Unexpected Magic in Bakersfield, CA
We were driving back from Yosemite to Los Angeles after three days of dusty cabin camping. You know the experience: a car full of dirty laundry, hastily packed supplies, garbage, empty soda cans, exhausted parents and restless children. The trip was only 5 hours long, and we were test-roadtripping a luxuriously enormous Ford Flex, so this return journey wasn’t as awful as some of them have been in the past. Still, the 4-year-old’s frequent need to use a restroom, and the 2-year-old’s incessant cry for “Mo’ feesh!” (translation, “More goldfish!”) made for a typically nerve wracking ride.
At one point the children’s cries reached a fever pitch and we knew we had to stop and let them run around, like puppies released from a pen. Trouble was, we were driving through…Bakersfield, CA, which we had always considered a place to get through on your way to somewhere else. I’m sure it’s a lovely town, but from I-99, Bakersfield is one giant dusty truckstop. We looked for any flash of color to be found along the roadside, and pulled over where we saw a gas station and farm stand. We thought, okay a farm stand might be a good place for the kids to run around.
The Flex
Roadside stand
Little did we know we had stumbled upon a lovely little experience. Orozco’s Watermelons were out in full supply, and our children ran gleefully up and down the rows of watermelon bins. Sold by the size, I nabbed a head-shaped melon for $2, and picked up two pints of strawberries as well.
Melons, melons, melons!
I saw Orozco himself reach over to pick up our 2-year-old from one of the rows, and I thought he was going to scold us for letting the kids run around. Instead, he plopped the kid on top of the watermelons, gave him a huge slice, and beckoned for me to point and shoot:
Now what do I do?
Melons as big as your head
Sharing is caring
Sticky but happy
He ate the WHOLE THING
We spent at least 20 minutes frolicking at the watermelon stand. Back in the car, the kids were sticky but satisfied, and happily submitted to a hypnotizing DVD for the rest of the ride. Thank you, Bakersfield.
Orozco’s Watermelons: 1901 Frontage West Road, Mettler, CA 93313 (seasonal, ending June 30)
