Day 43 - Menlo Park, CA to Barstow, CA

 Day 43 - Today's plan is to drive 396 miles in 7 hours. We stopped at Manresa Bread for coffee and treats before hitting the road. Our drive started on South Valley Freeway (Rte 101) for about an hour to Gilroy, then we took Leavesley Road to Pacheco Pass Highway where we soon found Mamy's Fruit Stand. We bought huge chocolate dipped strawberries and some other fruit. 

We drove through some beautiful country finally reaching the West Side Freeway (I-5) to Bakersfield. This highway was busy and went through mostly large open farmlands. Really not much to see along this route. At this point I still hadn't learned the different features of Google Maps, which includes avoiding highways and toll roads.


After a couple more hours we turned on the Stockdale Highway towards Bakersfield, then got on the Barstow-Bakersfield Highway. We stopped at the Big Red Barn, but didn't stay long. We filled up with 


gas and continued on to the Keene Cafe (conveniently located in the middle of nowhere), which was closed. 


So we headed on to the Village Grill in Tehachapi, CA an historic train town.

Another 1.5 hours and we were in Barstow, CA where we stayed at a Best Western Desert Villa Inn. I had read the reviews and knew this was near the railroad and highway, but laughed when we saw the ear plugs on the nightstand.




Today's Route:













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