Day Eleven – September 19, 2018
Our last morning in Vegas – waking with the now expected paw scratching at the door! We spend the morning unpacking the car and packing up the things we unpacked and then repacking the car. The dogs are a little confused by the activity and it is a bit sad as we plan to leave. Tears, Kleenex, and more tears and we are on our way.
Of course, we have no real destination in mind for tonight – so we put Los Gatos, CA in the GPS and see where the road takes us. Secretly I was hoping to go north to Lake Tahoe but the GPS takes us south. South it is. 
Traffic is fairly light getting out of Vegas, but the desert is vast – everywhere there is dust. Again though, the day is beautiful with blue skies, warm, dry air – perfect. The ever present billboard reminds us of the civilization we call Vegas. And then there is …
As we make our way to California – we see a few new developments. And then there is ….
Welcome to California!
There is an Agricultural State mandatory stop for each vehicle crossing into California. They ask one simple question: “Do you have any produce?” We say no – and it’s only a few miles from the stop we look at each other and go – dang – we have cauliflower pieces and also some zucchini bites. Should we have declared them? Oh well.
The terrain is so different here – still desert but different. And dusty.
There is evidence of wind power but they do not see to be working – and then there are cattle, oil rigs, and mountains.
We decide to stop at Peggy Sue’s Famous Restaurant for lunch in Yermo, CA. Cute diner with waitress’ dressing in 50’s uniforms and all things 50’s in the diner itself. The entrance looks like a juke box!
Imagine my surprise at this gentlemen sharing the Ladies Room. Luckily he’s a mannequin!
Dale can’t resist having a malt milkshake! Ah nostalgia! We ask for recommendations and our waitress tells us what she really likes and what it made in-house. She must be an expert so we go along with her!
We are not disappointed – yum! Loaded potato soup, and the Marlon Brando for Dale. The Sid Cesar for Nancy.
There is a huge armed forces base here as well in what seems to be nowhere.
We gas up the car and are off.
So, as we pass this truck Dale says “he must be tired.” Really?
Looks like Bakersfield is a natural point for stopping tonight. But as we approach we are on freeway and there are no service signs at the exits – the tour book is not really helpful as we don’t know where we are. Okay – forging further northward we find the small town of Gasco. It is getting dark and we opt to find a place here.
The staff here is so helpful and happy. We ask for dinner recommendations and he says there is a new pizza place in town – they just opened last night – Pizza Factory. Okay – we are down for a good pizza! As we get there we see the parking lot is quite full – and then there is a line for ordering! One of the staff sees that we are confused and offers us a menu, a seat to look over the menu, and then explains the ordering system.
When they find out we are from New York they look worried – “You are from New York, you know pizza!” Ok – the pressure is on them now.
Quite nice! We order – a side salad and a Greek Pizza. A young man escorts us to our table and holds out the chair for me – I feel quite special!
Two glasses of cabernet sauvignon and our food arrives – and the salad is cold and fresh and the pizza has thin crust and delicious. The thin slices of red onion really add a nice flavor.
As we get back to our hotel someone from the pizza place is coming back to their room as well. He wonders how we liked our meal and is pleased to hear we were very satisfied! A long day – time for sleep.