Alpo Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 I'm not talking Mexico to California. Nevada to california, Oregon to California, Arizona to California. Early 1955. My parents drove to California to see Mama's folks. They had a bag of apples, that they had been chewing on across country. My elder brother, who was maybe a year old, had been playing in the backseat with one of the apples. Rolling it around on the floor like a ball. And when they got to the California state line, the fruit and vegetable guy confiscated that apple. Because you can't bring fruit in from out of state. Might have bugs in it which would ruin the California fruit harvest. My understanding is that if you go to Hawaii they do a fruit inspection. When you fly out of Puerto Rico, they do a fruit inspection. Not when you make it back into the conus, but when you leave the island. I know they do that, because I've flown in and out of the island several times. Just idly wondering if California still does it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 Those are not the sane as the U.S.Border Patrol that does the checking at the borders of Mexico and Canada. The ones at the California Inspection stations at California's borders are state agricultural inspectors. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 Yes, there are still ag inspection stations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish ike, SASS #43615 Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 They are looking for fruit, firewood, and hay crossing into Commifornia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 2008, coming back from Gettysburg. Stopped at the Ag Inspection Station. Guy looked at the 3" Ordnance Rifle on the trailer, "Is it legal to bring that into California?" "Unless they changed the law in the last 3 weeks it is, because that's when I left Sonoma County, CA with it." 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 Yes, I drove through one just the other day. They were stopping covered trucks and cars with trailers, but allowing passenger vehicles to pass without stopping. The big problem CA has is shipping containers bringing in Asian insects now. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 They rarely stop you if you’re in a pick up or car, but if you’re pulling an enclosed cargo trailer they usually do. Many times the stations are unmanned and we just drive through. As PR says the big threat now days to agriculture in the state is pests coming in on cargo ships. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 More than twenty years ago now, I was going to the California Speedway as part of the Winston Infield Show for NASCAR. We had a tandem axle box truck full of band gear and point of sale merchandise. When we were stopped by the Ag Inspection crew, one of them with a thick Latino accent asked if we had any “contraband”. One of the band crew guys thought that he’d be cute and in his best impression of the agent’s accent replied, “No man! No contraband!! We’re a Rock ‘N’ Roll band!!” They searched the truck AND all of us, thoroughly!! Fortunately, we were way ahead of schedule, there was nothing in our possession that was prohibited, and we got to laugh at those guys for over an hour!! We also demanded that they put everything back where it belonged! With the threat of attorneys and the loss of a big money event that provided lots of revenue to the state, they grudgingly reloaded our truck! Our business manager and one of the big wigs from NASCAR/Winston ran a pretty good bluff on those poor schlubs!! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 (edited) Come to think on it, that was more than twenty-five years ago! A bunch of those guys aren’t with us anymore!! GOOD TIMES!!! Edited June 14 by Blackwater 53393 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 4 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said: More than twenty years ago now, I was going to the California Speedway as part of the Winston Infield Show for NASCAR. We had a tandem axle box truck full of band gear and point of sale merchandise. I think that was a bit longer than 25 years if it was the Winston Western 500. The last race for that at Riverside was 1987. I was at each race from 83-87. Lots of fun in the sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 (edited) Nope! Fontana!! I was working with Tom T. Hall’s son Dean. Some guys from RJ Reynolds were passing through Nashville and were out on the town. They asked a cab driver where the best show in town was on a Tuesday night and he delivered them to a little club called “Rivalries”, a place built around a railroad caboose with a tiny stage in one corner and a big bar. On Tuesday nights, Dean would take the stage to 300 or more guests in that place that the fire marshal had rated to hold a hundred. Before the night was over, the Reynolds execs were begging Dean to try an infield stage show at major “Winston Cup” NASCAR events. I was fortunate enough to be asked to manage the band, but I had too many obligations to do it full time. Dean insisted that I join them on the road whenever I could, offering me a good deal of money plus a generous perdiem to help another of our gang with management, manage transportation, and perform with the band whenever I was out with them! We did those shows for three years! It was the beginning of what you now see with major celebrities featured. We had the job, exclusively, until Winston and NASCAR parted company. We also did a few NHRA national events. I was the featured guest performer at the last of these shows and sang the last number ever done on the Winston stage at the final season ending race in Atlanta. The song was “Statesboro Blues”! The next year, one of the cell phone networks sponsored the “Cup” races and they moved the last race to Homestead. There were a bunch of great moments in that episode of my life! I got to do some pretty cool stuff and some really ridiculous stuff too!! Met a lot of NASCAR greats and had some crazy “adventures”! Edited June 16 by Blackwater 53393 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlesnake Slim Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 I just crossed from AZ to CA Monday in my RV. They asked about produce, plants, and firewood. I told them I had produce from the grocery store and they said "Have a nice day". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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