Petroleum Highway (California)

rare vehicules, oil trucks Here are a few pictures of a deserted part of California, both because it's close to being a desert and because we seemed to be the only people driving there, apart from rare local cars and a couple of oil trucks.
This highway 33 which is also named Petroleum highway is running along the western side of the San Joaquim valley and it is one of the oldest oil regions of the U.S.A. There's a magic here, and it was great to walk out of the car and let the place impress you, only that the outside temperature (104 ° F) was particularly punishing.
If you drive through this place, make sure to stop at the McKittrick cafe-Hotel and ask to one of the 3 women working there for the best draft bud of the region...

We had all along this Petroleum highway the best Mexicana I could dream of, with a local radio station that probably provided a homey feel for the many agriculture workers further north on the San Joaquim Valley. Listening to Vicente Fernandez (is there a more iconic song than Los Mandados ?) and his likes added to the magnificent desert landscape. The song Los Mandados (lmisten below) tells about crossing illegally the border to the US and dealing with La Migra (the immigration police), the song was composed by Jorge Lerma and first recorded by Vicente Fernandez in 1965.

Empty road

Stop in the desert Lone rig Red-head rig Road graffiti Cables and rigs Tower and wooden poles Straight highway 33 Crowded Rig and tower McKittrick's Oakwood Hotel Cafe Bar Warning sign 3 rigs 3 poles Crowd 2 Trailers, poles and rigs Last rig -- nearing Los Padres Water tanks Solar oil Big tank Curve Winding terrain Happy desert flowers Dry parchland Bushes and foothills Climbing into Los Padres