Chavez and Dean

Leaving Barstow, we were on the homeward stretch, but we had a couple of more stops along the way.

Our first stop was at the Cesar Chavez National Monument.  It was an oasis of beauty with a roses, grape vines and trees throughout the garden paths.  This was in memory of the man who loved nature and his faith.  He also loved his heritage and good work ethics.  He spent most of his adult life as an advocate for the fair working conditions for migrant workers.  We appreciated spending time learning about him and the historical nature of the park.

I think Zaira and I could have spent the entire day sitting among the roses.  Unfortunately, we still had quite a few miles between us and home.  To add to the fun...the van was well over due for an oil change, so we stopped in Bakersfield.  We had a longer wait than we really wanted but we pulled out the electronics for the first time on our trip while we sat in the waiting room.  Everyone was happy to not be on a trail for the time.

We did have a few extra stops with our geocaching.  One stop was at this park that had a 100 ton dump truck and an old fire truck.

The last stop before home was for a meal and a tribute.  We stopped at the place where James Dean was killed in a car wreck in 1955.  Not much there to let you know it is the place other than a small memorial next to a tree.  We ate at a diner near the location.  The children did not even know who this man was so we spent most of our time around a diner table talking to them about his movies (only 3) and the importance of not racing down a highway.



We spent the rest of our day driving home.  We were glad to sleep in our own beds and dream about all the many places and experiences we had along the way.