A Satisfying Drive Through Sacramento
The most satisfying leaves of autumn are Leaf Cookies sold at the Freeport Bakery in Sacramento.
Buying a half-dozen of them has become a sure stop on a routine fall color drive that I take each November along the American River to Sacramento and back.
The drive begins in Folsom where Mormon Island Wetlands and the boulevards of Folsom are near peak. Frémont cottonwood at the wetlands preserve (part of Folsom Lake State Recreation Area) began showing yellow in September, though they still have lots of green, lime and fresh yellow in them.
Continuing west on US 50, I exit at Sunrise Blvd. for a visit to downtown Fair Oaks where, near Plaza Park, roosters hold court, crowing, scratching and otherwise guarding their turf.
The roosters are part of the charm of Fair Oaks, a rural town that is now surrounded by suburbia and has become an oasis of authentic shops, cafes and restaurants.
Returning to US 50 and traveling on to Sacramento, I exit and tour “the 40s,” Sacramento’s tony residential area, so named because it is comprised of avenues numbered in the 40s.
Along the avenues, leaves that have fallen from the capital city’s towering London planetrees are blown into piles to be scooped up by city street cleaners and taken away.
London planetrees are a variety of sycamore. Their leaves are a mix of chartreuse and orange-brown. Presently, they’re near peak.
Sacramento prides itself as a city of trees and nowhere is that more evident than at William Land Park, south of downtown or on the drive into Sacramento International Airport, where trees are planted by species in a grand arboretum that leads to the airport’s terminals.
No wonder, Leaf Cookies are so popular in Sacramento.
American River and Sacramento – Near Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! –