Tehachapi in the Mountains

We are in Bakersfield to see family so on Saturday we headed up the hill to Tehachapi for a family gathering.  I have always enjoyed the drive up there. When I first met Kirby his parents were living there, his sister and all of her family.  Now just one niece and a brother in law are there.  We visited often when we lived summers in Bakersfield and whenever we could during the 5 years we lived in San Diego.

It is only about an hour up into the mountains to Tehachapi from Bakersfield.  Highway 58 is used by so many trucks and it is steep and windy through the canyons.  I tried taking pictures of the beautiful golden hills out the window and of the live oak trees that I have always loved so much.

There is almost always a train heading up the hill.  Just a little further up the hill is the Tehachapi Loop.  I couldn't get a picture of it at 65 miles an hour so I am borrowing one from Lazy Daze Caravan Club -

And from Wikipedia - The Tehachapi Loop is a .73-mile (1.17 km) long 'spiral', or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad line through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California. The line connects Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley to Mojave in the Mojave Desert.

All of that haze in the background is the smoke from the Powerhouse Fire that has consumed over 20,000 acres so far and is only 20% contained.

I really love these golden hills!

On the way back down the hill Kirby offered to stop at Keene Cafe.  We have passed it so many times and never stopped.  The reviews I looked up raved about breakfast....maybe next time.

Keene, California's actual claim to fame was the Kern County tuberculosis sanitarium just down the road from this cafe.