Kernville

Now, most people in LA are never going to say, "I want to go to Bakersfield this weekend!"  Unless you are a trucker, or passing through to get to San Francisco or Sequoia, Bakersfield isn't going to be on your radar. ever.  That being said, its still kind of an interesting place. Because it is a major hub for people who are "just passing through",  it has a mysterious, eerie vibe of non permanence, at least the trucker motel we stayed at on our way to Kernville did.

I brought my cowboy boots because I thought we were going to go to a honky tonk bar the night we got there, but we were so exhausted by the time we got there that we just went straight to bed.  I'm planning on going back to Kernville, so hopefully I will have another chance to get that Honky Tonk in.

So about Kernville.  If you're pretty much from anywhere else on the planet, you have a cool river to hang out at near you, but in Los Angeles, all we have is a huge ocean. Yes, we do have the L.A. River, and the folks here are putting in a great effort to revitalize that natural resource, but its going to take a while before you can swim or fish in it again (if ever).

Kernville is three hours away from L.A. by way of the scenic highway 178.  I love that my boyfriend loves to drive on road trips, because I got to look at the view the whole way, and it was gorgeous!

The city of Kernville is really cute with a small western town feel.  They also have their antique game down. They have some good stuff in those antique stores.

After we stuffed our faces at the Cracked Egg Cafe, we headed out to our camp at Headquarters Campground.

Headquarters Campground is located about 10 minutes from the city of Kernville.  It is great because it is close to the river, and there are several campsites that are right along the river.  The only downside is that each camp does not have a lot of shade cover, and privacy is definitely lacking between campsites. (We were at site # 30). We had a great time, though, and we made friends with the other campers.  Don't expect to have a quiet camping experience if you go though, thats not what this place is about.  This place is about drinking beers on the river and hanging with your buds.  Good times!

We had a great time camping in Kernville. We saw a couple of shooting stars and satellites, had a nice campfire, and ate a ton of food that we cooked over the fire.  After we packed up camp and headed back to town, we decided to try stand up paddle boarding.  The place we went to was very helpful and had a great rate for 4 hours of paddle boarding.  We found out that we couldn't paddle board on the river, so we headed to Lake Isabella which is about 10 minutes from Kernville.

We returned our rental exactly 4 hours later, and we were absolutely starving, so we decided to drop by the Kern River Brewing Co.  It was a good decision on our part, if only for the amazing fried pickles!   They also had a great house made BBQ Sauce.  I got the beer sampler flight, and all of their beers are tasty, especially their Just Outstanding IPA.

After that we headed home, but I'm sure we will be back.  We still need to try out river rafting, and other river sports that we don't have back in LA.  Until then....

Cowboy boots + Thrifted

Tan shorts + Gifted

Floyd Shirt + Walmart :-/ (sorry, I won't do it again)

Bikini Day 1 + JC Penny?

Bikini Day 2 + American Apparel 

Other top + An American Artist original