Trip to Sacramento Zoo got interesting with man's head getting stuck in photo booth

Well, went to the SacZoo with my daughter on Tuesday. Not the best zoo in the world, but it is a perfect size for her right now. She loves the Koi Pond in particular (but also the big cats and the flamingoes). The strangest part of this last visit was the guy who got his head stuck in the wooden animal cutout that you can have your picture taken in (you know, you stick your head through and take a picture from the other side).

Petco as a surrogate for a museum

I took my daughter to Petco the other day again. We treat it as a zoo/aquarium which works perrty well. They have lots of fish, birds, mice, and other animals and she loves it. I know, it probably does not treat the animals exceptionally well, and I do not buy animals from there. But my daughter loves fish and this is a great way for her to see some without going too far.

New Album 2/8/07 7:32 AM

Amgen Tour of California Coming Through Davis

If you are into cycling in any way, you should check out the route for Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California. The race, which will likely feature a collection of some of the top pro cyclists in the world, is coming through Davis on February 20, 2007. And they even give Davis a little plug:

Continuing east past Lake Berryessa, the peloton will head through Davis, recently named the best cycling town in the U.S. by Bicycle Magazine.

It should be a good day for the town, although I hope it is not raining too heavily. I am not sure what the plans are for closing roads and/or for town activities on that day, so if anyone out there knows anything please let me know.

From the map it looks like they will take Russell through town and then sneak on up to Covell to Road 102 and then on towards Woodland. It also looks like there will be a bonus sprint in town.

The Davis Toy Library

Here is another somewhat hidden gem in Davis. We have a 22 month old daughter. She gets rapidly bored with new toys. My wife discovered a great way around this. Every few weeks she goes to the Davis Resource LIbrary and Toy Closet provide by the city Child Care Services. For a $10 annual fee, you can check out up to five toys and five videos/books at a time. Although sometimes it is hard to take the toys back if our daughter becomes particularly fond of them, she always ends up enkoying the trips to select new toys. From their web site:

The Toy and Resource Library is located at 600 A Street, in Davis. Library hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

So if you have kids who get a little bored with their toys and you do not want to keep buying new ones, check out the library. Most of the toys are in great shape and the books there have also been popular in our house.

Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area - A Stunning Place 5 Minutes from Davis

I am astonished so few people I have met talk about the Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area that is located between Davis and Sacramento. It is a stunning place in terms of bird life and also in terms of just being able to go for a little hike near to town.

I first tried to go there last winter, but there were sings up saying the whole place was closed due to flooding. I guess I forgot about it until last month, when I was searching for things to do with my 21 month old daughter. She really loves water and birds, so I figured I would give it a try.

So I headed out with my Burley Bike Trailer in the back of the car (if I knew how close it really was I probably would have biked there). And we went over at about 10 AM on a really foggy day. All it takes is a little drive towards Sacramento. And bam - you are there. I had no idea where to go in the preserve and ended up at a little trailer that was taking hunting registrations. But the "official" there told me where there were some nice places to walk around. And we parked and then went for an hour walk. And we saw 1000s upon 1000s of ducks and shorebirds and many hawks as well as a lot of other types. My daughter did not want to leave.

I have now gone back two other times and each time has been very nice. One of the trips there we were able to see a giant flock of what looked like snow geese off in the distance towards Sacramento, and we also saw a Sora Rail as well as many other relatively hard to find species. Given that this place is SO close to Davis, I am surprised I have not seen more people there.

For more information check out

• Yolo Basin Foundation
• Davis Wiki Site Information About Vic Fazio Wildlife Area
• Interesting historical note
  

Long's Drug's Plant Graveyard

I went to Long's today on Covell to drop off and then pick up a prescription. In the time I was waiting I decided to check out their "Garden Center." I was just curious and did not have high expectations when I went in. Well, I can say without a doubt that I was underwhelmed. It was more like a plant graveyard than a Garden Center. There were multple dead trees in pots there, some of which were not even upright anymore. And many of the perennials seemed dead too. It looked like nobody had even been in there in weeks. You would think at some point they would reduce their prices to try and sell stuff before it died but apparently not - the prices were nothing special even on the nearly dead stuff.

I have been checking out the various nurseries and garden cente's in the area looking for a few things to jazz up the yard. Ace Hardware is OK but I almost never end up getting anything there despite browsing for a while. Redwood Barn on the other hand, is a dream come true. We just bought a lovely tree there - not too expensive - but that is beside the point. Most importantly, the workers there know their stuff and spent the time with me to discuss what type of tree we wanted and they came up with 4-5 suggestions. Perhpas Long's shold ditch their Garden Center or maybe just let it grow wild.

Hidden Gem in Davis - Farmer's Kitchen Cafe

The Farmer's Kitchen Cafe, which is part of the Natural FoodWorks Store, is possibly the biggest hidden gem of a restaurant in Davis. They specialize in :

delicious, homemade bioregional foods, free of gluten and casein. Your food is made with locally grown and organic fruits and vegetables, free range meats and wild fish. No aluminum pans, no hydrogenated fats, no microwaved foods, no unnatural additives.

Although the service there can be a little slow, that is part of the point. This is not a fast food restaurant. It is fresh, in season, homemade, and usually organic or at least local. Last time I went I had the chicken noodle soup, which was, I have to say, even better than mom used to make. It has a nice simple clear broth, a smattering of flavorful veggies and chicken, and a good helping of clearly top of the line noodles. I also had an organic eggplant sandwich with pesto and feta cheese that was nearly perfect. The eggplant was creamy and intermixed with the pesto into a spread with no hint of the bad eggplant flavors one can get sometime. Plus, there is a great basket of miscellaneous crayons and toys that our daughter spent much of the time playing with.

This is one of my favorite places in Davis and definitely worth a visit, especially if you are into sustainable, organic or local foods. Check it out at 624 4th Street or at their website.