A Weekend in Kern County, California

Kern County is a huge and very productive area south, north and east of Bakersfield. Grapevines by the acre,

oil wells,

and produce fields.

If you take the curvy CA 178 east from Bakersfield, you arrive at Kernville, the home of our good friends, Sue and Dan. Mike first met this couple when he worked at INDY Speedway. We have been to their home before and they have visited northern and southern Minnesota with us on fishing trips. On this trip north, we had to make it our first stop.

Dan's newest endeavor is transforming his backyard with train tracks.

It easily held the attention of the boys.

We also checked out the Kern River activities and admired the kayakers. The Kern is a beautiful river. Guys got the fishing bug but held out.

We camped about 40 miles downriver at a county park although Dan and Sue wanted us to stay by them. Barry and Mike decided it would be "less hazardous" to park downstream and take the curves of 178 with the car instead of the motor homes. After a fabulous dinner of steak, and salmon and shrimp and all the trimmings (including dessert), we four rolled downhill to our homes.

The next day, our good friends drove down to see us and together we went to see the famous "Tehachapi Loop". This whole town is dedicated to trains since being made famous by the loop.

Dan and Sue pose by a lookout with the famous loop below them.

Our timing was great and we got to see a train make the trip around the mountain.

Here is the story of the Loop.

Later Mike got to inspect the tracks close up ...

and I got to check out the flowers along the side of the tracks.

Later we went to Noriega's in Bakersfield. It is a Basque Dining Hall that has began as a hotel in 1893. All three of us were surprised at the very casual bar when we entered, but we managed to make due...

At 7 pm, we were called into the dining room for a most unusual dining experience. The menu included cabbage soup, bread, salad, pickled tongue, blue cheese, pasta and sauce, broccoli, french fries, oxtail stew and fried chicken all served as separate courses. There were bottles of house wine on the table and it was drinkable. Oh yea, and it was all followed by ice cream. Overall, a fun event with friends.

We all had a wonderful weekend in Kern County and now we are camped just south of Fresno. We will be checking out Kings' Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in the next couple of days.