plant-number-3.html
Across the street from The Diridon Station, the last stop for the Ace Train is where Del Monte use to be.  I go on with the light rail which goes right behind the new housing complex.  The cannery closed for good in 1999.  What once was the "Valley of Hearts Delight" because the of the many fruit blossoms, was no Silicon Valley, with the only orchards now a few trees in the back yard, or municipal orchards for memory's sake.
The factory has a special place for me, because my dad, while in the Nave, and awaiting assignment was at Camp Shoemaker, in Dublin.  They use to bring Navy boys down in buses to work the factory.  I discovered from my dad's letters, that he was among the crowd who came by bus to work in the fruit, usually the graveyard shift.  My father was always trying to do a little more.  He had plans to have a farm, which takes money.

I walked by to take pictures, the light rail goes to fast

When we moved to San Jose, the factory was still intact, and in fact running as it closed in 1999.  However by the time I inherited my dad's letters, and got through them, the old factory had been knocked down, giving way to a housing development.  There are a few places where the old wall has been lift, to provide shade and a historical backdrop.  The water tower is also still in place.

Life in Manteca 18: Park Reviews

Tony, Ona (exchange student) and I visited three parks this week.  We went to the parks off of Airport Road, south of the 120.  There are three parks, two to the west and one east of the Airport Road. 

We visited the park off of Woodward first.  I didn’t see a name for it but it is a community park at the corner of ** Galleria Dr (off Woodward) and Ancestry Street.  This park presented a dilemma.  It had a play apparatus which looked a little scary, and was a bit too advanced for Tony.  When we first saw it Tony said, “That’s OK.”  But when he actually got on it, it was difficult for Tony.  It had an inverted slide that looked like an upside down banana.  He got up there with help, but then was too scared to slide down.  In retrospect, maybe I should have put him on backwards.  The thing I liked about this park was a series of balancing planks.  This was something to challenge myself, and give me some exercise while Tony was playing.  Again they were too far apart or Tony to go from one to another, but he did climb up on them all.  The park had a very soft spongy material underneath.  There was a second play structure, but this time it was too juvenile for Tony’s level.  The park had a half court basketball hoop.

The next park was **^ Bella Vista Park.  It is at Langum Way (off Atherton) and Hearth Drive.  This park had challenging structures, but more suited to Tony’s age.  Tony and Ona had a great time chasing each other around.  This park also had the most shade, but Tony noted that the shade sort of stopped around the playground structure.  There were some monkey type bars and a wobbly plank walk that Ona helped Tony negotiate.

The third park was on the east side of Airport Road.  This park **^at Sparrowhawk St (off Atherton) and Purple Sage Way, again challenged Tony, but wasn’t too difficult.  There was a climbing wall with a chain rope which was fun.  They had a swing and Ona pushed Tony.  This park had full court basketball.  It had bark covering, and Tony had to stop at one point to empty out his shoes.  This park had good shade, and they shade extended around the playground area.

Trip to Yosemite: July 2011

Sheri and family went to Yosemite with the exchange program and here are some pictures.

Caleb and Alyssa

exchange group

Miranda and Ona

Annie and Tony

Life in Manteca 17: Who has the best fries in Manteca? Restaurant and business reviews

I overheard someone on the train say, Del Taco has the best fries in Manteca.  I had never even thought of Del Taco as a fry place, so I had to try them out, and they are very good.  The are crinkly cut fries.  They maintain their taste after they are cold, and taste good microwaved.  I have also eaten Wendy's fries this week.  They are better than before, natural cut fries.  The have bits of peeling on them.  Bur the order I had today was too salty.  In and Out tout fresh cut fries, and they are fresh.  However they see overcooked which makes them crispy on the outside, and mushy! on the inside.  McDonalds fries I enjoy, although the are also plenty salty.  However the do not stand up to being good when they are cold, and they do not taste good microwaved.  A&W are just standard frozen fries.  Nothing to write home about.  However the have the salt about right.  So as far as these fast food chains, the ranking, in my humble opinion is: Del Taco, Wendy's, McDonalds, A&W, In 'N Out.  If someone knows of some other fries I should be trying, please let me know.  I am sure their are more fries that could be in this race.

We have visited a couple of the fast food Chinese restaurants in town, and I realize there are a few more to visit.  We previously visited the Panda Express, which did not get a very good reaction.  Sheri brought take-out home from **^New China Restaurant which is located close to the Save mart on Yosemite Ave.  I cannot say much for the price as I didn’t do the purchase.  However I think their food is passable.  There sweet and sour pork lacked vegetables, but did have a few onions and carrots at the bottom.  Their fried rice was a hit.  The beef broccoli I did not try as I avoid cooked broccoli.  I do know that the left over portion stayed in the fridge until it was thrown away.  However everything else was eaten, and it serviced more than one meal with leftovers.  They had some deal for egg rolls, and Sheri also brought home lots of Chinese cookies which are always fun.

By my self I visited **^Chinese 4 Less which is part of Food 4 Less.  I had the two entrée meal $5.88.  They piled on the chow-mein and the fried rice.  I had sweet and sour pork and teriyaki chicken.  Their sweet and sour was just breaded pork with sweet sauce poured on top.  The teriyaki Chicken was more adventurous with onions and peppers.

They really gave large portions, as if they were fattening me up for a slaughter.  Fortunately I was able to save about half for the next day’s lunch at work. 

A couple of local business I have been to, also make like more exciting in Manteca.  The first is the **^Book Exchange.  This is on Main Street.  It is not exactly an exchange, but you can recycle used books.  They will give you a credit for the used books, which can then be used towards the purchase of other books.  However the credit can only be used for up to 50 percent of the purchase price, therefore it isn’t actually an exchange.  I did find a nice book about the John Powell exploration of the Colorado River area. 

The other store is much more exciting, the ****Carneceria Mexican (butcher shop) on Yosemite Ave near Manteca High School.  I actually visited there before we moved here, but returned with the intent of getting some carne asada.  We haven’t tried the carne yet as we are waiting for Charity to visit in a week as it is her favorite.  I also discovered they have tamales for sale in the mornings.  I am headed there this Saturday to get some for my lunch.  They offer mostly products from Mexico, (I asked about Argentine specialties) but they have good prices on mariscos (seafood) and carne (meat).

Wow, What a Fourth

This weekend was hot in a couple of ways.  We were over a hundred most of the weekend, but also had a great time.  We started Friday with the welcome potluck for our exchange student.  However that night Caleb did a mini fireworks show with all the leftover fireworks he could find in the house. I think he wanted to make sure we knew we needed to get more. 


Saturday, we went to Stockton during the day, and I bought fireworks from the Manteca History Museum.  They need support.  Hopefully they will open on Saturdays.  After the heat of the day broke, we went to the pow wow.

Sunday, Caleb, Sheri and I barbecued chicken and tri-tip and had friends over.  It was also a way to share our exchange students.  Then we went out to a field to watch the Manteca fireworks.  I wish they hadn't been on Sunday.  I couldn't bring myself to pay money to attend Big League Dreams on the sabbath.  However we had a very good view, much better than past years; and a lot less crowd.  We could also see multiple personal fireworks displays going off all over town.  It was really incredible, and has us wondering if one of the personal display was the city display, until they actually started.  After the fireworks, Caleb, Joey Cazier and Anthony ( Charity's Anthony) lit the fireworks.  A small display.  We also did sparklers.

Monday morning was the parade.  It is a real rural parade, with dancers, beauty queens, including Miss California, tractors, a few horses, some commercializing, and finished with a soaking from the fire department.  It was fun.

We spent the evening at the Normans, and another barbecue.  This one had friends, missionaries, exchange students and relatives on both sides, meaning us and Gary and his family.  The pool was great, and the high light.  I just enjoyed the cool water as the temperature was over 100.  Tony was becoming more confident in his life jacket.  We had some pool basketball.  It was a good time.  Then we ended the night with Tracy fireworks.

It is crazy how many people do their own fireworks, because they were going off again Monday night; in Tracy and Manteca.  What a wild fourth.