- The Central Valley is full of great attractions.

Sure, ya can cruise up to the zoo, maybe go catch a game at the ballpark, head to the mountains, to Yosemite, but there's some other great places here in the Valley too, and I'm gonna be settin' out today on the open road and showin' ya a couple.

I love this guy.

There are so many great little places you can run into right off the highway in the Central Valley, including an underground garden... "Oh, and I got like 80 acres, built my own house."

- "Two-bedroom house."

- "Did I tell you that it's like 20 feet underground?"

- Yeah.

(Roy laughing) - A fossil museum...

This thing right here was walkin' around Chowchilla and Madera.

- That's right.

- And one of the most beautiful sites in all of Fresno, the Blossom Trail.

(upbeat rhythmic music) With so man rad places to go, the only way I'm gonna hit them all is if I turn this into a road trip!

We are headed to our next stop.

Yeah, right here, right here.

This looks cool.

So grab shotgun with me, and come along as we explore some of the Central Valley's best roadside attractions.

Central California definitely has its own vibe.

From the laid back latitudes of the Central Coast to the scenic wonders of the Sierra, and all the amazing people, cultures, food found in the great cities and towns of the San Joaquin Valley.

I'm on a mission to explore the festivals, the hidden gems, the history and the stories that make up this great place I love to call home.

I'm Roy Sizemore, and we're "Hitting the Road."

(low rhythmic music) (upbeat rhythmic music) "Hitting the Road with Roy Sizemore" is made possible by viewers, like you.

Your support fuels the adventures and incredible connections that make the Central Valley special.

(upbeat rhythmic music continues) Every journey we take, every story we share is thanks to you.

(upbeat rhythmic music continues) Become a member today to help keep the good times rollin'.

Visit our website to learn more.

Thank you.

(upbeat rhythmic music ending) (low rhythmic music) (low rhythmic music continues) Alrighty, so today we're hittin' the road, literally, and goin' to look for some cool roadside attractions here in the Central Valley.

Now, some of these places I've known about forever and yet to go to, and I've been saying, "I need to go check this out," some are places that are really cool that I never even heard about.

We're gonna hit the road, we're gonna see some cool stuff, and we're gonna drive around and check it all out.

You're invited to come along, so let's do it.

Road trippin'!

(low rhythmic music continues) Welcome to Madera County, a place known for agriculture, amazing restaurants, and giant beasts with gnarly teeth, and tusks, and claws!

(Roy imitating beast roaring) (children screaming) What?

Right off the 99 Freeway, you can find yourself at the Madera Fossil Discovery Center, an oddly-placed time capsule that transports you millions of years into the past with some animals and creatures that I've never even heard of.

But you know what they say, there's a first time for everything.

Let's check it out.

(low rhythmic music ending) Alright, I'm here with Michele.

And you're the expert, right, on all this?

Can you- - Uh, semi-expert.

(laughing) - Can you tell us like how this even came about?

'Cause this was all kind of surreptitious, this like an accident kind of.

- Indeed.

In 1993, across the street, at the landfill, there was a bump in the digging of the sal to put the garbage.

And the person stopped and took a closer look, and found out that it was a Colombian mammoth tusk.

- So ya find the one and ya gotta look for more, and then this is where it really kinda started goin'.

- [Michele] Right.

We're up to 15,000 fossils found.

- Wow.

- This above us is a replica of the Colombian mammoth whose tusk was found.

An actual tusk is right there.

That would be what be would be found, is- - That's the real tusk right there.

- [Michele] That's the real tusk.

- How old is that tusk?

- These are Ice Age animals ranging from 500,000 to 800,000 years old.

- So almost 1,000,000 years, really.

- Almost.

- When you're talkin' bones, yeah.

- Right, they're much younger than dinosaurs though.

- So half a million years ago though, this thing right here was walkin' around Chowchilla and Madera.

- [Michele] That's right.

- That just amazes me that at one point, just herds of these things were roamin' around the valley, and other animals.

- Right, we can go take a look at those in what we call the Diorama Room.

- I'll follow you.

- Alright.

(low rhythmic music) (low rhythmic music continues) Alright, here we are in the Diorama- - Diorama Room.

- Now, all these animals, all these beasties behind us, all these animals actually roamed here.

Remains of these exact animals were found here.

- Absolutely.

And in front of us is a chart that shows the exact percent of the fossils, of the 15,000, what we have found.

- And then this, the saber-toothed cat, I believe they found a new species that hadn't been found before until they came right here to Madera County.

- Right.

- I believe that was the scimitar cat.

- So, it was a whole new discovery right here in our backyard.

- Right.

Behind me is the saber-toothed cat, and that's my favorite carnivore here.

He is the California state fossil, so it's another- - We have our own state fossil?

- Yes.

- So we have the poppy as our flower, the- - Quail.

- Well, thank you.

Okay, quail, (laughing) you know it.

And then our fossil is the saber-toothed cat.

- That's correct.

- Ya learn somethin' every day.

This is why ya watch PBS right here.

(low rhythmic music) I wanna get to this guy though, this is my favorite.

This scared the heck outta me.

40 miles an hour these things could run.

- [Michele] And 1,200 pounds.

- [Roy] 1,200 pounds.

- [Michele] Right.

- So imagine you're out walking, and this thing covered in teeth, hair, and muscles comes barrelin' at you like a runaway Hyundai.

(Michele and Roy laughing) Like a Hyundai with teeth.

Where'd this giant clam come from?

- [Michele] It was found up at Mammoth Pool.

- [Roy] This was from Mammoth Pools.

- Right.

And it weighs about 150 pounds.

- That's a lotta chowder.

- Absolutely.

(Roy laughing) - That's amazing.

(low rhythmic music continues) And then what else do we have here?

Show me around.

- Okay, well we do have a laboratory.

- A lab?

- [Michele] Yes.

- Ooh, this is how "Jurassic Park" starts.

- In here is where, from the field, the landfill across the street, would come the fossils that are encased.

The bottom line is anything you see in a cast around here will not probably come out of it because it will deteriorate.

That's part of the process of getting a fossil cast in the field into the laboratory.

- Okay, so I heard of the mammoths, I had never seen that amazing, crazy, bear/monster lookin' thing, that was scary.

And we had our own saber-toothed tiger, like only in this area?

That's crazy!

The Central Valley may be our home now, but it was once inhabited by amazing creatures literally larger than life.

Next up on "The Road," the home of Baldassare Forestiere, a man who's not as old as mammoths or dinosaurs, but not quite as young and spry as yours truly.

Baldassare's story takes place way back in the 1900s, right in the heart of Fresno, California, where he dug a series of intricate tunnels to form his home, or what we now call Forestiere Underground Gardens.

(upbeat rhythmic music) So ya might not know this, but right off Shaw and 99, right off the freeway is this hidden underground oasis.

I'm here with Shera, we're at Forestiere Underground Gardens.

You're gonna guide us around today, take us through it.

Before we get started, I have to admit, this is my first time being here.

I've lived in Fresno 25 years, I've heard about it, I've read about it, I've seen pictures, I've heard even a podcast about it, but this is my first time comin' here.

Just before we go down, brief synopsis, what are we doin' today?

- Well, I wanna say you're not alone in having that 25-year span of not coming out here.

- Okay, good.

- So many locals have lived here their entire lives and they haven't made their way to this hidden gem.

But today, we're gonna see the underground home of Baldassare Forestiere.

It was handcarved out over the course of 40 years, starting in 1906.

So we're gonna go see his home, the bedrooms, the kitchen, courtyards, even a ballroom which I think you're a little excited to see.

(laughing) - An underground ballroom, that's like a crazy vampire club or somethin'.

I'm down for that.

Let's do this, let's go.

- [Roy And Shera] Let's go.

(low rhythmic music) - So you kind of wonder, genius, madness, a little of column "A," a little of column "B"?

What's with this Baldassare guy?

All this done by hand, that is amazingly labor intensive.

I can barely muster up the energy to empty the dishwasher.

So, how did he even get started?

Like, 'cause from what I understand, he was farmin' back in Italy.

- Yes, Sicily.

- [Roy And Shera] Sicily.

- Okay, comes to America, starts diggin' tunnels in New York- - Yes.

- And then I'm guessin' that's where he got the bug for this, but then wanted a farm.

So all the way from New York, all the way over to California, to the Valley.

- That's right.

So the time that Baldassare came to the United States was the progressive era.

There were millions of immigrants coming from Europe over to the United States.

And so Baldassare, being a young man, he was 21 years old, and he just wanted to try to make his way in the world.

So he did start out working as a tunneler for subways, on the East Coast.

What really caused him to come up with this idea of creating something underground was the Fresno heat.

(Roy laughing) Because it gets so hot here in the summer.

(laughing) - Yeah, facts.

- Yes.

So he just had to think of a way to escape that, you know, he's working all day in the hot sun.

So he thinks he's just gonna dig himself a cellar, just one room, and that's actually where we are right now.

He just dug this area so he could bring his bed underground and just have a cool place to sleep at the end of the night.

- (laughing) Wow.

He literally moved his whole house- - He did, he ended up completely living underground.

So he moved his bed down here, he made a kitchen for his stove.

So he was pretty self-sufficient, just bein' underground.

- That's great, that's amazing.

Alright, well, let's continue.

- Let's go have a look.

- After hearing the origins of this just hole in the wall, I can't help but think about how fascinating a place the Central Valley is.

I mean, the fact that Fresno inspired this creative thinking, this innovation, forward thinking, pretty much anything besides a heat stroke, (laughing) truly incredible.

Okay, so we're goin' around, this is the biggest tunnel yet.

- Yes.

- Question, where does all the dirt go?

Like if he's handpickin' and shovelin' all of it, how's he gettin' rid of all this?

- There's a lotta dirt.

And Baldassare himself would get that question from people, and his answer was that he'd stick it all in a big hole in the back.

(deep perplexing music) (abrupt dramatic music) - But, where'd the dirt from the... See, no, (Shera laughing) I see what you're doin' here.

No, no.

- What he really did was he moved it all up to ground level, and he built up a top soil on his property.

So where before he wasn't able to plant those citrus trees in the hard pan, he built up so much top soil that he was able to plant trees up there, which is why we have fruit trees up there today.

- So the bottom soil became the top soil, he planted the trees, the upground trees, but then you had the underground... See, it's still circle.

- Exactly.

- You got a lot goin' on here.

- Uh-huh, yes.

- Okay, I get it.

(upbeat rhythmic music) (upbeat rhythmic music ending) Okay, so now we're in the bedrooms, and I see two beds.

Is this like an "I love Lucy," the separate beds or?

- It is not, because Baldassare was a single guy.

He did have a few girlfriends over the years, but never married.

This is actually- - Do you think it was the house they didn't like?

(Shera laughing) - He's a little unconventional.

- They're like, "Yeah, I got like 80 acres, built my own house."

- "Two-bedroom house."

- Did I tell you that it's like 20 feet underground?

- Yeah.

(Roy laughing) Might have sounded a little odd at the time.

- Okay, so why the two bedrooms then?

- Because after he was living down here, he learned that he needed to build different rooms to adjust with the seasons.

Because it's nice and cool down here in the summertime, he's escaping that heat, but as we're feeling, it gets pretty chilly in the winter.

- Yeah, a little bit.

- So the room we're standing in right now was his winter bedroom, so it's closed in.

He learned hard pan works as a natural insulator, so he just put a fireplace in here- - Right.

- And he would stay warm in this winter bedroom.

- And he carved this out too, this isn't a metal- - Yeah, this is his.

- This is all handcarved out.

Wow.

Very practical, yet again.

- And another feature in here, above this fireplace, you see this hole?

You see the little hole there?

- Right.

- So that is actually a peek hole aimed at his front door.

- Oh, I can see the... (laughing) - So when people would walk in through his front door, he could see who was there.

So today, we have our Ring doorbells- - I was gonna say, he invented a Ring.

He like literally invented the Ring, that is amazing.

That is wild.

(low rhythmic music) You could seriously just about get lost down here, there's so many levels.

- It can turn you around, that's why we have a guide lead our visitors through, so they don't get lost.

- Yeah, I would get lost, I'm not gonna lie.

(low rhythmic music continues) - [Shera] So I hear you're a fisherman.

- That is like my favoritest thing to do.

- Well, you are going to love this because Baldassare would go fishing as well, in the San Joaquin River.

- Okay, in there.

- And the fish that he would catch, some of them of course he'd keep for eating, but sometimes he'd get those little guys that he would then bring back here to his aquarium.

- Okay, this is the aquarium I've heard so much about, it's a tri-level aquarium.

- This is the aquarium.

- By the way, I would be really good at that 'cause I catch a lotta small fish too.

(descending piano music) - Well, see, so this is the perfect place for them.

- Right.

- So from this level, imagine it as a fish pond.

So he would put those small fish in here.

- Okay.

- And he has a bench built in up here, so he would be able to sit and watch those fish swimming around.

But there is that tri-level part.

If you head down this way, I'm gonna show you the next level of the aquarium.

- Okay.

(bright mysterious music) I'm really excited to see this.

Alright, I gotta watch my head here.

- Watch your head, watch your step.

- Wow, (laughing) that is so cool!

Oh my gosh.

- Amazing.

- Right, okay, I get it now.

Okay, tri-level.

Fantastic.

Alright, gang, I am now underneath the aquarium.

So you have the top, you can look down on the aquarium, and now underneath the aquarium.

So you can just sit here, chill, and watch the fish swim around.

- Exactly.

And this is actually one of the coolest spots in the entire underground gardens, temperature wise too.

Because in the summertime, we usually see a temperature drop of 10 to 20 degrees in the other areas, down here, it stays right at the mid-60s all summer long.

- [Roy And Shera] For real.

- 'Cause I'm freezing right now.

(Shera laughing) But like, come summertime- - But in the summertime- - That sounds amazing.

- This was the place to be.

He kept a chair down here, he would have his lunch down here in the middle of the day, and just cool off.

Very ahead of his time.

- Amazing.

(gentle inspiring music) Alright, so now this is the grand finale as it were?

- Yes, it is.

We are now entering Baldassare's grand ballroom.

- Okay.

Well, this is a lot nicer than like dirt and rocks.

- It is pretty different.

Part of that is because this was the final project Baldassare worked on before he passed away.

And he actually passed away before he was able to finish this room.

- Okay, so he didn't lay like these floors, and all this came later?

- He didn't, this all came later from his brother Giuseppe, who ended up taking care of the property after Baldassare had passed away.

Giuseppe decided to finish this room as a labor of love to Baldassare.

- And I see he stuck with it, got the stained glass windows, so kind of- - A little secret, it's contact paper.

- (laughing) Okay.

This is TV, we don't have to tell everyone this stuff, they can't tell.

(coughing) Stained glass windows.

- Yeah, the beautiful stained glass windows and the terrazzo floor.

- So you could have bands, you could have like a wedding, you could have- - That was his idea.

He wanted to have big celebrations and parties for his resort, so he excavated this room and made the stage.

So yes, you could have live music up here, or someone could get married up here.

- So this looks like, though, did he do this part or was this- - He did this part, mm-hmm.

- Okay, it looks like this is his stuff.

- You can recognize his work.

Yes, this was him.

- Right.

It just doesn't a tree growin' out of it yet.

- Not yet.

If he had lived long enough, he probably would've found a way.

But his brother ended up putting this roof on top of the room, and this actually comes from a World War II airfield that was in Fresno, called Hammer Airfield.

- Okay.

Wow, good to know.

- So it has a history all its own.

- That's awesome.

Thank you so much, Shera, for showin' me around today, showin' everyone around today, really appreciate it.

Again, you really need to come here personally to see and really experience it.

I mean, there's stuff we didn't even see, right?

- That's true.

There's areas that we didn't get to today.

So, we do encourage people to come out and experience it in person.

- Yeah, it's truly amazing.

And when are you open, are you open seasonal, or are you- - We are seasonal.

- Okay.

- Usually March to November.

It is dependent on the weather, but March to November is our typical season.

- Fantastic.

And any parting words you wanna say to any of the folks out there?

- Yes, you know, Baldassare used to say, "To make something with a lot of money, that is easy, but to make something out of nothing, that now is really something."

And I think after what you've seen today, you would agree with that.

- I totally agree with that, and you should see it for yourself.

And on that, thank you, and come on out to the Underground Gardens.

So reflecting on this experience, I have to say, Baldassare was a genius.

I mean, first of all, to have the whole idea, but to actually go through with it, truly amazing.

Every good road trip needs a little drinky-snacky pit stop, so on our way to our final stop, I'm gonna hit up a fruit stand I've always wanted to try, in Sanger.

Let's hope it's open.

(upbeat rhythmic music) And it's closed.

No, this sucks.

It's closed.

This is the fun part about the road trip, is just sometimes things don't work out the way it's supposed to work out.

We're goin' exploring, kids, buckle up.

So yeah, not open.

But the best part about the Central Valley is that you never know what you just might find hiding around the next corner.

Yeah, right here, right here.

This looks cool.

(low pensive music) Okay, so if you're out and about and you need some supplies, on the way to Blossom Trail, you can stop at the Minkler Cash Store.

It's named that, it's not an ironic name, it's not a funny name, it's a cash-only store.

And they are open.

except, well, if you look, "Open most crazy, lazy, fun, but no sun days."

See, what they're sayin' is they're closed Sunday.

(gentle pensive music continues) (gentle rhythmic music) (door clicking) Oh my goodness.

- [Mary] Hello.

- Hi.

(laughing) (bells chiming) You must be Mary.

- I'm Mary.

- Hi Mary, I'm Roy.

Pleased to meet you.

- Roy, a pleasure.

- And this is your place.

- Kinda yeah, I'm the keeper of the gate.

- (laughing) Keeper of the gate.

And how old is this building?

- Okay, this was built in 1920, so it's 104 years old.

- [Roy] Wow.

- Always been kind of what it is, it's a grocery store a little bit.

Like back in the day, it was more mercantile, so they had tires, Levi's, sundries- - Grain?

(laughing) - Actually, yes.

That's eventually how we got into it because my father was a feed salesman, my stepdad.

And this was on his route and it came up for sale.

He didn't like it.

- (laughing) And he didn't like it.

- He's a great salesman, but not, "Hi, can I help you?"

- Well, we're out today hittin' the Blossom Trail.

We're doin' roadside attractions, and I've never been in here.

And it's the Cash Store, which means cash only.

- [Mary And Roy] Cash only.

- [Roy] Still usin' paper and coin money.

- Yes.

- Now, you probably get a lotta tourists in.

How many times a day do they say, "Really, cash?"

- Ya know, they're mostly local kind of people, and probably at least five times a day.

And they go, "That really means cash?"

Yes.

- That's why it says... You put it in the name.

So we're gonna hit the Blossom Trail, what should we see, is there anything we don't wanna miss, or any other places we should be checkin' out?

- Okay.

- You're the local.

- I'm the local.

Ah, local or local?

I would say Forestiere Gardens.

- [Roy] We just went there.

- Oh.

- Seriously, it was my first time!

What I said, "There's places I've wanted to go to forever and I never went," and that was one of the places.

We've also heard Simonium- - Simonian.

- Samoan- - Simonian.

- Simonian Farms is supposed to like be really neat, a lotta cool stuff as well.

- Mm-hmm, yes.

You know what, it's been around, established a long time ago, so it's really kind of an interesting place.

I think they have a lot of antiques and things to look at, and some of 'em are probably still for sale.

- [Roy] Right, and yours are not.

- Yeah, mine are not.

You can come and look at 'em all the time you want.

But it's kind of like an icon also.

- It's a must-stop.

- Yes.

- Okay.

That's what I wanted to know.

Okay, we're definitely hittin' that then.

- Yup.

- We're gonna take a look around 'cause I really wanna show off your store now.

Thank you so much, Mary.

- Thank you.

- This is awesome.

- Roy, it's a pleasure.

- You bet.

- Thank you.

- Stumbling upon the gem that is the Minkler Cash Store was a welcome surprise for anyone who relishes the olden days.

Wow, it's got a little bit of everything here.

I mean, a cash-only store?

That's straight up Andy Griffin.

Okay, you gotta get this duck.

I love this guy.

That is awesome.

(Roy snapping fingers) - Ow!

- I hit Matt.

So now we are headed to our next stop, Simonian Farms.

And I'm gonna check out some produce, some tchotchkes, and, well, I don't know yet, we'll find out, won't we?

(upbeat rhythmic music) Alrighty, we are at Simonian Farms.

- [Matt] Is this the kind of tractor you guys had back in your day?

- Yeah, this is exac... (laughing) Yes, it is.

I used to take one of these to school.

(upbeat rhythmic music ending) (low rhythmic music) Originally established in 1901, Simonian Farms, much like our previous stops today, transports you to a much simpler time... (laughing) Oh, yes.

Ooh, what?

One with locally-sourced fresh fruit, classic sodas.

Oh, this is cool, they got old sodas.

Aw, Dang!

"Dang."

And crickets?

These are bacon and cheese flavored, if that's how ya like your crickets.

Well, crickets aside, Mary was not wrong, Simonian Farms is a must-see stop when visiting the Blossom Trail.

And who knows, you might even strike gold.

There's gold in them hills!

Gold!

(low rhythmic music continues) Draw.

(gun firing) (low rhythmic music ending) Simonian Farms was like a time capsule that I just didn't wanna leave.

But just a short drive from it, and we're gonna be at the most anticipated road trip spot.

We're out on the hunt, we're out on the search, we're hunting blossoms.

And I wanna find some of the pink ones today.

I see white ones, but yeah.

Oh, look at the sea up here, dude.

Look at this.

That's awesome.

(upbeat rhythmic music) (upbeat rhythmic music ending) Man, that's nice.

Out here in Sanger, California, on the Blossom Trail.

You might wonder, why are those pink?

Why are those almond blossoms pink?

Because they're shy, they're embarrassed.

No, it's because they're not almonds, they're peaches or nectarines.

That's why they have the beautiful color.

So, question, when is the best time to hit the Blossom Trail?

'Cause weather's different, ya know, every year's different.

Real simple, keep an eye on your social media because everybody comes out here to take pictures, okay?

You got the engagement photos, the cute couple photos, the family photos.

It's a little overdone, to be honest with you.

But would make like, probably a really killer montage to end the show with.

Just sayin'.

(bright rhythmic music) (camera shutter clicking) (bright rhythmic music ending) (low rhythmic music) The Central Valley is full of wonderful places to visit, but knowing where to go can sometimes be a daunting task.

We hope that after today's episode, ya have an idea or two of where to start.

With so many remarkable places to visit in the Central Valley, the Fossil Discovery Center, Forestiere's Gardens, Minkler, Simonian Farms, the Blossom Trail, the history of this valley lives within the fossils, gardens, and antiques that were left behind by those who came before us, and it's up to us to discover it all.

So pack up the car or make a lunch, and get out there on the road and check out these amazing attractions.

(low rhythmic music continues) (low rhythmic music fading) (upbeat rhythmic music) "Hitting the Road with Roy Sizemore" is made possible by viewers, like you.

Your support fuels the adventures and incredible connections that make the Central Valley special.

(upbeat rhythmic music continues) Every journey we take, every story we share is thanks to you.

(upbeat rhythmic music continues) Become a member today to help keep the good times rollin'.

Visit our website to learn more.

Thank you.

(upbeat rhythmic music ending)