Chino, California

Chino -- A short 20-minute drive from LA puts you in the middle of a beautiful landscape.

Dying Dairies of Chino

Chino -- "No Trespassing" signs were everywhere, but that was only an invitation to walk through a few abandon dairies. It was sad to see the empty fields and vacant ranch homes across the road from new housing developments. Many of the dairies remain mostly intact, except for broken windows, boarded up doors and a few leftover tools and machinery.

It wasn't long ago that you could smell Chino from miles away. Many were offended by the odor; I wasn't and am still not. I like the fact that here in Los Angeles, we have a little bit of the "country" less than an hour away from LA's concrete jungle.

Chino even has it's own prison and a cafe' called "Flo's" with men in John Deere caps and overalls. No kidding.

Did you know that according to the USDA, California has been the USA's leading dairy state since 1993. California also leads in total milk production, supplying about 19% of the nation milk. But we are only second to Wisconsin in cheese.