One dark night a silent spaceship glided over California. After it landed in a big hay field, two strangers walked out. They wiped their brow with their fingers, which looked surprisingly like forks, knives, spoons, and napkins.

"We have finally arrived in Cal-i-forn-i-a!"

"Yes, Marsy. It was a long and hard trip from our home planet Tummyummy."

"Well Barsy, it is now time to explore and EAT! We came to Cal-i-forn-i-a because there are over 350 agricultural products made in this state. We should be able to go and find lots of things to eat."

"Let's go and search out the top commodities of Cal-i-forn-i-a and eat our way through the state!"

So the two aliens set off on their feasting adventure.

The first place they stopped was Merced. Many milk cows live in that part of the state producing lots of dairy products. While the average Californian drinks 22 gallons of milk and eats almost 30 pounds of cheese in a year, the aliens managed to eat all of this in one hour! Wiping their mouths with their napkin "fingers" they turned to each other and Marsy said, "I'm still hungry and thirsty, Barsy."

"Marsy, let's keep on going. How about we try some grapes in the beautiful Napa Valley? Cal-i-forn-i-a grows over 300,000 tons of grapes each year. There should be enough grapes for us."

"Okay Barsy, I know they use the grapes to make grape juice, table grapes and wine. Grapes sound juicy and good to eat."

"Let's go!"

The aliens turned on their rocket boots and soared northwest to the valley. The minute they got there they began to pop down eight pounds of grapes, which is the amount that one person eats in a year. But, they still weren't full.

"I am still starving, Barsy. Let's go to Stockton and munch on some tomatoes."

"Okay Marsy. I know that Cal-i-forn-i-a provides over half of the worlds canned tomato products. I am not sure I can eat that much."

"Well, I think we can fit it in our stomachs if we only eat the tomatoes and not the cans."

"Ha-ha. Good one Barsy!"

Powering up their boots, they traveled east and filled up on red, juicy, healthy tomatoes.

Marsy patted his round belly. "I am starting to fill up, but there is still room for some more red items."

Barsy licked the tomato seed off her spoon "finger" and replied, " Well Marsy, how about some San Diego strawberries. Fire up those boots, that's a long fly south!"

When they arrived in San Diego, a warm breeze blew across the sandy soil of the strawberry field. The buddies began to eat and eat and eat! They managed to eat 126 pounds of strawberries. Most Californians take a year to eat that much fruit. The aliens were beginning to get full, their bellies wobbled and they turned their boots towards the Sacramento Valley.

"We came to Sacramento because there are some fresh, crunchy almonds here," said Marsy.

"Yes, almonds are the largest food export in Sacramento. I can't wait to eat them!" said Barsy.

After they were all done eating the almonds, they realized that they were hungry for more protein. "I think we should have some beef and chicken to round out our feast, Marsy. Let's head to the San Joaquin Valley for some delicious meat."

The two friends were so happy to sample the meat that they ended up eating 184 pounds of chicken and beef. That is how much an average person eats in a year.

As the aliens dragged themselves away from the beef, they turned towards each other and smiled. "Barsy, eating our way across Cal-i-forn-i-a was the BEST idea we ever had!"

"Yes, Marsy, this state is like a fantastic all-you-can-eat buffet… and I think we have eaten all we can eat!"

"Me too!"

As the sun began to peek over the land, Marsy and Barsy headed for their space ship. Bellies dragging on the ground, they climbed aboard their ship.

Then Marsy fastened the door, and the spacecraft slowly lifted off the ground taking the contented aliens back to Tummyummy. Looking out the window, they checked to make sure they had left two giant circles in the hay field to say thank you to all the Californians for the nutritious and delicious food.