Bakersfield, California: Yes, I have long promised a cruise review and an update on all the food prepared since returning from our month-long 70th Birthday Cruise... but things happen. Your grandson plays at the Whiskey a Go Go happens. It is 105° happens. And then, we are heading to Oregon for the NCAA Collegiate Track & Field Championships. So that is happening as well. Busy.
We were lucky enough to have our RV parked in front of our house yesterday in time for our car-wash guy to clean the outside and our usual housekeepers (yes, the same ladies we have used since we camped at the Motorcoach Country Club 18 years ago) to do an interior job before the temperatures climbed above 100 degrees.
We have been busy planning, organizing, mapping, and making reservations for our trip north. In our spare time, we have been dealing with nature. Birds! Like last spring, a pair of doves made a nest in our courtyard, behind a very large ficus next to the exterior gate. But something happened to that nest - scavengers? - and the eggs did not hatch and were discovered opened and abandoned below the nest. (Insert sad face here.). This year, the birds are much more attentive and we are hoping for fledglings.
The doves are the easy part of this narrative. On the verandah behind our house, we have been fighting swallows. If you have ever dealt with these Spawns of Satan, you will commiserate. Dave is now expert at wielding a broom, swatting away the swallows like flies! If we wake to find a muddy nest beginning on a wall in our patio, Dave is out there with a hose, dismantling an entire 10-hour work shift of a horny swallow. Why did Mother Nature create swallows? I think they eat mosquitos, but we have no mosquitos (we just don't, not because swallows eat them all, but because we live in the desert).
Our neighbors hang strips of silver mylar outside their patios when they leave for the summer to ward-off swallows, but this is the first time the birds have troubled us. We have nowhere to hang mylar strips, so ordered plastic owls (it worked for wrens when we lived in Portland). Our gardeners have been informed about our bird issues. (Luis even told me he would not use the blower in the courtyard so as to not upset the birds!) Our house sitter and our gardeners are prepped to hose-off any swallow nests on our verandah walls before eggs are laid. There is nothing else we can do.
Though we were so beat after packing up for an early departure today, last night two chicken thighs were marinated in lime juice, taco seasoning and cilantro. DT grilled the thighs, and the meat was shredded and served in soft-shell street-taco tortillas with pico de gallo (house made!). They were so good. Maybe it was the fresh pico de gallo, but we really enjoyed our dinner tonight.
Simple homemade food is the best food.
We left after ten o'clock this morning (Wednesday 28th) and did nothing but drive. This time, we took the 10 to the 210 to I-5 and went over the Grapevine to Bakersfield. We pulled over for lunch (I had prepared tuna salad for sandwiches), stopped once for diesel ($6 per gallon!) and finally came to rest at the Bakersfield KOA.
And here she is - in all her glory:
We did go to the KOA on-site restaurant, The Crest, to split a Patty Melt. DT loves a patty melt and maybe this was the first time for me to eat this sandwich? Happy we split it though. So. Much. Food.
Until my next update, I remain, your pointed-north correspondent.
Campground Information: Bakersfield KOA. We don't actually remember the last time we camped here, and not sure when this place became a KOA, as it was once privately owned. We usually take the Tehachapi Pass from the Coachella Valley to Bakersfield and overnight at The Orange Grove. Both parks are fine. The Orange Grove is bare-bones, (parking in dirt in an old orange grove - but with all the free oranges you can pick). Both campgrounds have a pool. Orange Grove is a bit better priced, but the Bakersfield park has an on-site restaurant/bar, which is a good thing for overnighters like us. We paid $56 (with our KOA card discount), which is pretty dang cheap these days.