Although we had two days of pretty good camping and were struck by the majestic beauty of the scenery, we left Yosemite feeling a little bit disappointed because we couldn’t get in any long hikes. “Dogs only allowed on paved roads.” And we were not able to connect with a good dog sitter. Another thing is that we are not mountain climbers and much of the culture here is young and height defying. We left by going through the South Gate. There were very winding roads and then we found ourselves in highway land. The RV park we planned to stay at was smack in the middle of McDonalds and Denny’s. We moved on and did find a luxurious RV place in what once was an orchard. Got a good night’s sleep and a hot shower and headed for Bakersfield.

Why Bakersfield? Daughter Kim had forwarded us a NY Times article about some restaurants frequented by local Basque sheepherders in Bakersfield. First we had to find an RV place in the middle of an urban sitting. Not so hard to do. A former outdoor movie theater had been converted to an RV RESORT, complete with pool, spa, classy restaurant, tiny dog run, and clubhouse. It was Sunday night and we GPS’d ourselves to the Basque neighborhood restaurant (and rooming house) called The Noriega Hotel where we shared a wonderful family style meal with a 12 –year old boy celebrating his birthday with his family, the widow of a sheepherder, a retired sheepherder and a local family . The menu consisted of cabbage soup, pickled tongue, (Joanne’s favorite), cottage cheese, beets, beans, and salad as appetizers. That night the main courses were beef stew and baked chicken with cauliflower in cream sauce and fried potatoes. Dessert was birthday cake and flan. It was fun and delicious.