Road Trip: Cesar Chavez National Monument
We went on a two-day road trip road trip visit the Cesar Chavez National Monumen in Keene, California and stayed overnight in Bakersfield.
From our home in south Orange County our route followed I-5 through the City of Los Angeles and eastern San Fernando Valley, connecting to CA-14 that passed by the Vasquez Rocks on the way to Palmdale. Although we had plenty of charge easily make it to Bakersfield, we needed a stop for lunch and the supercharger in Palmdale had a Del Taco nearby, so we put on about 50 miles of charge while we ate. From Palmdale we continued north on CA-14 through Lancaster, then to Mojave where we caught CA-58, crossing west over Tehachapi Pass (elevation 3,770 feet) toward Tehachapi and Bakersfield. If you have an interest in seeing wind farms, the approach to Tehachapi Pass has an immense collection of wind turbines generating clean energy.
We arrived in Keene in midafternoon. Keene is a very small town and fortunately I had checked out Keene on Google Earth to locate the National Monument prior to our trip so I was able to avoid a longer circuitous route around the town that the GPS indicated.
The Cesar Chavez National Monument is a tribute to the life and legacy of labor leader Cesar Chavez. He was a prominent civil rights activist and labor leader who along with Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) later known as the United Farm Workers (UFW). Cesar Chavez played a pivotal role in leading the grape boycotts of the 1960s that were a significant moment in the history of civil rights and labor rights movements in the United States. Led by the farmworkers’ union, the boycott aimed to address the poor working conditions and low wages of grape farmworkers, many of whom were predominantly Mexican and Filipino immigrants. Chavez’s leadership during the grape boycotts was characterized by his commitment to nonviolent protest, his strategic organizing skills, and his dedication to improving the working and living conditions of farmworkers.
The grape boycott started in the central valley of California, and soon became a national movement, particularly after Robert Kennedy became involved. Kennedy brought national attention to the grape boycotts and shed light on the injustices faced by farmworkers. His efforts helped galvanize support from various sectors of society, including students, religious leaders, and civil rights activists.
It is interesting to contemplate the significant interactions of the leaders of the boycotts with others who supported them. In March 1968 Robert Kennedy and Dolores Herta were both present when Cesar Chavez ended a 25-day hunger strike to recommit the UFW to non-violence. Kennedy handed bread to Chavez and said he had come “out of respect for one of the heroic figures of our time.” Three months later Dolores Huerta was standing next to Robert Kennedy on the stage of the Ambassador Hotel when he was assassinated in June 1968. In 1972 Delores Huerta was working to improve farmworkers rights in Arizona. When she was told that farmworker rights would never be approved in Arizona she responded with the call, “Si Se Puede!”, later used by Barak Obama’s presidential campaign as “Yes We Can!”.
The monument has an information center where visitors can learn about the life and work of Cesar Chavez through exhibits, displays, photographs, and videos. The site includes the final resting place of Cesar Chavez and his wife who are buried in a beautiful memorial garden that includes native plants and trees.
Bakersfield
After our visit to the National Monument in Keene, we went on to Bakersfield for the night. We had reservations at Buck Owens’ Cristal Palace for dinner. Our reservation for the Crystal Palace was just by chance because we had looked up things to do in Bakersfield and it appeared that the Crystal Palace was a local favorite.
Buck Owens was a highly influential country music artist known for his signature sound and his role in popularizing the “Bakersfield Sound.” Born in Sherman, Texas, Owens moved to Bakersfield in the 1950s, where he would leave an indelible mark on the country music scene. Owens, along with fellow musician Merle Haggard, helped define the Bakersfield Sound, which emerged as a reaction to the more polished and orchestral Nashville Sound of the time. The Bakersfield Sound was characterized by its raw, twangy electric guitar-driven instrumentation and lyrics that often reflected the working-class experience. Fortunate for us Buck’s son, Johnny Owens, has carried on with the “Bakersfield Sound” and we were treated with a wonderful evening of country music, song, and dance. It was also very friendly, because at every break Johnny Owens went out into the audience and visited with people at every table.
In the morning, before heading for home, I planned a short detour to Tule Elk State Natural reserve. The reserve is 15 miles west of Bakersfield off Stockdale Highway and Morris Road approximately 3 miles southwest of I-5. The reserve protects a small herd of tule elk, once in danger of extinction. Elk from the reserve have been successfully transplanted to other areas in California. Only the day use area at the entrance to the Reserve is open to visitors. Nobody else was present in the area when we were visiting, and we didn’t see any elk so it was a bit of a disappointment.
After leaving the preserve we took a different route that it took us through the small town of Tupman and connected us to I-5 via CA 119. This route crossed the California Aqueduct at several locations, and it was interesting to see the huge volume of water heading south towards Los Angeles. The aqueduct stretches over 400 miles through the heart of California, from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the north to Southern California. It was primarily designed to transport water from the water-rich northern regions of the state to the water-deficient areas in the south, including the agricultural regions of the Central Valley and the populous urban centers of Southern California. More recently, reliance on water diversion from other regions has raised concerns about the environmental impact and long-term sustainability of such water transfer projects.
San Fernando
On the way home we decided to stop for a supercharger (and lunch) in San Fernando, which is about 90 miles south of Bakersfield. Approaching the supercharger location on Celis Street in San Fernando my wife noticed an “El Super” store nearby. This chain of stores always has a very nice Mexican food deli. From tamales and enchiladas to tacos and carnitas, the deli counter offers a tempting array of flavorful options. I had Caldo de Rez and my wife had ceviche with shrimp and mangoes.
Walking back to the supercharger we passed by two blocks of stores on San Fernando Road that were almost all dedicated to the quinceañera celebrations common in the Mexican community. A celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, we have attended several and they are best described as “a wedding without the guy”. On our way out of town we noticed a sign directing us to San Fernando Mission, so we decided to stop for a short visit. Since it was Saturday, the nearby gardens were filled with young people and their parents celebrating quinceañera, complete with limousines, photographers, drones, and occasional mariachi band.
Over the years we have probably passed by San Fernando on I-5 over 100 times! We have never stopped or had a reason to stop until we needed to stop for a supercharger. This occasion has made me realize how the journey is so much more than just getting to the destination.
EV Trivia for our Road Trip: Round Trip= 417 miles, Energy Use= 115 kWh, Efficiency= 3.6 mi/kWh.
Please Contact Us and let us know if there is a destination that you think we should visit and we’ll try to make plans.
