We have had a really great two days in Fresno.  We had hoped to be able to visit Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks which is about an hour and a half drive from here.  They had a lot of snow in the mountains and it is required that you carry chains, which we do not have.  So on to plan B -  drive around the country side and check things out a little!

 The hills are so big and rolling and rocky, absolutely amazing country side.

 We stopped in at at this Casino - its is called Table Mountain Rancherio.  It was huge and nestled in the beautiful rolling hills.  Also, they gave us free money and buffet lunch.  The buffet had lots of Mexican dishes which was really fun and they made strawberry or banana crepes for you while you waited.  Mmmmm they were amazing.

 Can you believe this is a date palm?? I sure wanted to try one but those are some really tall trees

 Dam that's huge!

Wait a minute - did we come back to Saskatchewan?  I am so amazed at the different terrain in this state.  It changes faster than the weather.










Today was Veterans day - we read that Fresno has the largest Veterans Day Parade west of the Mississippi.  So we went downtown to watch.  Fresno has a population of a half a million people so we really didn't know what to expect but it was very well organised and traffic was no problem at all.  This was their 93rd annual parade.
At the start they released white doves

They flew over the area in a group and it was amazing to watch, luckily it was a gorgeous blue sky and they showed up really well.  They flew to one side just as they let off some fireworks and scared the beejeebers out of the poor things and it was all helter skelter after that.






It was the longest parade we have ever seen.  We watched for an hour and a half, and as we were basically sitting on the cement curb our rear ends had had enough, so we didn't even stay until the very end.

We met two really nice men at the parade (father and son).  They both live in Fresno so it was great to talk to them and get a feel for what it was like to live there.

You can't see it very well in the picture, but the older man has a hat on that says Veteran of Korea
We were sitting beside them right along the curb.  As I looked around the crowd I could see quite a few of these hats and Viet Nam veterans as well.  In the parade there were many different types of hats identifying these as well as WW2 and the different branches of service.  It was really a great idea to see them and it definitely identified these people.  Lots of people saluted this fellow, people were saying thank you to him and other veterans that went by in the parade. He was pretty pleased as he was given a blanket (the colourful one he has on his lap) by a pretty young lady who also gave him a hug.  Honestly I think that he REALLY liked the hug  ha ha. They handed out shirts and flags and other special things to the veterans.  They also threw out tons of candy which the kids loved.
On our way back to our car we passed this beautiful church.

Then we took a drive south to Simonian Farm  http://simonianfarms.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1
They have many types of fruit and nut trees. They also have grapes which they use for raisins.  Who knew there were so many types of raisins?  I sure didn't, so I bought a "mixed" bag so I can try them all.

 These are red muscal seedless grapes.  They had already been harvested but I found this bunch hiding.

They had all the raisins out so you could try them.










The farm is really unique.  They have 2 buildings with so much old farm equipment and old memorabilia all around. You can buy fruit here in season as well.  I saw oranges growing on the way but they must not be quite ready yet as there were none for sale.  They did have pomegranates and syrup and wine made from pomegranates.

 Love these cute little metal peacocks!

They had pedal cars, and old bicycles suspended from the ceiling.












And last but not least - supper. Now, I had planned a home cooked healthy baked salmon, brown rice and steamed pumpkin (which I bought at that market as well), and green bean supper.  Don had noticed a restaurant called Famous Dave's BBQ when we were out and about and really wanted to try it so . . .

You gotta know its gonna be good (and messy) when this is your napkin dispenser.

Holy Crap! can you believe this?  chicken, ribs, brisket, fries, corn on the cob, corn meal muffins, the yummiest cole slaw ever and baked beans!  At least we have left overs for supper  tomorrow night as well so that's a bonus.