To Bakersfield And Beyond

We seemed to be dealing with catastrophes every couple of days during the last week and a half.  Yesterday's problem popped up in the evening when Jeanette went to set up the TV and the coaxial connection broke off  inside the TV!  It looks unrepairable.  Our route plan was to turn east and eventually get to the Colorado River, via passing through Bakersfield.  We did some calling and found a 12 volt TV to our liking at Camping World in Bakersfield.  That fit right in to our schedule of traveling through Bakersfield and stopping for the night in Tehachapi. We had originally toyed with the idea of traveling to San Luis Obispo, but with the fires raging in Los Angeles, that seemed like a bad idea, and a check of the weather showed poor air quality. As we drove south on Highway 101 this morning from King City the smoke in the air was quite noticeable at Paso Robles.  The air continued to be poor all the way to Bakersfield and it wasn't until we climbed up to Tehachapi that we found clear air.  When we reached Tehachapi we went directly to Meadowbrook Park, a good birding spot we found last Spring. Although we did not see many birds this afternoon, we did get in a good walk.  You can see our list and photos here. We are now parked for the night at the Tehachapi K-Mart.  We have had good experiences at a K-Mart before, so are looking forward to a good stop here.