Paso Robles to Bakersfield – 17 April 2022

Coming into Kern County, Bakersfield we were surprised to see hundreds of Oil pumps scattered across fields on either side of the road.  Most were slowly pumping up and down, others appeared idle. I read up about these oil pumps and found that Kern county was the third largest oil field in California.  In 2019 they were producing 71% of California’s oil production and 3% of the total US oil production. 

When we arrived at Bakersfield we were ushered into our very spacious spot by a staff member in a golf cart.  The RV park was quite large and about 1/3rd full. It looked quite upmarket compared to many of the sites we had stayed in previously.  Everything was in pristine shape and they even had a restaurant on site, small convenience store and massage room.  It was blistering hot and before I knew it, Derek had made a bee line for the pool and hot tub.

I joined him a little later and enjoyed a long dip in the pool.  The water was tepid and it was so wonderful just to float in it. This was the first time I was swimming in over a year. Jax was pretty happy too as he had a nice long dog run to run about in.

The following day we went into town to get some food and other provisions. As we drove, I noticed a number of small painted trucks situated here and there alongside the road.  It turns out that these little trucks were part of a community art project to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Bakersfield’s art museum.  They were really cute. After shopping we went to a park we found advertised to be dog friendly.  It turned out to be a very large open, overgrown area in the middle of a residential area but nevertheless quite sufficient for us all to stretch our legs.

On our last day at Bakersfield resort, we went for a walk at a place called Panorama Park.  This was a marked paved area along a steep cliffside called the Bluffs, with a view of thousands of oil rigs in the distance. As we walked the sandy trail, little ground squirrels darted backwards and forwards across the path.  Jax was quite beside himself.

Evenings were nice and quiet and before long it was time to move on again.