You wouldn’t think that there would be fun to be had in Bakersfield, right? But, I had two full days of what would have otherwise been work days to spend with the kids, who are just a whole lot of fun (while Tom was off to do EAP work at CSUB). And even though we got bounced from our hotel the first night (they transferred us elsewhere), we got a free room upgrade for Night Two–a sweet 2-room suite that the kids (and Tom and I) just loved.
If we’d been there both nights, we would have gotten to cook in our room (furnished with refrigerator and stove!), but that we couldn’t was just fine because they served a pretty decent breakfast downstairs (enough vegan options to fill us all up).
Cameron just loved running down the hallway screaming, “bunny. Shot!” (as in “but the bunny took off like a shot!” (from her Curious George and the Bunny book). I’m sure the other guests weren’t pleased that we couldn’t get her to stop…but, she was actually pretty cute.
One of The Best things about Bakersfield is that it is not a premiere tourist destination. I took the kids to the California Living Museum (zoo) and it was practically empty!
This was definitely a plus, not only because we didnt have to fight crowds or stand in lines, etc., but because Cameron dashes off “like a shot” wherever there’s space to run! Sweet Dylan chases after her and tries good-naturedly to herd her in like a good sheepdog (!), but she’s pretty tough to stop! Not having to worry about her getting lost amongst other people was a true blessing!
Since we were the only guests there for quite some time, we got some great one-on-one time with the docent. She introduced us to Betty the Pelican who was out of her pen and was wandering around freely in the amphiteatre (she is injured and cannot fly) and, when we encountered her again (the docent, not Betty!) in the Reptile House, she took a Kingsnake out for Dylan to pet (he politely declined) and talked snakes with us for a while (and another docent gave Dylan and Cameron some snake cards).
We saw some owls (which Dylan declared were supposed to be nocturnal) and a bald eagle and we saw the bobcats (ok, yes, we don’t love zoos–poor animals need more space than what is provided for them by even the best zoos, but the kids learn something and do enjoy seeing the animals in person).
The next day, while we waited for Tom to finish up at CSUB, we went to Beach Park. Great play structure! Too bad it was wet (from morning fog)! I had to use my butt to dry off a slide that Cameron absolutely insisted on going down!
Happily, Tom had only a half-day on Friday, so we picked him up and we all got to go the Kern County Museum together. Once again, the fact that Bakersfield doesn’t really register with tourists was a great thing! The place was all our’s! And, there are awesome buildings from the pioneer days — houses, jails, courthouse, hospital, residence, hotel, etc. Dylan loved looking inside the buildings…and, of course, he liked seeing the train and caboose (Cameron loved the open space for running!)!
We ended our visit there with some time in the Children’s Discovery Center, a small kid’s museum. Again, we had the entire place to ourselves!
Cameron liked the library, the kitchen/restaurant, and the fire truck; Dylan loved the ambulance!
As it turns out, my roommate from grad school is practicing medicine in Bakersfield, so we concluded our trip with a visit to her office….
So, wow, Bakersfield exceeded expectations!
