When most people think of California they think of sunny LA, the glitz and glam of Hollywood, or the Golden Gate Bridge. And those things are great, don’t get me wrong, but did you know that California is also home to over 1,000 dairy farms? These farms produce about 4.8 million gallons of milk each year. In fact, in 2021, California dairy farmers produced 1/5 of the entire milk supply for the US. That’s a LOT of milk. And paired with Oreos … now I’m getting off track.
At our recent farm stay through Harvest Hosts we got to meet one of the families behind a 45+ year old dairy operation in central California – the Van Foekens!
Ken and Susie bought the land for their farm in Hilmar, California in 1976. Ken was just 21 years old at the time and the two had just tied the knot. Talk about an adventure! The Van Foekens have now had a successful dairy operation for over 45 years.
Talking to Ken, it quickly became clear that the dairy isn’t the only legacy they’ve built over the years. Not one to ever meet a stranger, Ken greeted us with warmth and showed us around his immaculate property which includes a custom-built wood-working shop where Ken often enjoys spending his mornings wood working.
See below for some of Ken’s recent creations:
He also restored a vintage barn on the property with his son, it has quickly become a “party barn” and community hub. The barn even hosted prom for a local high school early on in the lockdown of 2020. When we arrived, Susie and Ken were busy pruning plants and getting ready for another community party on Sunday.
Our Luna girl enjoyed playing on the lawn with the Van Foeken’s Doberman, Jersey, until sunset. She’s aptly named for the jersey cows that they milk twice a day, every day.
Harvest Hosts is a unique camping program that allows you to stay at farms, wineries, breweries, museums, and more across the US for one annual fee. If you have a fantastic host like Ken was for us, you may even get a behind-the-scenes tour of their operation & learn something new. If you use our affiliate link (click here), you can get 15% off of your Harvest Host annual membership.
Camping doesn’t always have to be woods and bonfires – sometimes it can be a window into someone else’s daily life that creates moooo-emories to last a life time. 🐄
Hey Folks – Thanks for Reading! What Did You Think?
We’d love to hear from you! Message us on social media – we’d love to hear about your next Harvest Host stay.
Please consider joining the gone community by subscribing below & following us on social media. It’s 100% free, and well worth the price of admission. We’ll update you with the newest RV lifestyle stories, tips and tricks, mental wellness tips, and so much more. DMs are always open to chat, and we’ll answer any questions you have about this lifestyle – it doesn’t have to be scary! We also promise not to spam your inbox with junk – we don’t care for that either.
We’ve got your cure for boredom – continue reading here:
No Place Like Gone 