NorCal Duck Island Rally

By the end of the day on Tuesday April 30th  all 18 coaches were lined up at Duck Island RV Park in Rio Vista, California, for five days of camaraderie, fun and excursions. The weather during the rally was pleasant until the final evening, when strong winds buffeted us through the night and continued to howl as we all prepared to leave the following morning.

Sacramento River and fishing docks at Duck Island RV Park

Our hosts, the Altmans and Polks, organized a terrific rally. 
Rio Vista lies in the Sacramento Delta, and the river flows past the RV Park. It is a haven for fishermen, and a couple of fellows in the group enjoyed fishing off the docks at the park.  The grassy expanse behind the coaches was a wonderful gathering spot for all of us in the late afternoons and for Happy Hours in the ample shade provided by the trees. 

The first excursion was to the local endive growing facility. This turned out to be a great story and learning experience. I've seen endive in some grocery stores but am not familiar with how to use it or how it is grown. Since it looks like a small version of lettuce, I assumed it is some type of fancy lettuce. However it is a member of the chicory family and its growing process is quite fascinating. Here is a link to how endive is grown: http://endive.com/how-endive-is-grown

to endive plant

from chicory root ....

The story of how endive (pronounced on-deev) was discovered is also fascinating, and begins in Belgium in the spring of 1831 when a farmer returned to his home from the war.  He discovered that the chicory roots he had stored in his basement to grind into coffee had sprouted during his absence... in the dark! And that is how he found out that the shoots were edible and didn't taste too bad. Exposure to light develops chlorophyll in the leaves and turns them brighter green and bitter-tasting. 
Endive is more commonly used in Europe and now is making its way into fancy restaurants in the US, mostly due to Rich Collins who is the only grower and distributor of endive in the US and also distributes to Europe.
 http://endive.com/our-story

since this is a food facility, we all put on caps before entering the building

this nutritious plant grows shoots in total darkness!

gathering outside the museum entrance for a tour
led by the daughter of the Dutras

The second excursion was to the Dutra family Museum of Dredging that houses a private collection of various documents, scale models of dredges, and some equipment that represents the history of clamshell dredging in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. That clamshell bucket is an icon of the business and even features on the bottom of the swimming pool.

Reclamation of the marshes of the 700,000-acre Delta began in the mid-19th century. For the first 30 years, levees were built with the hard sweat and labor of men, including the Chinese, using hand tools and and horse-drawn scrapers. According to the information brochure, around the same time as the levees were being built, hydraulic mining in the Gold Country began filling the rivers with tailings and resulted in massive flooding events in the delta. More than 100,000 acres were reclaimed by hand during this period. Around 1875, floating steam shovels began to take over from manual labor, but were supplanted by sidedraft clamshell dredges. This type of dredging, uniquely American, raised the total of reclaimed land to more than 400,000 acres by 1920. From that point on, sidecraft clamshell dredging has repaired and maintained the delta levees. 

a clamshell bucket

The Dutra family became involved 
in sidedraft clamshell dredging over a century ago, working on dredges in the San Francisco Bay area. Edward Dutra, who completed three years of wartime service on dredges in the Pacific theater at Christmas Island and Midway Island, established his own company in 1955. The Dutra Dredging Company continues to play a vital role in protecting the rich farmland of the Delta from seasonal flooding. 

this clamshell bucket was used on dredge Tule King, circa 1910, and weighs 25,000 lbs...
to put in perspective, our Alpine weighs about 28,000 lbs

Our third excursion was to the Western Railway Museum where we boarded the interurban car #187B for a short ride through the Solano countryside. Our conductor and guide pointed out the Garfield Station, an important stop for local farmers and farm workers who would often take the train to work from Sacramento or Costa County. We passed the Shiloh church, one of Solano's oldest buildings, built in 1870 as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It burned in 1875 but was rebuilt in 1876 with the money raised from the sale of cemetery plots. We could see the building through the tall trees and the cemetery beyond. 

Solano countryside to the north

At Pantano we got out for a few minutes while the engineer switched to the other car for the reverse trip back to the Rio Vista Junction. On the opposite side, dozens of wind turbines dot the landscape with their slowly rotating blades.

I enjoyed reading all the period ads inside the car. A couple of them promoted particular brands of cigarettes by doctors!


After the trip we toured the collection of interurban transit equipment in the carhouse. 


Among the various streetcars is this electric freight locomotive which on October 13, 1911 was decorated with flags and pulled the special train of President Taft through the streets to the cornerstone-laying ceremony for Oakland's new City Hall.


We also got to peek inside a sleeper car and the lounge. 

Then noticed this stowaway under a box car on our way out....


Afternoons spent in the shade of the trees, breakfasts and dinners at the clubhouse, and a daily dose of ice cream and root beer floats helped make this yet another memorable rally. Two couples, first time Alpine owners, joined us at Duck Island. Despite being an orphan brand, it appears that Alpine's fine name and reputation continues as original owners retire from RV-ing and new owners buy their coaches. I remember when we became first time Alpine owners and joined a rally for the first time. And now here we are at the other end, chatting with the new owners about various aspects of the coach and giving advice and direction on various challenges. 

Tomorrow we move on, heading east towards Auburn and Grass Valley where we will spend a week at the Nevada County Fairgrounds RV Park.