Last weekend, I went up to visit my fiance in his hometown of Bakersfield. This is about a 2 hour drive up the 5 and the 99, I of course booked it in an hour and a half (having a father who was a New York State Trooper does wonders in driver's education as a kid!). Bakersfield is a bit of a honkytonk, sleepy town where a lot of country western music (think Buck Owens and others) has come out of, with industries in agriculture and oil. These days, downtown Bakersfield is full of antique shops. One on every corner and it seems like 2-3 more in between. If you are looking for old mason jars or old cow skulls this is the place to go! We also went to the 'Peddler's Fair' at Pioneer Village (where many of the original, historic homes from the area have been moved to) on Sunday morning. It's a quick get away and I plan to do some more exploring there when I return, along the Kern River and surrounding small towns.
The big event though, was meeting the fiance's mother for the 1st time at dinner on Sunday evening. A devout catholic, proud latina women (YIKES! I was thinking.). She is a cute woman with her long, grey hair twisted in a small braid on top of her head. All was very cordial and when I finally returned home to L.A., later that night, I was told she thought I was nice. So, I guess I somewhat passed, Phew! The last thing I want to do is to come between a devout catholic, proud latina women and her baby son.
Now, we will just have to see what that baby son can do when he serves the Thanksgiving turkey, in November, at the family table!
