Tehachapi: Wind, Nuns and Trains

At Barstow I at last left the Mother Road to take Highway 58.  This was my plan to avoid the LA snarl and run through my beloved Mojave.  Made it with an eighth of a tank of gas to go.  That’s all the way from Kingman.  Not as many miles as I can get on the flat with a light-ish load, but not bad given the brutal climb and the headwinds of last night (I’ll have to update on that awful drive later.  It about killed me).

There’s a congregation of religious sisters in Tehachapi.  They have a guest house and welcome people wanting quiet contemplation time, and I’ve been meaning to contact them for a visit since my life had a giant hiccup more than a year and a half ago.  I haven’t got around to doing it yet.

These sisters are actually canonesses, a subtle distinction appreciated by people versed in the world of monastic religious life, but for all intents they can be thought of as nuns.  I’m a bit of a nun fan.  Don’t want to be one, just think they are cool.  These ladies are Norbertines, and they have the coolest habits.  That’s important to me.  I don’t want to be hanging with no sisters in nerdy habits.  They are a contemplative order, so their primary purpose is to offer prayers for the world and to glorify God.  No matter what your personal beliefs, you have to admit it’s pretty cool that there are people in the world who devote their whole lives to just sending out good vibes.  Which is not how they’d put it, but I think it makes the point.  There’s a cool video about them here.

Offering hospitality is one of their traditions.  Last night I was so desperate for sleep and so unhappy with my exposed position at the TA in Barstow that I thought briefly of calling them up.  “Hey, I’m dyin’ here.  Can I crash at your place?  I won’t need a room, I’ve got my own.”  Leaving aside the fact that I would probably never have done such a thing, it was another nearly hundred miles on to Tehachapi from Bastow, and I absolutely could not have done it.  Honestly, I was starting to see things that weren’t really there toward the end of that drive.  I suspect that if I had put it properly, the Norbertines would have allowed me sanctuary for a night.  I would have made a donation.  But it would have taken more chutzpah than I had (or have).

I won’t be bothering the Norbertines on this trip.  I am too close to Bakersfield, and Bakersfield is practically in my backyard after the sort of distances I’ve been dealing with (Distance, holy distance!).

I’m at the Love’s truck stop.  I don’t usually think much of Love’s, I generally prefer Pilot/Flying J.  But this one is pretty good.  Large, with ample parking, a better-than-average store selection, and two restaurants.  The dreaded Subway (I may never be able to set foot in a Subway again—there’s something about the smell of the place . . .), and a Mickey D’s.  Guess which I opted for?  I really didn’t want McDonald’s, but I need food to fuel the rest of the drive home.  Also, both the Subway and the McD’s have some tables with plugs.  This Love’s has better than usual bathrooms too, and a friendly staff.  After the hot car (I turned off the A/C for the last climb), I was surprised by a fresh, cool wind blowing stiffly.  Tehachapi is also big on wind.  It is at nearly 4000 feet, which helps a great deal with the heat index.

Just across the road are railroad tracks.  Right after I arrived a screamingly loud train ripped by.  Now there is one parked there, headed by two handsome BNSF loco’s (that’s Burlington Northern and Santa Fe for you non-train people).   Tehachapi is famous for its trains.

I am getting close to home, so there will be updates and afterthoughts that will have to be added after I’ve left the road.  I’m supposed to be back at work today, but oops.  Texted my boss to explain.  My bosses are reading this blog, and may I take a moment to say THEY ROCK!  THEY ARE THE BEST BOSSES A PERSON COULD EVER WISH FOR!  Actually, I mean that.  Of course, having been reading this narrative, they know of every pee stop, nap, sightseeing detour, afternoon spent shoe shopping, and day frittered away meeting people and blogging.  I can’t claim that I was moving as fast as I could have been, but then again I am driving by myself.  Actually I’m pretty sure I would have been at least one and probably two days ahead if it weren’t for the breakdowns.   Which they also know about (I have receipts!).  If not for all of those delays, I’m sure I’d be home by now.  I’m so close as it is.

Last long push ahead.  I’ll stop in Bakersfield, and again at Harris Ranch.  Blog to you from there. 

Here's a shot out the window of the nearby hillside, showing the typical kind of transitional desert mountain terrain.