Sacramento area people -- question for you

[awdsmama]

I was thinking of putting together an I-spy or scavenger hunt type of game for our drive down. We'll be staying on the I5 corridor.

Anything on the drive you can think of to put on the "find it" list?

 

[kelmac284]

Wish I could help but we usually go 99 because there are more options to stop for food/gas etc. I HAVE done I5 in the past but not for several years. The only think I can even THINK of that was on 5 was pea soup anderson's and I am not even sure if that is actually on 5 or on a side road. We used to stop there on our way to Monterey all the time.

That is one of the reasons we don't go that way as other than farmland there isn't a whole lot to see LOL.

Good luck and that sounds like fun! I hope you get some info!!

 

[cutedisneygirly]

I would say the windmill at Andersen's Pea Soup and the oil rigs as you get the the I5-99 connector.

Can't really think of too much more. As kelmac mentioned, there is not too much to see other than farms. Maybe you can add in a tractor and some things you may see on a farm.

 

[farmgirljen]

On the way down from Oregon there are several things along I5 to look for... The big metal cow statue just over the boarder of cali, Shasta reservoir, There is a forrest of sweet gum trees near Willows, CA., There are Olive Pit signs near Corning, There are fields of sunflowers, rice paddy's, and other ag type fields...(depending upon time of year)..near Sac there is the big tower that says Sacramento on it, I remember seeing a big ship or two at the port of Sacramento as we went by... There is the cattle feed lot near Coalinga, there is Pea Soup Andersons off the freeway, there are oil rigs down near Bakersfield, on the grapevine they can look for trucks in the runaway truck ramps(we saw one getting towed out- was kind of exciting) look for the pyramid island in pyramid lake, the water pipes that feed water to LA, cell towers disguised as palm trees and pine trees.....my son took lots of pics of random things he had never seen before on our first trip, so I just flipped through our photo albums that covered our first trip from start to finish.....lol. one thing we also did was see who could find the craziest thing on the trip that was being transported... wehave pics of a hot air balloon basket in the back of a pickup, and a tiny little car that had HUGE mattress TAPED to the top of it, and it was blowing the car all over the freeway....they ducttaped it all around the car and over the mattress to hold it down...was crazy!

 

[farmgirljen]

oooh yeah, near weed on the left as you head south there is the lot full of rainbow colored water trucks we also saw a convoy of tractors, and other very large farm machinery heading out to Sacramento on i-5 to converge on the state capital when we were on our way down that same trip as above....hundreds of combines on the roadways....was cool.

 

[Mama Who]

For a challenge, ask them to find "Coaling Station A" and see if they can put together what that is called now.

(That's "Coalinga" for those who aren't familiar.)

 

[DTDkettleCORNfan]

Look for the gold Tower Bridge while passing through downtown Sacramento (it looks more gold if the sun is hitting it at the right angle).

A couple of miles south of downtown Sac, look for the silver UFO just after the Pocket/Meadowview exit. Its a big watertower that has always reminded us of a flying saucer.

When going through Stockton, look for the 7-Eleven. There might be more than one, but I know that you can spot at least one from the freeway. My husband loves Slurpees, and while we have never stopped in Stockton to get one....I always notice the sign and think about stopping.

Look for the aerial rope course (wooden towers) at Dell Osso Farms in Lathrop.

And I concur with the previous posters who mentioned the Andersens Pea Soup windmill in Santa Nella.

Can't think of anything south of that....we always take 99 from Sac to Anaheim. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[disneychrista]

We did a license plate i-spy one time. Have the kids looks to see how many states they can see on the way down.

 

[Casey's Mommie]

One of the landmarks I always look for is the huge IKEA warehouse right before the Grape Vine.

 

[Colo Nana]

We did a license plate i-spy one time. Have the kids looks to see how many states they can see on the way down.

we did that but we had to find the alphabet in order on them man thats hard.lol

 

[awdsmama]

Awesome ideas everyone, thank you!!

And did someone say...IKEA??!! My son loves that store as much as I do

 

[coaches24]

Can't really help. We cheat by having an auto DVD player and popping in a movie. Whom ever isn't driving also sits in back with DD to play with her, give her snacks etc. whatever it takes to keep DD from driving the driver nuts.

 

[MrsPinup]

You pass signs for the LA zoo so maybe add that? How about counting how many Disneyland billboards you see?

We typically travel at night to avoid traffic so there is never much for us to see. When I was a kid, one of my school assignments was to calculate miles per gallon when we took vacations. Depending on the children's ages that could be a little brain quest for them.

 

[Huff]

How about Harris ranch? Its a huge cattle farm on the east side of I-5 around Colinga. If the wind is out of the east, hold your nose as it stinks BAD!!

 

[larina]

How about Harris ranch? Its a huge cattle farm on the east side of I-5 around Colinga. If the wind is out of the east, hold your nose as it stinks BAD!!

Hold you nose and whatever you do DO NOT stop and eat there. It is really overpriced (and I'm not shy about expensive food!), everything is sold individually, yea, that $40 steak comes ALONE, and it smells so bad you gag walking from you car, praying it won't smell inside, but IT DOES. So gross. We walked out! No dinner. Went to Denny's instead (and we aren't big Denny's fans, but the one in Colinga is really pretty good and I know someone who has delivered food there and says they have a really clean kitchen.

 

[pixiewings71]

We ate at Harris Ranch, it wasn't priced separately at all, maybe because we stopped at lunch but we had full meals and it wasn't crazy expensive. It was really good too!!

there really isn't much to see, there's the exit for "the bathrooms" aka Los Banos that we always point out, the Grapevine (we have NEVER seen a truck in the runaway truck ramps and we do a lot of driving to DL or through the Sierra's (which also has them) on our way to Idaho. I've lived here for 24 years and have never seen a truck in one of those ramps. Tejon Ranch, then if you have a smart phone look it up. Seriously tho, a lot of 5 is pretty barren and boring.....lol We just did it last night.

 

[mommamonster]

I haven't done the drive in a long time, I have to echo the Andersen's windmill, hundreds of cows at Harris Ranch, and add that we tend to see a crop duster plane just about every time we make a long I-5 drive. Cattle egrets (those tall white crane-like birds) are usually very close to I-5 where the rice paddies and other fields of crops are. If you pass by the Tower Bridge and the previously mentioned "UFO" definitely add those, my kids love the UFO and when my oldest was 2 and we lived in midtown Sacramento we would detour to drive by it all the time!

Since there are a lot of you offering great answers, could anyone recommend a place to stop and eat along I-5 (for breakfast specifically). We're driving down in May, we live about 90 minutes north of Sacramento so I'm figuring anything south of Stockton all the way to the grapevine area because I'm not sure how early we'll be leaving yet. I figure if DH and I are too excited to sleep, we'll hit the road as early as 3 a.m. haha.

 

[joihan777]

We live in Elk Grove, just south of Sacramento. Here are a few things to see in the Sac region visible from a car on I-5:

Sacramento Int'l Airport - ~10 miles north of town. We've parked under the flyway ala Wayn'e World style... very fun!

South from the airport, in Natomas area, you'll be able to see the Arco Arena. This is where the Kings play (as well as Disney on Ice). It'll be on the east... may be hard to see though because the bushes are usually high on that stretch.

Sacramento Railroad Museum - just south of Richards Blvd and I-Street bridge. You can see the large Steam Locomotive mural from the freeway. It'll be on the west.

The Railroad Museum is the north anchor for "Old Town Sacramento"... the golden Tower Bridge is the southern edge. Just before the bridge you may be able to see some restored steamships. (They are tourist restaurants now).

While the Tower bridge is on the west, if you look to the east... on that same street, you'll see the California Capital Building. (The Tower Street Bridge/ Capital Mall St terminates @ the Capital Building). That's where Ahhhhhnold used to work and now there's Moonbeam LOL.

South of Sacramento, just south of Pocket Rd is the "UFO"... it'll be on the west.

As you approach Elk Grove (~15 minutes south of Sac) you'll see Stonelakes National Wildlife Preserve on the west. There are a few spots to get out and do birdwatching... but is just starting to get developed so there's not too much reason to pull over yet.

Enjoy!

 

[joihan777]

We live in Elk Grove, just south of Sacramento. Here are a few things to see in the Sac region visible from a car on I-5:

Sacramento Int'l Airport - ~10 miles north of town. We've parked under the flyway ala Wayn'e World style... very fun!

South from the airport, in Natomas area, you'll be able to see the Arco Arena. This is where the Kings play (as well as Disney on Ice). It'll be on the east... may be hard to see though because the bushes are usually high on that stretch.

Sacramento Railroad Museum - just south of Richards Blvd and I-Street bridge. You can see the large Steam Locomotive mural from the freeway. It'll be on the west.

The Railroad Museum is the north anchor for "Old Town Sacramento"... the golden Tower Bridge is the southern edge. Just before the bridge you may be able to see some restored steamships. (They are tourist restaurants now).

While the Tower bridge is on the west, if you look to the east... on that same street, you'll see the California Capital Building. (The Tower Street Bridge/ Capital Mall St terminates @ the Capital Building). That's where Ahhhhhnold used to work and now there's Moonbeam LOL.

South of Sacramento, just south of Pocket Rd is the "UFO"... it'll be on the west.

As you approach Elk Grove (~15 minutes south of Sac) you'll see Stonelakes National Wildlife Preserve on the west. There are a few spots to get out and do birdwatching... but is just starting to get developed so there's not too much reason to pull over yet.

Enjoy!

 

[pixiewings71]

I haven't done the drive in a long time, I have to echo the Andersen's windmill, hundreds of cows at Harris Ranch, and add that we tend to see a crop duster plane just about every time we make a long I-5 drive. Cattle egrets (those tall white crane-like birds) are usually very close to I-5 where the rice paddies and other fields of crops are. If you pass by the Tower Bridge and the previously mentioned "UFO" definitely add those, my kids love the UFO and when my oldest was 2 and we lived in midtown Sacramento we would detour to drive by it all the time!

Since there are a lot of you offering great answers, could anyone recommend a place to stop and eat along I-5 (for breakfast specifically). We're driving down in May, we live about 90 minutes north of Sacramento so I'm figuring anything south of Stockton all the way to the grapevine area because I'm not sure how early we'll be leaving yet. I figure if DH and I are too excited to sleep, we'll hit the road as early as 3 a.m. haha.

There are many Denny's on the way, we like the one in Santa Nella (Anderson's Pea Soup exit), it's clean, the food is good and the service is fast. If you leave later and want lunch we like to stop at Harris Ranch, we also like to stop in Lost Hills for gas, it's about halfway and they have a few different fast food places to chose from as well as a Denny's that is again, good food with fast service. Another exit we like to stop is the Frasier Mountain exit.....it's near the bottom of the GV on the north side, so coming from Sac before you go over. They have decent gas prices (similar to Lost Hills this past weekend, we paid $4.25 a gallon yesterday) at the Chevron (no additional fee for using a credit card/check card) and there's a Subway inside. There's also a Denny's there, we haven't eaten at that one tho.