Bakersfield & Visalia, CA

We arrived into Bakersfield on April 19 and only spent 2 nights.  We left Menifee and went up 215 to 395 and across on 58 - great drive. Bakersfield happens to be the 51st largest city in the US - we had no idea.  We were given one of the rally pull through sites and happened to have the entire 180' to ourselves.  

We didn't see much due to the timeframe, but did enjoy a short drive through the town to see the Buck Owens Crystal Palace.  Not much going on, so we just took a couple of pictures.  It was constructed by Buck Owens, and was opened in 1996. Primarily it is a performance venue for country western music, although other music genres have been heard there. It is also the home of the Buck Owens Museum, which contains items related to his career and includes a nightclub, bar, and restaurant.

Outside of the Crystal Palace, there was the Bakersfield archway.

Down the road we saw the Beale Memorial Clock Tower which was a gift to the City of Bakersfield in April 1904, from Xruxtun Beale in memory of his mother, Mary Edwards Beale. The clock tower was demolished in the earthquake of 1952 and was rebuilt and dedicated to the Kern County Museum in December 1964, using the parts that were saved from the earthquake.

Bakersfield is known for their Basque Restaurants, so we made reservations at Wool Growers known as one of the top Basque Restaurants.   We had quite an assortment of food to include pickled tongue and  Brochette of Beef.  

Brochette of Beef

Pickled Tongue

We then drove up 99 to Visalia and stayed at our first KOA park in a very long time.  They could fit us in one sight and we only had 30 amp service, but good satellite view around all the trees.   Again, as we drove around Visalia, we discovered it was a lot larger than we had expected.  We enjoyed the Farmers Market and all the various fruit stands.  I bought the best strawberries I have ever had.  Another discovery, Tulare County, is the top agriculture producing county in the world, providing for more than 83 countries.   We were in Visalia for four nights, primarily to see Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

We went to Sequoia on Friday, and even though it was supposed to rain, it was very nice for the first part of the day.  In the afternoon, the clouds came in and so when we went up on Moro Rock, we could see nothing.  Also, as we headed north into Kings Canyon Park, we had rain, hail and low visibility due to low clouds and fog, but we still saw a lot within the park.  

General Sherman Tree - world's largest
living tree and has survived at least
22 forest fires 

Top of Moro Rock

I only went 1/2 way up when I found
out that it was cold, windy and no view.  

Fire Damage of Tree

This tree was over 2200 years old

Tunnel Log

On Saturday, we went to Trevor, CA to see the Bravo Farms Tree House.  This is a Vintage Cheese Factory as well and was quite interesting.  The Tree House once held the world Guinness record for the world's tallest tree house.  It was quite interesting and nothing like what we had expected - we must watch too many of the Treehouse Masters TV shows.  This one was very small inside and felt more like a doll house with very low ceilings and tight quarters.  But we climbed to the top and I couldn't wait to get out, as the treehouse felt like it was leaning.  

On Sunday, we then drove up to Kings Canyon Natl Park and drove along the upper edge and down into the Canyon after stopping at General Grant Grove.  

General Grant Tree - Third largest
Tree

 

The Rough Fire that started on July 31, 2015, burned over 151,623 acres, one of the largest fires in California's history.  This is the on the northern slope of the Kings River Canyon, and as we drove across the Canyon, we could see the fire damage for miles.  

Roaring River Falls

Kings River

Grizzly Falls

The wildflowers and trees were in bloom across the canyon and in the meadows. 

On Monday we then travelled onto Lodi, CA to spend a week around the CA Delta region.  

Menifee, CA

We arrived early into Menifee, CA into our Membership Park - Wilderness Lakes, TTN.  Due to Spring Break the park was very full but since we arrived early in the day, we were able to get a large site that again had 50 amp service and full hookups, with the water canal running right in front of our site.  While here we saw them dump about 1000 pounds of catfish into the canals and many Ducks/Geese were sitting on nests and just prior to us leaving, we were able to enjoy some of the little ones.

1000 pounds of fish being dumped into canal

These fragrant trees were throughout the park.
Still trying to figure out what they are?

We were only going to stay three weeks, but we enjoyed the area so much that we extended our stay to four weeks total.

We met our neighbors behind us within the first couple of days in the park and they invited us to a North Carolina fish boil - crab, shrimp, lobster, scallops, potatoes and corn, along with salad and breads.  What a feast.  There was about 24 of us attending and the picture below shows the leftovers.

Craig continues to improve the organization of his trailer, which includes me custom sewing various straps and covers.  On one of his various trips to Lowes, they had a couple of race cars on display.

We took two motorcycle rides, one to the small town of Idyllwild  and then another ride to Julian - a place known for their apple pies.  Both were small towns with lots of history and cute shops.  Next trip through here we would like to ride to Borrego Springs.

Idyllwild

We enjoyed old Town Temecula which has a lot of history.  We enjoyed the various shops and of course had to stop at one winery down town, Villa di Calabro - it was great to get the winemakers recommendations of wineries to try in the Temecula Wine Valley.

The area of Temecula is definitely known for their wineries, which are pretty extensive, with many having hotels, spas, restaurants, etc.  We took three different days and did wine tasting at 9 different wineries.  So many more to try next time as well as definitely some favorites to go back too.

First day:  Hart, Vindemia, and Avensole:

Hart

Vindemia - Outside Tasting Room

View from Vindemia Tasting Area

Avensole Tasting Room

Second Day:  South Coast, Ponte & Wien:

South Coast Winery

Entrance to tasting room

Ponte Winery

Wiens Winery

Third Day:  Doffo, Wilson Creek, & Falkner:

Motorcycle display at Doffo Winery

Wilson Creek

Faulkner Winery

We will definitely go back to Ponte, Wiens and Wilson Creek.  Those that we will try next trip are Larimar, Palumbo, and Oak Mountain.

The highlight of the trip was our Hot Air Balloon Ride from the Temecula Wine Valley.  We went with Grape Adventures - of course it was an early rise which we don't do very often anymore being retired.  We left the motorhome at 5:00 am to arrive and register by 6:00.  What an experience - neither of us like heights, but we totally enjoyed the 1:15 minute ride.    We were able to enjoy the inflate, ride and the deflate.  After the balloon was packed up, we went back to Europa Village and had a champagne toast to a successful flight and a continental breakfast.

We drove to Pomona one afternoon to the NHRA museum.  This was a dream of NHRA founder Wally Parks.  The museum opened April 1998.  The exhibit is housed in a 28,500 square foot building.  The mission is to celebrate the impact of motorsports on our culture.  They had hot rods, custom cars, funny cars, rails, motorcycles, etc.

Statue is Wally Parks

Tommy IVO - TV Tom's car
They were celebrating his 80th birthday and bringing
in special cars for the celebration.  

Craig sitting in John Force's Funny Car
Car is the green car on the right.

On Tuesday, April 22 we will start heading north, stopping in Bakersfield for a couple of nights and then onto Visalia, CA to visit the national parks.