Welcome to our 50th Anniversary road trip....

 We left Auburn on I-80 toward Sacramento till we changed to Rt. 99 S.  Rt. 99 is a superb road, straight as a string and the traffic really moves!  I had forgotten how traffic flows in California, you have to keep up with the herd or you will be run over.  I had also forgotten how cool all the eucalyptus trees & oleander bushes are along the way, they really make the ride more pleasant.  We made great time, I think it took us 25 min to travel the 307 miles to Bakersfield.  Not really, but we did reach our destination motel a lot earlier than we expected.  In fact our room wasn’t ready!  We had some time to kill so we found a car wash and cleaned some of the snow scum off the little car.  Then we decided to explore a little and check out Minter Field, where we would visit the next day.  We also wanted to visit FAMOSO drag strip.  Of all the drag racing I did when we lived in Riverside, I had never been to ‘Bakersfield’.  We raced at OCIR, Irwindale and occasionally Riverside. And Linda & I were spectators at Fontana, Riverside, Pomona, OCIR, Irwindale and Lions.  Bakersfield is the granddaddy of all drag strips and I wanted to find it since we were this close.  After getting a little lost we finally drove past the “Gate 1” sign.  I spun a U-ie, drove up to the gate and parked.  It really is out in the sticks!  They were doing some testing or something so I just found an empty barrel of 90% Nitro and had Linda take my picture beside it!  That was enough for now.  It was after 3PM and our room would be ready so we found our way back to the Comfort Suites and checked in.  THIS is what a motel should be like.  Everything was perfect and the staff was so very helpful, they made you feel like they really wanted you to stay with them!

My brother Joe and his wife Beverly live in Napa, CA and they drove to Bakersfield to meet us since we both had an appointment the next day at Minter Field.  We all met at a really cool eatery in Bakersfield, The Hungry Hunter.  The food was above average and the wait staff was very attentive.  We had so much to catch up on we talked till the restaurant closed!  Joe & Beverly picked up our tab for the exceptional meal and perfectly chosen wine as an anniversary gift.  We could get used to this!

Tomorrow would be very special….