Hiya bean friends, close relatives, and distant cousins, and welcome to a family reunion...of sorts. Today the beans have the great thrill to drop in on a festival dedicated to their fellow vegetables, the Tracy Dry Bean Festival! This past August marked the 17th anniversary of the Tracy Bean Fest, where over 83,000 visitors and 300 different vendors come together for a two-day celebration of all things legume-y. Since they're part of the great big bean genus, our lucky can was naturally invited to come along, even though they're not technically "dry". But that's okay -- our beans just told them that they were from Atlantis.

Here the beans stop to check out what some of the beans actually look like once they are dried out. And yes, you *can* pick up dried black beans, too -- but they're just not quite as much fun to take to parties as our happy can of frijoles are. (Our beans know how to both Macarena and Lambada!) In addition to all these beans, the fun at the Tracy Bean Festival includes a Bean Run, the car & bike show, a muscle and fitness contest ("Eat your beans, and you'll grow up big and strong!" - Moms everywhere.), and Bean Princess Pageant! How cool would that be? Our can of frijoles is stoked at the thought of being a Bean Princess -- can you make them an extra small tiara???

Do you remember the old "Sesame Street song?" One of these beans is not like the others... One of these beans is not the same... Yes, here the beans are, trying to blend in as they hang out with plastic jars of their bean pals. The beans are sometimes jealous that they don't have a clear plastic container, too -- who wouldn't like a room with a view? (Although on second thought, after almost 11 years of nonstop travel, you probably don't want to see what they look like...)

So here's a little information on our host city, Tracy: Located about 60 miles East of San Francisco, Tracy has a population of about 65,000. As you can probably guess from the theme of the festival, agriculture is big business around here, but the community has been able to hang onto its family atmosphere, even while rapidly growing, so the beans give them two big thumbs up for that. They've got a historical museum, an outlet mall for you shopaholics out there, and a nearby cheese factory, where I'm pretty certain that if you say the "magic words" ("Beans Around The World!!!"), they'll give you a free sample. Either that, or they'll look at you funny. Either way, it should bring a smile to at least one face, right?

Like many small towns, the water tower in Tracy is one of their central focal points. And as you can tell from the painting in the photo above and the real thing in the picture to the right, they looooove their water tower here in Tracy. But that's okay -- you've got to rehydrate those dried beans in something, and a bottle of California chablis is just too chi-chi for that. Anyway, the beans had a FABULOUS time in Tracy, and extend their thanks to Michael, the Tracy Chamber of Commerce, and everyone in Tracy for their kind hospitality. Now, maybe our frijoles should start bucking now to be the Grand Marshall of next year's bean parade?