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Fruit and vegetables into California


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We and the MH has been in Brookings OR, 5 miles from the CA boundary for a week and made several day trips into CA to see the redwoods. We go thru a CA check point in the car that asks if we have fruits, vegetables, or firewood. Heading for Grants Pass on Tuesday in the MH and unfortunately, it takes twice as long if we go back up thru OR to get there. Will drive under an hour south to Cresent City CA and then turn NE to get to Grants Pass OR. Don't want to lie to the nice men and women at the check point but we might have a few apples, lemons, lettuce in the frig as well as trail mix and nuts in the cabinet. What I have read is this is probably not allowed. Wondering what others that go thru the check points do?

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If you have it and don't lie about it, they will most likely take it from you. Happened to us coming in from Arizona.  We were allowed to keep some peppers. That was a couple of years ago , don't expect that much has changed. 

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I’ve gone over Tule Lake over into Susanville. I don’t recommend it in an RV. Anyway, I’ve always had an issue with bugs only traveling on rigs that use major highways. Can they not travel on other roads? Hitchhike on rigs that don’t have fruit? I really don’t understand the check points anymore, other than it’s government and gov is like Pringles, once it starts it can’t stop 

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I  figure they have grocery stores in CA. Eat it before the border or cut it up and freeze it, cook it or toss it. There are pests that can do a lot of damage to crops if allowed to spread freely. Crop destroying pests ultimately drive up grocery prices. 

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21 minutes ago, Land Lubber said:

If you look at the produce in the stores you will see that all the tree fruit is generally grown in the Kingsburg-Reedley-Dinuba area here in CA. Most of the veggies are also grown in the state so you will not have a problem.

I guess my question is, has there ever been an outbreak? How do you contain it? How do you know for sure that all the bugs aren’t in a trailer that’s empty but has some eggs of a bug? 
 

It’s kinda like the new invasive species stations. They spray the boat off, but not the rig that backed down in the water to get the boat. 
 

Meanwhile, here Oregon, off topic 

https://ktvz.com/news/ap-oregon-northwest/2022/06/26/biblical-insect-swarms-spur-oregon-push-to-fight-pests/

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Think of all the cars & trucks crossing the stateline on a daily basis....It would be impossible to inspect & treat each one so they can't really address your 'what if" scenario. We have dealt with Japanese fruit flies in the past where certain commodities were quarantined for a period. We got through that & survived!

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I traveled Hwy. 199 last year from Crescent City CA to Grants Pass OR and although it is very scenic it is a bit narrow and winding.  The DW had to abandon the co-pilot chair due to nerves. Had light traffic so trip was not too bad, although after traveling through some narrow points I saw a sigh that read "Road Narrows". The road actually did narrow some so took it slow.  I hope you enjoyed the Redwoods and safe travels into Oregon!

Edited by StephenW
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The first time I crossed into CA from OR and went through the agricultural checkpoint, I said we have some groceries in the fridge and some houseplants. The inspector(?) said if we weren't carrying stuff to sell they weren't interested. After that I always just said "no" and went through. 

Once coming in from Arizona, after saying I had nothing, the inspector commented on the macrame plant holder hanging just behind the driver seat. The funny thing is that while there's a lot of plants that macrame plant holder is just a decoration and I've never seen it hold a plant.

Also lots of people down toward Crescent City, including us when we stayed in Hiouchi, bought groceries at the Fred Myers or the farmers market in Brookings and went back through the checkpoint.

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As an Oregonian who has traveled this route hundreds of times we have never declared personal fruit or veggies.  As said previously they are looking for cases of fruit or veggies, which one might be selling.  They do frown on firewood obtained from other areas and bringing it into Ca.

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