Iām currently waiting for an early flight in the Fresno airport and hope to be back in Orlando this evening. Cross your fingers! š I miss my little family!
Since last night was uneventful (which is a good thing considering the super-skeezy hotel I stayed in), I figured Iād take this time to blog about the beginning of the day yesterday which was completely amazing.
Yesterday was day three of the POM Harvest Tour and was also probably my favorite of all the days. We had to opportunity to fly out to the orchards and get up close and personal with fresh pomegranates, pistachios and almonds.
After a quick breakfast, our group headed out to take two small planes on a 30 minute flight to the orchards.
Hi Gina! š
Little planes = Freaky deaky!
I was a little uneasy about flying in a small plane, but felt much better when I got to be the copilot!
Check out my station:Flying right next to the pilot was one of the coolest things Iāve ever done. I was able to communicate with him the entire time and asked him five billion questions.
I think anyone who is a nervous flier would really benefit from an experience like this.
The pilot was able to explain why we were experiencing turbulence at certain times. We experienced a little bumpiness because the heat that radiated from the ground was uneven in certain areas (brown sandy areas radiate less heat than areas of black top) and that affects the air differently.
I āoohedā and āahhedā my way through the entire flight.
The views were breathtaking. In the above picture, the trees that look slightly gray are the pomegranate trees!
Once we were on the ground, our group hopped into two vans and were taken out into the orchards. The drive was gorgeous! I decided that I love orchards! It is so neat to see the food we eat growing fresh on a tree, vine or bush.
We all commented that the pomegranate trees reminded us of Christmas. They looked slightly white with big red pomegranate āornaments.āĀ
While in the orchards, Bernard, the head orchard guy (I cannot remember his real title š ), busted into the fresh fruit so we could enjoy the sweet arils on the spot.
It doesnāt get much fresher than that!
Pomegranate arils are like little pieces of fruit candy. I could eat them my the bucketful!
Before leaving the orchards we were permitted to snag a few pomegranates to bring home with us. I wish I wouldāve brought an extra suitcase and filled it full of the fruit!
Pistachios
I managed to grab three large pomegranates before we headed into the pistachio orchards to get a little nutty!
When we first drove past the pistachio orchards, I wouldāve bet money we were driving past grapes!
Yup, those are pistachios! Crazy, huh?
The pistachio shells weāre used to seeing are located underneath the purple exterior. You pop open the purple hull, expose the shell and break it open to enjoy the nut!Iāve never had a raw, unroasted pistachio before and oh-my-gosh they are good!
I wish raw pistachios traveled well, because I wouldāve taken a bunch of handfuls home with me!
Almonds
Fortunately almonds do travel well!
Our next stop took us into the almond orchards where I was surprised to see that the nuts had fur coats!
The āfur coatā is actually the hull of the nut, which protects the shell that protects the almond.
We busted into these babies and enjoyed fresh almonds right off the tree!
Several of the shells we broke into had two little almonds waiting inside. This is a characteristic of the variety of almonds we were sampling, called Monterey almonds.
I ate a million. They were hands-down the best almonds Iāve ever enjoyed.
Once we were done in the almond orchards, it was time to hop onboard the plane again and head back.(How beautiful is Liren?)
After a 30-minute flight back to our cars, a few of us were dropped off at the airport to catch our flights (little did I know the horror that awaited meā¦).
It was sad to say goodbye to all of the bloggers on the trip, as well as the two amazing POM employees, Andrea and Mike, who worked so hard to organize such a fun, educational and exciting trip for all of us. Thank you!!! You guys are the best!
Now Iām shutting down the computer to get ready to board my flight. Iām hoping for a SAFE flight home.
See ya soon! š
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