Sacramento River Delta
The clocks were put forward last night so we had one hour’s less sleep but we were still up at 5. I had to stop thinking that it was really only 4 am!
We were on our way to the Sacramento River Delta, so called because this is where the Sacramento River flows into the San Francisco Bay. Tom read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Tom Stienstra entitled ‘Sunday Drive: Sacramento River Delta’. The drive includes two ferry crossings. This weekend is the first really nice weekend for quite a while and we felt this would be perfect for a nice day out. We did discuss going the opposite way round but then eventually decided to follow exactly the same route.
At 6.45 we crossed the Benicia Bridge and headed towards Fairfield. It was still dark and the mothball fleet was barely discernible. To the east though the sky was becoming lighter. We stopped in Suisun City for breakfast – see previous post.
After the best breakfast ever, we were heading east on Highway 12. The sun was up, the scenery intoxicating and I felt in my bones that it was going to be a great day. We passed rolling green hills and cattle grazing. The road was a two lane highway with a concrete barrier down the middle. Without it I’m sure there would be a lot of head on collisions. On our right was a wind farm and later there were windmills on both sides of the road.
Rio Vista Bridge over the Sacramento River
At 8.30 we entered Rio Vista. The directions were to turn left on River Road at the foot of the bridge. The last turn on the left before the bridge was not River Road so we ended up going across the bridge. The Rio Vista Bridge is a long, low bridge with a central drawbridge to allow passage to large ships on there way to Sacramento or to the ocean. On the far side we turned around, drove back across the bridge and followed the sign to Ryer Island and the first ferry two miles away.
(Click on the images for larger versions)
We stopped near the bridge to take photos. It’s not a pretty bridge but it has a certain elegance about it. The river here is wide and I noticed there was quite a lot of debris floating downstream, probably caused by the storms over the last couple of weeks. There was not much traffic around, either on the road or on the river. Along the river back there were quite a few fishermen and one of them even had a BBQ going.
Soon we arrived at the Ryer Island Ferry. We had to wait for a few minutes
The Ryer Island Ferry called, "The Real McCoy"
before we could drive on board the flat bottomed boat. There was a sign next just before the ferry which said the ferry was closed every day between 7.20 and 8.20 am. It seems such a strange time of day to be closed. Before long we were waved on board. The ferry is called ‘The Real McCoy’ and has two propellers. There was room for about six cars but we were the only passengers this trip. We got out of the car and spoke to one of the operators, who was sporting a marvelous beard. He was an interesting guy, who has been working on the ferry for 24 years – ‘Beats working in an office’ he said. He was telling us that the ferry is free running and could turn in a circle or a square. He also explained how repairs were carried out on the propellers by means of a coffer dam.
All to soon we were across Cache Slough and on Ryer Island. We drove off the ferry and turned right but stopped almost immediately to take photos looking down on the ferry as it made it’s way back across the slough. In the distance we could see the Rio Vista Bridge. All was peaceful with just the sound of birdsong filling the air. It was a pretty drive down to and around the southern tip of Ryer Island, passing vineyards and then driving north with Steamboat Slough to our left. The land to our left was lower than the road and we passed several orchards. Then we drove past what we thought was an island in the slough and worked out later on that it was a long peninsula.
Steamboat Slough ferry across to Grand Island
Soon we arrived at the second ferry, this time across Steamboat Slough to Grand Island. This ferry has a diesel engine but is guided by a cable. We found out why the ferries are closed between 7.20 – 8.20 am – it is lunch time. Both ferries operate 24 hours a day and, by the way, are completely free of charge. This time there was another car waiting to cross as well but we had to wait for the ferry to come back from the other side. At first we could not see the cable, but when the ferry started to move the orange cable came to the surface. As the ferry crosses, a red light flashes on the roof and all boats have to wait. If they didn’t the propellers on the crossing boats could drag on the cable and that’s not good news for either the ferry or the boat. This crossing was much shorter than the first and soon the ramp was being lowered and we drove out on the far side.
Once again, we pulled over for a photo op. I wandered across the road, where, below the level of the road, was a small farm with a large cactus plant and several goats. We turned right onto Grand Island Road, drove for a short distance and then turned left on Highway 220, which we followed all the way to Ryde. Here we diverted from Tom Stienstra’s directions and for the rest of our interesting day on the Delta, you will have to read our next post.
March 19 2009 | Special Places | No Comments »
