road trip part two

We survived our trip to Texas, saw some friends and family along the way, and saw a fair portion of the West. Moving to LA is out of the question. Bakersfield was even worse. Bakerfield makes Everret look like Rome. Imagine ten miles in every direction: Carl's Jr., Home Depot, Safeway, Cheveron, etc., on a loop, forever. The Bakerfield Chamber of Commerce boasts that Bakersfield metro area is over 224 square miles, and I think I hate every one of them. But a half a million Bakersfielders can't be wrong, can they? I don't know, they have the largest Basque population in the U.S. if that counts for anything. But it was nice to see Ron, even if he is living a squatter's life in his apartment (lacking a bed, Ron slept on a loveseat -which was not as sweet as our "sleep machine" - a large pile of plankets, pillows and assorted yoga mats on the floor - it was not bad!). Still if we move anywhere on the west coast it would be San Diego, founded by the Germans in 1904...