Route 166 - Central California

 After a couple of days in Bakersfield to stock up on groceries and a guaranteed TV cable hookup for the superbowl, we headed southwest on scenic Route 166.  South of Bakersfield, we drove through small towns with all Spanish signs, and appeared to be farm workers for the massive farms in the area.  We drove through miles of what appeared to be onions and we saw them harvesting carrots, by a machine digging up the whole row and spitting out the carrots into a truck.  As we headed due west, we drove through miles of nut tree orchards, then miles of orange groves and vineyards.  Some orange trees had been harvested, while on the other side of the road, the trees were loaded with ripe oranges.  The fields and orchards stretched across the San Juaquin Valley between the Sierra Nevadas and the Coast Ranges as far as we could see.  This is the area that was made famous by John Steinbeck in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath.

As we approached Maricopa, we saw large oil fields, with many pumps slowly going up and down.  Then on up into the dry mountains covered in places with cactus and sagebrush.  Eventually, the landscape started to green up and cows grazing on the hillsides.  Down into the Cuyama Valley and then back up into the Sierra Madres and back down into Santa Maria.  An absolutely beautiful drive with so many different landscapes!

We stopped in the Danish town of Solvang in Santa Ynez Valley surrounded by miles and miles of vineyards to explore the touristy gift shops and admire the architecture, making us feel like we were back in Europe.  We had expected to have an early dinner here to try to some authentic Danish food, but the timing wasn't right.  We wanted to get to our campsite before it got dark.

Small amber museum

Hans Christian Andersen

Thatched Roof!

Planned to spend the night at Lake Cachuma, but since it was going to be below freezing and the sites overlooking the lake had no hookups, we settled for a  site with electric away from the water.

We returned to Solvang on our way to the coast and stopped at the Solvang Restaurant for the local specialty - "Aebleskiver".  Sort of like a beignet, but made with some cornmeal and served with confectioner's sugar and jam.  Delicious!

Solvang Restaurant

Pacific Ocean, here we come!