Thursday, December 28, 2017

back from Bakersfield

The holiday season has been nice as we went on a two-day trip to Bakersfield!

Day 1

The trip began with a 255-mile drive to Bakersfield. Aside from a bathroom break at Casa de Fruta and another stop at a rest area for lunch, the drive was uneventful. There was some traffic, although we didn't arrive too late.

We unpacked our stuff and had some rest before going to the local Albertson's to buy food. The three of us had dinner before heading down to the fitness center. It was nice to burn off calories while watching the football game between UCLA and Kansas State.

Day 2

All of us woke up pretty early and had trouble sleeping again. On the other hand, the nice part about getting up early is that there is plenty of time to explore the area. Following a nice breakfast at the hotel, my family headed to Red Rock Canyon State Park for a hike. This was pretty fun, although we spent much of the time in the car as it was getting hot outside. We had to drive some very bumpy gravel roads to get back to the freeway. This was definitely an adventurous moment. On the whole, I'd say Red Rock Canyon State Park was the best part of the trip.

We turned back towards Bakersfield, stopping in Tehachapi on the way. This was a small town and reminded us of Niles. We spend a short time exploring the downtown. Mom then suggested going to the nearby Burger Spot to try out their ostrich burger. It didn't taste too different than a regular hamburger but was still delicious.

Back in Bakersfield, the three of us visited three thrift shops and went to WinCo Foods and Von's for groceries. Dinner again consisted of frozen meals. There wasn't much else to do in the area, although I watched X-Men: Days of Future Past on TV while my parents talked poetry.

Day 3

The three of us spent the morning exploring the downtown after another nice breakfast at the hotel. One notable stop was the Kern County Museum. It was really nice to check out the 50 original buildings from the county. The downside is that we wasted over half an hour here due to Groupon issues, but the clerk was kind enough to let us in for free our troubles.

This was followed by lunch at IHOP. The plan was to visit Taft as well, but we decided to leave that for another time as my parents were tired. The drive home was mostly uneventful.

Conclusions

The main reason for the trip was actually to visit the LIGO Hanford Observatory - which we thought was in Hanford, California. Mom knew I liked science and figured I'd be interested. Only after we left our house did we realize the observatory was in Washington. *facepalm*

Despite the mistake, Bakersfield was still pretty fun. Although we had passed it a few times on previous trips, this was our first time exploring the area in full. The hike in Red Rock Canyon State Park was definitely my favorite part of the trip. It's too bad we didn't have time to visit Taft or Carrizo Plain National Monument due to time constraints, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to go there in the future.

Currently listening to: "Fox on the Run" by Sweet

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