started my mini-road trip for work on Sunday morning - ended in Murrieta Hot Springs

Monday night - beautiful downtown Palmdale

Tuesday night - not quite as beautiful Bakersfield

Wednesday night - most likely Hanford...if I am still alive

I then get to drive back to Tucson...

by the way there is about a 6 mile stretch of CA138 that would be an absolute blast to drive in the Ferrari - its relatively straight but it full of really nice undulating dips...

Hanford is a step up from Bakersfield. Drive carefully. CHIP is out there.

RMD

thanks for the heads up...

99 isn't that bad of a road - visibility sucked today and was a wee bit warm at 102 but the drive through Tehachapi was nice - glad I wasn't going eastbound - traffic stopped both lanes going uphill towards the construction zone - they did not look happy

What?? No Fresno??

Bakersfield is my home town. What a hell hole. You should have kept your eyes closed while driving through.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
thanks for the heads up...

99 isn't that bad of a road - visibility sucked today and was a wee bit warm at 102 but the drive through Tehachapi was nice - glad I wasn't going eastbound - traffic stopped both lanes going uphill towards the construction zone - they did not look happy

My wife is from Tehachapi, nice little town.

I have two other engineers doing Fresno, Modesto, China Lake, Henderson, Las Vegas and Chandler.

I've been in Bakersfield all day and the town has a 'sad' feel to it - can't quite put my fingers on why. Just a sense I get. Sort of weird. I am finishing up here tonight and heading to Hanford for my last project.

I'd only stop for gas and keep going until you're out of there. I grew up in Fresno. Glad I survived and escaped.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:

I've been in Bakersfield all day and the town has a 'sad' feel to it - can't quite put my fingers on why. Just a sense I get. Sort of weird.

$45/barrel oil will depress most oil-dependent towns. I'm in Odessa tonight. Slightly more chipper than Bako.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:

I've been in Bakersfield all day and the town has a 'sad' feel to it - can't quite put my fingers on why. Just a sense I get. Sort of weird.

$45/barrel oil will depress most oil-dependent towns. I'm in Odessa tonight. Slightly more chipper than Bako.

They never really were oil dependent. Their biggest industry for many years was agriculture. However, with all of the growth and the water problems, I do believe that has dropped off quite a bit from its glory days. From articles that I read a few years ago, they switched over and based a lot of the local economy on construction. That was great during the boom but caused a complete loss when everything went bust. They still haven't recovered from that.

On a more personal note, the town has always had a "sad" feel to it. It has always been something of a loser town and the brunt of many jokes. One thing that the locals talk about is how so few people ever leave and it's true. Even folks who leave eventually come back. It's as if the town just sucks folks in like a black hole. I'm one of the lucky few to escape the pull. We left in 1997 and have never looked back. However, after we moved, we had several friends who asked us when we were moving back. Uh, NEVER! Once we moved to Tennessee, there was no turning back. We couldn't have afforded it even if we wanted to. Thank God we now live in a place that is green, has four seasons and is free.