A Loop To Tehachapi

The snow levels have gotten down to as low as 1500 feet with the recent rainstorms that have gone through Southern California. We decided to take a drive up to the mountains to see if any snow could be seen.  Snow melts quickly in our area, but we thought it would make for a nice weekend drive and would hit some of our favorite stops along the way.

We headed north on the 5 freeway and took the Highway 138 exit towards Palmdale.  It wasn't long till we started seeing snow on the mountains north of us.  This was a promising sign.

We turned off of Highway 138 to take 90th St W. to the North towards Tehachapi.  This is always a fun drive due to all the windmills.  More Snow!

We arrived in Tehachapi and there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground.  The mountains surrounding the town were wintery white. 

We walked around downtown. Sidewalk still had snow and there was some snow around the train station and park.  If you ever get the chance to visit Tehachapi, they have an amazing train depot museum that is worth the visit!

They have a few antique stores and a GREAT German Bakery that is definitely worth the trip! If going to Tehachapi, certainly check out Kohnen's Bakery!  While walking by the Antique stores, I saw something I recognized.  It's an old Blacksmith Forge!!

We've been thinking about building a forge for a while.  Although I knew this was going to be some work, we ended up buying it to bring it home.  Expect a future blog post documenting our restoration process.

After enjoying our visit to Tehachapi, we headed back down the mountain on Highway 58.  There were great views of snow covered mountains on the way.

This route takes you past the famous Tehachapi Loop! so we stopped for some photos.

We headed down to Bakersfield Ca, and then North into the grapevine.  There was still quite a bit of snow on the hills.

We stopped along the way at Fort Tejon.  There were a lot of folks stopped there to take a break and play in the snow.  The fort in the winter is quite beautiful.

We also found some snow where Emily could build a snowman.

For MacArthur Days 2018

Fort MacArthur Days are held annually at Fort MacArthur Museum near San Pedro ca.  It's a multi-cultural, multi-timeline reenactment where you can see everything from WW2 soldiers and vehicles to Vikings and Romans.  As most the kids were visiting their grandparents, this year I attended on my own.

The closest to the entrance were the WW1 groups.  I was super impressed with the attention to detail and the amount of equipment they had brought in.  I had never seen a WW1 reenactment group before.

They actually re-created a WW1 trench.  Pretty impressive.

Donuts for Doughboys.

The WW2 groups had a lot of equipment and weapons to display including tanks and vehicles.   Each group got to perform a battle.  The WW2 battle was especially impressive with a tank firing it's large gun.

 Hey look! A Sibley Bell Tent! We have one as well that we regularly take camping. 

 WW2 British Home Front display.

 They had a flyover with WW2 airplanes as well.

I believe a woman's nurses unit.  What a great idea for reenactment! Music was playing on the radio.  I expect they did something similar to my iPod conversion

This group had one of the most impressive displays. I assumed it was WW2 by the music playing.  They had a radio station and typewriter set up.  Hmmm.. wonder if they need a radio man or photographer to join their crew.   :)  Heck, I could bring my old R-808 and set up a temporary ham radio station.

There were a lot of Civil War groups or Old West groups.  The 19th century was well represented.

I had also seen G&M Mercantile at the Fort Tejon reenactments.

It was great to see a Full Size Sibley Bell Tent!  This is similar to the tent we use for camping, though ours is smaller.

This was the first time I had seen Revolutionary War reenactors.  I was super impressed with these folks.  They had a leather shop and blacksmith traveling with the army that did amazing demonstrations of their craft.  I was especially impressed with the mobile forge.

 How often do you see a WW2 soldier taking an iPhone photo of a 18th century encampment.

 The British officers tent.

Seems like it would be fun to reenact as a red coat.  Do you have to learn to speak British?

Next on the list, Romans!

The Leather Tents were big and heavy.  I expect they were made for colder weather.

 Inside the "Command Tent"

And don't forget the Vikings!  The Vikings had interesting tents.

There were a few museums and sites visiting the event.  I got to learn about the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum which is close to Los Angeles.

I also learned that the largest military museum in California is located at Camp Roberts - The Camp Roberts Historical Museum.  This was a bit of a surprise since I went to both High School and College not far from Camp Roberts.

It was GREAT to see Fort Tejon at the event.  We were recently at the fort for their 4th of July event -  See more about the event here.  We visit the fort often and are also members of the Fort Tejon Historical Assoication.  I chatted with them for a while about the dragoons program at the fort and the items on display. 

The site itself is quite interesting as well. Fort MacArthur built originally as a gun emplacement for coastal defense.  Much of the original defense structure is still in place and visible.

Battery Osgood's fire control bunker  has been turned into a museum.

 Battery Osgood-Farley. Much of the reenactment events took place near the battery.

The battery used to contain "Pop Up" naval guns that would pop up to fire.  They were replaced in the 40's with more modern guns.

 A piece of the original guns.