Bakersfield.com

My dad worked in the oil fields north of Bakersfield at the Italo lease.  At certain times of the year he was given time off to rest up, usually a week or so.   He liked to go up to Hobo Hot Springs to enjoy the sulfur water hot tubs and be near the river.  My brother and I usually went with him.  I remember the campsite as very quiet and peaceful.  There were some hot tubs inside rooms and there were other hot tubs outside and situated almost in the river.  Dad would spread a tarp in the low hanging branches of the oak trees and that would be shelter for sleeping outside at night and shade during the heat of the day.  He cooked our meals on a grill over a circle of stones containing burning coals.  It was wonderful. 

Getting up to the springs was always a problem for us kids.  We were very prone to car sickness and the road up to the hot springs from Bakersfield was guaranteed to get anyone in the back seat sicker than sick.  We would have to make at least three stops along the way to get out of the car and deposit our little mess on the side of the road.

One weekend, my aunt was taking us up to the springs.  We stopped at a little roadside cafe and store, probably near Isabel or Bodfish.  She thought maybe a bottle of 7-UP would help with the car sickness problem.  As we continued along our way to the springs, I noticed that the 7-UP didn't taste right.  I had had several sips of the drink before I looked closely at the bottle.  Inside, something was floating in the drink.  We stopped, emptied the bottle outside the car and with the liquid contents, out came a large glob of blue-green paint.  I don't remember ever being so sick as I was for the rest of the day.  No, we didn't sue, the bottle was already open and the contents were gone.

Often, while at the springs, we would visit Kernville and watch the folks from Hollywood make movies.  I remember seeing a very young John Wayne making movies there.  We saw William Boyd, (Hopalong Cassidy), Leo Carillo, Russell Hayden and Gabby Hayes making oater movies out among the big boulders near Kernville.  They would always be in Bakersfield during 'Frontier Days' to do the parade and perform in the Rodeo out at the fairgrounds just north of the Circle later in the day.  I'll always remember the white stallion and the Mexican silver clad saddle Leo Carillo had.  There was so much silver all over that horse and him that it was almost blinding watching them ride by on their way down Chester Ave from the Circle down to the Clock Tower.  We lived only a couple of blocks from where the parade started and were always in perfect position to watch the parade.

I hear most of that area up around Kernville is all changed from what it was when we were kids and that Hobo Hot Springs is now known by another name.  I suppose that's for the better but I sure wish I could see it all again as it was back then.  We had such good times then and now, I have such good memories of those days.