I've been so obsessed with another blog I'm working on- China Free Christmas - that I haven't been taking care of my Tomato blog. So many things have happened in and around town without me sitting down to type. Apologies... but hey- you have a great resource for toys not made in China!
One important, exciting and fun event of note coming up soon is the Elk Grove Harvest Festival. This is one of my absolute most favorite October events and one of the best pumpkin events in town for families. There are tons of carnival games for the kids, the most gargantuan pumpkins you've ever seen, entertainment, food and more. Sadly, my husband's work scheduled a picnic the same day so we won't get to attend this year.
If you're in the mood for pumpkins, my favorite the local family run Bastiao Farms that turns into Goblin Gardens during October. The family hay ride is so much fun and they may even give you a taste of the delicious fresh corn right off the stalk. You can wander the fields for hours and pick your own pumpkin to bring back in a wagon. We actually went 3 times last year!
*• Goblin Gardens Pumpkin Patch, 3845 El Centro Road, Sacramento; (916) 416-1133
If you're looking for a day trip and want to get out of town- head to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland. There you can ride a train, have a BBQ, slide down Coyote mountain and much more. Plan for the event to take the whole day, there's more to do out there than you think!
Stay tuned for a guide to Apple Hill, next week!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Chaos (aka CalTrans) is about to begin...
The worst traffic snafu you've ever seen in Sacramento is coming... and it's going to last for at least 8 months. Yes you read that right, for 8 months Sacramento will be thrown into traffic chaos. According to the Bee, beginning in February or March, Caltrans will shut down sections of I-5 through downtown daily for months and months to repair the section of I-5 that is below river-level. The current plan is to close one or two lanes in each direction from Richards to the 50 interchange.
I don't mean to be alarmist but this is going to be a serious mess! Regardless of what time of day, the downtown area is always slow as people try to get off downtown, get over to the interchange at 50/80/99 and the tourists get lost because signage is bad. Can you imagine what the downtown area will look like during Jazz Jubilee? It's bad enough Jubilee weekend that most locals avoid downtown like the plague but now we have to content with tourists and closed lanes. I think we'll go to LA that weekend... the traffic can't be worse.
The road's a mess and it has to get fixed, I'll give Caltrans that. I'm pretty sure that building a major freeway below river level was not the best idea and that in a post-Katrina world, we really need an upgrade. I wish the plans included a raised section so that we won't have to tear it all back up again in 30 years.
My bigger concern is the possibility of the City to just overlook the entire situation. Quoting the Bee's quote "Hopefully more folks will take light rail, buses and carpool" city traffic official Hector Barron said.
Uhh.... what light rail? The City let builders develop the entire North Natomas area without light rail. Where's the DNA line? Stuck on someone's desk. Buses... there's a thought. Hypothetically if I wanted to ride the bus from the Kohl's in North Natomas to downtown it'll take between 25 and 46 minutes, assuming all buses are on time and I only want to travel on the weekdays during rush hour. Best I can tell, you CANNOT get downtown from North Natomas on the weekends. According to RT's online trip planner "There is no service on the day or at the time you've requested. Please try a different date or time."
My recommendation to the city- you'd better get ready to throw some serious funding towards the North Natomas Transportation Management Association and be prepared to cover alternate routes with bus coverage and weekend routes. You cannot ask people to 'hopefully' use alternate routes if you don't provide them. I'd also up the number of carpool spots in City lots and make parking with an authorized carpool free during the traffic problems. Let City workers with non-essential job duties telecommute, work alternate schedules or give carpool bonuses during the first month in particular.
But whatever they decide to do, they have to do something... just waiting until the chaos begins just isn't a good option.
I don't mean to be alarmist but this is going to be a serious mess! Regardless of what time of day, the downtown area is always slow as people try to get off downtown, get over to the interchange at 50/80/99 and the tourists get lost because signage is bad. Can you imagine what the downtown area will look like during Jazz Jubilee? It's bad enough Jubilee weekend that most locals avoid downtown like the plague but now we have to content with tourists and closed lanes. I think we'll go to LA that weekend... the traffic can't be worse.
The road's a mess and it has to get fixed, I'll give Caltrans that. I'm pretty sure that building a major freeway below river level was not the best idea and that in a post-Katrina world, we really need an upgrade. I wish the plans included a raised section so that we won't have to tear it all back up again in 30 years.
My bigger concern is the possibility of the City to just overlook the entire situation. Quoting the Bee's quote "Hopefully more folks will take light rail, buses and carpool" city traffic official Hector Barron said.
Uhh.... what light rail? The City let builders develop the entire North Natomas area without light rail. Where's the DNA line? Stuck on someone's desk. Buses... there's a thought. Hypothetically if I wanted to ride the bus from the Kohl's in North Natomas to downtown it'll take between 25 and 46 minutes, assuming all buses are on time and I only want to travel on the weekdays during rush hour. Best I can tell, you CANNOT get downtown from North Natomas on the weekends. According to RT's online trip planner "There is no service on the day or at the time you've requested. Please try a different date or time."
My recommendation to the city- you'd better get ready to throw some serious funding towards the North Natomas Transportation Management Association and be prepared to cover alternate routes with bus coverage and weekend routes. You cannot ask people to 'hopefully' use alternate routes if you don't provide them. I'd also up the number of carpool spots in City lots and make parking with an authorized carpool free during the traffic problems. Let City workers with non-essential job duties telecommute, work alternate schedules or give carpool bonuses during the first month in particular.
But whatever they decide to do, they have to do something... just waiting until the chaos begins just isn't a good option.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
It's official... sort of... The NBA settles on Cal Expo.
According to the Cal Expo website (run by the state), it's official- the NBA has settled on Cal Expo as the preferred location for the new arena. The commission received a letter dated September 5th inviting Cal Expo to enter more formal discussions regarding arena plans. The commission directors will vote on September 28th whether or not to authorize formal negotiations. Stay tuned for more.
Things to do this weekend in Sacramento
The weather is just perfect and you can actually be outside for more than 2 minutes without cooking. They're saying it might rain on Saturday but who's afraid of "scattered showers" anyway?
For kids and families:
*Storytelling Series at Fairytale Town. At 12:30 and 2pm, enjoy stories, music and fun on the outdoor Mother Goose Stage.
*Junie B Jones at B Street Theatre. If your kids are slightly older (probably 5 and up) and will sit through a play, this is the one to see! B Street's family series will delight your entire family and you'll be happy to see kids shows in a real theatre setting too.
*The circus is in town! Ringling Brothers are at Arco all weekend.
*Mix 96 Kite Fest at Elk Grove Regional Park. Come to the free family festival (weather providing) and enjoy the professional kite flyers, live music, children's activities, and a Root Beer garden!
For kids and families:
*Storytelling Series at Fairytale Town. At 12:30 and 2pm, enjoy stories, music and fun on the outdoor Mother Goose Stage.
*Junie B Jones at B Street Theatre. If your kids are slightly older (probably 5 and up) and will sit through a play, this is the one to see! B Street's family series will delight your entire family and you'll be happy to see kids shows in a real theatre setting too.
*The circus is in town! Ringling Brothers are at Arco all weekend.
*Mix 96 Kite Fest at Elk Grove Regional Park. Come to the free family festival (weather providing) and enjoy the professional kite flyers, live music, children's activities, and a Root Beer garden!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
To Cal Expo or not? The tale of the arena plan continues
The woes of the arena and the Maloofs continues... where to put the new arena? Will it even stay in Sacramento? Who will own the arena, the parking etc? The saga continues...
The NBA is currently in talks to make some sort of an arrangement at Cal Expo. If you've been reading, you know I'm not really fond of the way the City of Sacramento has handled the whole arena situation. While the state owns Cal Expo, I am not hugely confident that they will do any better in negotiations. Perhaps if the Maloofs are not in the initial discussions, the NBA and the state will fare better.
There are two major issues I see with an arena at Cal Expo. The most complex problem will be parking revenue. This has been a major issue of contention and the main reason the railyard arena plan failed. The Maloofs do not want to sacrifice the bread and butter of parking. Yet Cal Expo makes a significant portion of their revenue from parking and will likely not part with it. How will they work out the parking so that everyone gets what they want? Now that the state is involved, I can only imagine the bureaucratic pile of red tape.
A less complex but more frustrating problem will be the traffic situation on the Cap City freeway and around the area. It is currently 5:02PM on a Wednesday and the traffic in the area (according to News10 Traffic Maps) is moving at less than 25 mph. What happens with a 7pm game start and rush-hour traffic? This area is already a complete disaster during evening rush hour, Christmas shopping and the State Fair. I'm no urban planner, but it doesn't take a degree to realize that pushing through10,000 to 15,000 cars extra through the area will be a major snafu.
I'm not opposed to an arena at Cal Expo... I'm just wary. The grounds are rundown and the area is not designed well to support sudden traffic flows. I'm skeptical that an arrangement can be reached in which the area receives substantial money for infrastructure, the grounds are rebuilt nicely and the traffic flow can be rerouted sufficiently. Perhaps the NBA is willing to invest the kind of cash necessary to solve these problems? Is David Stern really that committed to keeping the Kings in Sacramento?
All of this... while Harrah's and AEG are putting together the new Las Vegas arena...
I'm not holding my breath or buying season tickets.
The NBA is currently in talks to make some sort of an arrangement at Cal Expo. If you've been reading, you know I'm not really fond of the way the City of Sacramento has handled the whole arena situation. While the state owns Cal Expo, I am not hugely confident that they will do any better in negotiations. Perhaps if the Maloofs are not in the initial discussions, the NBA and the state will fare better.
There are two major issues I see with an arena at Cal Expo. The most complex problem will be parking revenue. This has been a major issue of contention and the main reason the railyard arena plan failed. The Maloofs do not want to sacrifice the bread and butter of parking. Yet Cal Expo makes a significant portion of their revenue from parking and will likely not part with it. How will they work out the parking so that everyone gets what they want? Now that the state is involved, I can only imagine the bureaucratic pile of red tape.
A less complex but more frustrating problem will be the traffic situation on the Cap City freeway and around the area. It is currently 5:02PM on a Wednesday and the traffic in the area (according to News10 Traffic Maps) is moving at less than 25 mph. What happens with a 7pm game start and rush-hour traffic? This area is already a complete disaster during evening rush hour, Christmas shopping and the State Fair. I'm no urban planner, but it doesn't take a degree to realize that pushing through10,000 to 15,000 cars extra through the area will be a major snafu.
I'm not opposed to an arena at Cal Expo... I'm just wary. The grounds are rundown and the area is not designed well to support sudden traffic flows. I'm skeptical that an arrangement can be reached in which the area receives substantial money for infrastructure, the grounds are rebuilt nicely and the traffic flow can be rerouted sufficiently. Perhaps the NBA is willing to invest the kind of cash necessary to solve these problems? Is David Stern really that committed to keeping the Kings in Sacramento?
All of this... while Harrah's and AEG are putting together the new Las Vegas arena...
I'm not holding my breath or buying season tickets.
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