Bakersfield, CA

Did you know that Kirby was born in Taft, CA which is just a few miles from Bakersfield where Buck Owens lived and built his Crystal Palace?  Not only that but Kirby and I lived and worked here for 2 summers while our sailboat was in Mexico (we returned to the boat in the winter).  And – we were married here in 1999!  We have a little bit of history in Bakersfield

We are currently in Bakersfield for a week of visiting family – and revisiting a few old haunts!  We have spent time just driving around town and reminiscing about the good old days.  It’s been fun!

Today we ended up at Smith’s Bakery.  BAD!!  But oh, so good.  Smith’s was founded in 1945 and is an institution in Bakersfield.  We stopped in and visited with the friendly staff and picked up a few favorites.  We couldn’t help it – we had too – it is all just SO good!

Kirby told me about a visit with his 3^rd grade class when they went to see the Bakersfield Roundhouse.  So, I found some information about it and we set off to go check it out.  Didn’t work – we couldn’t find it and later realized it is gone and there are fences anyway and we couldn’t have gotten anywhere near where it used to be.

We drove by the famous Shoe but it was on the wrong side of the street for a photo and traffic was nasty.  This 30 foot long shoe was built in 1947 and is used for – you got it – a shoe repair shop!  Check it our HERE.

The big industries here in Bakersfield through the years have been Oil and Rail Traffic.  Both are still important but not as much as they used to be.

 

Mileage Report

I just got new software - Streets and Trips.  I have no idea if I will actually use it for trip planning but I love maps so I know it won't go completely to waste.  I can use it when I can't get online.

I decided to map out where we have gone so far and was surprised to see over 3,100 miles since March 13, 2013 - wow, that is 3-13-13.  Maybe I can remember it that way.  We have a long way to go between now and next November when we will sit pretty still for the winter.  Who knows where the rest of this trip will take us.  Wherever we go, I know we will have fun!!

The Best and the Worst

Much has happened in the past week.  Some of it very good and some of it very bad.  So, I will back up to last week.

We left that awesome park in the middle of LA and took 4 different freeways to arrive at our next destination.  The freeways in LA are terrible!  We shook and rattled like crazy as we lumbered down the freeways heading north.

We only had 85 miles to go so it was an easy day.  We arrived at Pyramid Lake RV Resort about 11:00 am and were greeted by a pleasant Chinese lady.  She offered us just about any space in the park.  We should have wondered why there were so many spaces empty but we decided on one near an open area so that Jake could run.  All of this deciding was done without actually seeing the place – you can’t see much from the entry.  So off we went to space #121 and from there on it only went downhill.  After 2 and a half hours of moving, checking, arguing and discussing we had a burned out microwave, converter and later we learned, our TV.

The power at Pyramid Lake RV was a disaster!  There was no ground on the place we were assigned and it blew everything.  We went around measuring the power and finally settled on a location.  Since it was a 3-day holiday weekend, we didn’t feel we had much option of leaving and finding another place and – we were expecting our friends to join us in a couple of hours.

View from the Back

I could go on with this bitching and moaning about what a terrible place this was but I don’t want to dwell on it.  Just know that it was the worst ever, the most expensive and the rudest, most awful management ever!  Here is a picture of one of the picnic tables.  I won’t post the picture of the roaches – you can use your imagination.

This is just one of the tables - some were worse, some were better.

The best part was that Heather and Jim joined us in their 16 foot Scamp.  We have known them for years and years and have traveled together and partied together all over the place.  They also brought their black lab, Lexi, so Jake had a friend too!  The two of them hit it off right away and became best buds.  

Lexi on the left and Jake on the right - love at first sight!

Heather always decorates!

She decorated their camper too!

That was Friday.  On Saturday we had other friends come for the day and surprise us.  We hadn’t seen Alan and Susan in years when they just sort of showed up!  One look at them and I just started screaming with excitement!  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  What a fun day we had all catching up with each other again.  They stayed for a barbeque and we all ate outside together at the broken down table with a rug covering the weeds!  Who cares when you are surrounded by friends!

That's yours truly on the left and Heather on the right - having fun!

FRIENDS REUNITED!

Heather provided glow in the dark necklaces for us!

We remained at that horrible place with our wonderful friends until Monday.  We gave the owners of the park plenty of opportunity to pay for our loses or at least refund our rent.  They continued to be very, very rude.

We played cards and Mexican Train.  We ate lots of great food!  We laughed until our sides hurt, we reminisced about times past and talked about all our mutual friends!  It was an awesome time spent with friends who are as close as family.  Thanks Heather and Jim and Susan and Alan for making our weekend so fantastic!  You are the best!

We had a blast with the games!