You know, when you travel across the country, sometimes you must choose to spend the night somewhere just because it’s time to stop and sleep. Hence, our time in Bakersfield CA.
If you end up here, try Maggie’s Diner for breakfast. Exceptional food, service, and atmosphere. We chose a table outside and even though the heat was still raging, it was cooler than Phoenix. And remember, it’s still a dry heat. To be fair, it was also 7 a.m.
After breakfast we decided to try a local church for their Sunday service. Big mistake. The speaker said all the wrong things in all the right ways. If you aren’t well-grounded, you could easily be led into a cult-like membership. We didn’t make a scene by walking out, even though we both wanted to do that, but when the service ended, we could not get out of there fast enough.
As we walked to check out of our hotel, we saw a dinosaur trying to breach our hallway window. Don’t believe me? Look at the photo I took, compare it with the poster from the latest movie, and draw your own conclusions. Come on. I needed something to make Bakersfield more interesting. And Y’all know my love for movie lore.
Finally, we leave Bakersfield behind to head toward Yosemite National Park through the Central Valley; the main reason for our journey. Along this drive the color green will slowly reappear in the landscape thanks to irrigation.
When traveling through the Central Valley you MUST stop at local fruit stands. The fruit here is right off the tree and delicious. Much of the worlds and the United States almonds are grown here. All along many of the roads we traveled in California were smoothie stands offering fresh fruit drinks. Unfortunately, we were never hungry or thirsty when we passed one of these. You gotta try one for me when you go and report back.
We drove on to our VRBO, Georgia’s Windy Peach, in Ahwahnee just outside of Oakhurst CA. What a great choice. Our host, Bonnie, was so accommodating and responsive to emails.
A bit of history, Bonnie’s husband built the house for her mother after she was diagnosed with cancer. Her mother lived there for twelve years until she passed in 2016 at the age of eighty-eight. It is easy to see that the house was well loved by all the unique touches and décor, both inside and out. Bonnie’s words, “We miss her so much and decided to share her legacy of peace, tranquility, and the wonder of viewing God’s creation.”
It was an amazing view and we highly recommend staying in this house if you plan to travel to Yosemite. I am including multiple pix of the sunset as viewed from the screened in back porch. One of the best things about being here, we not only have indoor bathrooms, we have two!
We had dinner at Deli Delicious and while they were very accommodating, the food was Deli-Average.
Tomorrow is our first day in Yosemite and we are excited for that. Our first, and last, trip here was in 1992 when we brought our son and daughter and spent our twentieth wedding anniversary. The two of them still talk about our incredible, three-week, family trip. We thought it would be an amazing place to return to for our fiftieth. We had no idea it would be as wonderful as it turned out to be.
Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.