Hi Adam! Thirdphaseofmoon here! BIG FAN! We are currently in LA Let's Do a RUclips Collab! We have almost 800k subs and just finished our Road trip from Hawaii to AZ and Back!
You take us with you to places that 99% of us would never see if it wasn't for these vlogs. I watch these everyday and it's like being on vacation even though I'm at work. Thanks, Adam
So the abandoned buildings were actually homes for farm workers that used to live on the ranch. That ranch used to be called Blue Moon Ranch. I worked on that ranch in the mid-90s. A friend of mines Dad owned it. A lot of fun times out there. Also the factory you saw in Buttonwillow was a cotton gin. Safe travels.
The abandoned buildings looked like a good place to swing my metal detector. Do you know when those buildings were built, and do you think anyone would mind if I metal detected them? If they were built after the 1950's it would not be a good place to hunt. I love digging old silver coins, you know before 1965?
A lot of people think that the San Joaquin valley was always a desert, which is a untrue assumption.. the San Joaquin valley is a man-made desert in which all of the water that comes out of the Sierra Nevada from the snow melt is managed and has been since the early 1900's.. consumerican valley at one time had three major lakes in the south near Bakersfield in Tulare.. the three major lakes were Kern lake at the base of the grapevine, Buena Vista lake near Taft, and Tulare lake just west of Tulare.. and a lot of people don't know that Tulare California is named Tulare because of the Thule reads that used to grow wild around that area because of all the water from the Kings River and the kawea river flowing into Tulare lake.. Back When Padre Fagas first discovered the silicon valley on his Trek from the Los Angeles area over what we call the ridge route now the San Joaquin valley in the south was a marshland with water sometimes being only a couple feet deep but covered much of the valley.. a lot of people also don't realize that Fresno California is not the original location of Fresno... Original settlement of Fresno City was near modern-day San Joaquin California and tranquility California... And if you go back far enough in time the San Joaquin valley was an inland salt water sea which is why you can find mega amounts of sea shells, old fossils, and Old shark's teeth near Bakersfield near a Hill called sharks tooth Hill...
The road less travelled is sooo much more interesting. This man is a natural you tuber, he goes down the back roads and looks at interesting things like old coke signs so you don't have to. On many a rainy day I've discovered things like giant burgers and the world's largest ball of elastic bands. There's no where quite like small town USA. Thank you Mr Woo and keep up the good work.
My family lived on Twisselman Rd until I was about 15yrs old. I am 50yrs old now. Loved seeing all of those fields and lonely roads again, I still have dreams of my years out there. Thank you for this video!
Those old houses are part the headquarters for the Blue Moon Ranch. Back in the day it was one of the most prominent cotton farms in the Buttonwillow community. The ranch grew 1,000 acres of cotton, alfalfa hay and wheat. My brother-in-law and his family owned the ranch during the 1950's - 1990's. There were three larger homes, an office and several shops that aren't shown in the video. I spent a great deal of time at the ranch when I was a teenager, staying and working there with my sister and my brother-in-law. It was a magnificent oasis at one time with green pastures, green lawns and the houses were freshly painted and nicely maintained. My sister and brother-in-law also owned the Spicer City Market at one time. I have many great memories from those days and will always cherish the Blue Moon Ranch.
I look for old places where people use to live. I love to dig history with my metal detector, mainly old silver coins and relics. I'm wondering if anyone would mind if metal detected those old buildings? Or how I could get permission? This morning I metal detected two 1950's houses and ended up with sixteen wheat pennies, four silver dimes, and one Benjamine Franklin Half Dollar.
Yes, those white boxes are filled with bees. The bees are used to polinate the vaious orchards in the area. When pollination is done in that area, the bees are moved to a new location.
How many times have I driven I5, seen that Tule Elk Reserve sign, and never pulled off. Thanks for this cool drive into our hidden backroads. Fun video. Great job.
Thanks for letting me join you on your adventures Adam. I'm not feeling that well right now and these videos make me feel better. Hopefully I'll be able to go out traveling soon.
Thank you so very much,I grew up in O.C. Anaheim and haven't been back in over 20 years. So it was really cool to see your videos. Thank you again and God bless you.
I just subscribed. I love back roads. Nowadays, if I am going someplace far away, I always allow a few extra days of travel so I can take the back roads.
I have a great amount of nostalgia for the stretch of I5 from Sacramento to LA. It’s not much to look at but if you’ve driven it enough there’s something cathartic about it. I used to drive it almost on a weekly basis between the age of 18-21 before I moved out there. Honestly these last few videos have all been pretty nostalgic/relatable from Reno, where I live now, to the Bay Area and up the 5 all places I’ve spent a lot of my life in and have fond memories of. Been missing them a lot lately, thanks Adam.
This video in particular actually unlocked a memory I hadn’t thought about in a while, I picked up the one and only hitchhiker I’ve ever given a ride to in one of these small towns between pea soup anderson’s and the grapevine. Stopped for some gas, it was around 3:00am and there was an older Mexican gentleman with a duffle bag and a guitar. I spoke enough Spanish and he spoke enough English to get a basic understanding of where we needed to go and that I was heading the same direction. We rode not saying much listening to Banda for about an hour and a half, got off at some random exit, drove a little further into a small farming community, I shook his hand, he threw me $50, and went on his way. It was a nice experience and I’m glad I could help him get where he needed to go. Hope he’s doing well.
I have two memories of the drive through central California, once ON the way down to LA/Culver City in 2002, and the trip BACK north to Washington State 6 months later. The trip down was when California was largely broke so the cop helicopters were not flying so I got away with flying low in an older Honda, an 88 Accord LX-I, loaded down with what I needed for the trip, with no working AC and doing 90 or so down the 5, until I got to the Grapevine Hill, then had to slow down to make the ascent up and then back down passed San Bernadino and into LA itself before getting off at the 405 to Slausen Ave exit. The trip home was in early January and not all that eventful, but due to potential snowy weather over the mountains further north, which included Oregon mountains north of the Rogue Valley had me needing to continue to beat the storms, which I did and made it home without incident. When driving down there, it was late June, arriving I think July 1st so hot and sunny.
My Dad was born in Mckittrick, a small Oil workers town. His Dad worked the Union Oil Fields, by working the boilers to create steam to assist the thick crude to move through the many miles of pipes all the way to Port San Luis to load onto ships offshore.
I live in Santa Clarita and spend as much time as possible in these "desolate" areas - I photograph the oil / ag fields and find a lot of solace in those places. Mckittrick, Buttonwillow, Maricopa, Taft, west Bakersfield, etc...
Short note, Taft was originally named "Moron"... The towns people voted to change it to Taft in honor of President Taft when he visited there after the lake view gusher made the news
I worked home health and hospice in Bakersfield and saw patients all over these areas. I would get directions like “ go past the two oil rigs, over the open canal, past two almond orchards and you will see the house”. It could get a little spooky when having to go out on calls in the middle of the night, lol. Some of the farm worker places were almost uninhabitable but almost always immaculate. Despite these things, I have fond memories of those days.
My friend worked out here as a home health nurse years ago. I stoped overnight on my way from Sacramento to LA. I remember it rained during the night and in the morning I have never seen so many giant snails everywhere I guess they came out to eat the vegetables growing in the central valley.
Really nice. When I go to Northern California (San Jose), sometimes I take 33 instead of 5. There is also 166. It's amazing. Thank you for a good virtual trip.
The empty mailboxes, a powerful clue of the emptying out of rural America. It's been going on for a few decades now. Little towns who used to have their own stores. Now they're lucky to have a Walmart in the county seat, 50 mile round-trip drive 🚗.
It's not just an emptying out, it's a redevelopment or development that is taking place, depending on which part of the country you're talking about. Development is what's occurring in the rural areas of Texas and Florida.
This is Central Valley Cali if your driving on the 5 n or the 99n you’ll pass Bakersfikd button willow is about 30 min west of Bakersfikd I used to manage some homes there never liked the drive out there. Weather is very hot in quality of air just sucks. Great video ❤️
Those small houses at around 8 min mark were homes for the farmers. My uncle used to live in the first house. We used to go visit him almost every weekend. Thise big trees in the back are walnut trees. That place is actually called Blue Moon Ranch. I have a lot of good memories theres from my childhood
My dad was a firefighter for Kern County Fire Dept.for years and was stationed at many of the small towns such as McKittrick, Fellows, Lost Hills, Taft, and Buttonwillow as well as several others. In my later years I worked for a company that had many projects throughout the oilfields and traveled through the same small towns. This brought back a lot of great memories. Thanks for this video!
The area is in Kern County, the Southern beginning of the ''Big Valley'' and known for oil, mining and agriculture. Just North of 146 is the city of Delano. It is famous in US Labor History as site of the United Farm Workers grape strike of 1965. Labor leaders Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong joined forces and fought for better wages and working conditions. As a child worker, my family and I would later benefit from those labor wins. I would get a few more pennies for the basket of grapes we picked. Thank you for your vlog TDW. It took me back when we worked the fields near 146. As I understand, the Tule Elk is endanger of extinction - again, gracias for the memories.
I’ve driven that lovely stretch of the 5 many times to Frisco, but I cut across toward Gilroy so I can stop at Casa de Fruita and it’s other stores. It’s very desolate. Great to see the almond trees are flourishing, nice & green & full.
OMG I used to work there at the refinery in Tupman for 18 years. The post office there handles all the mail for that large oil field (which used to be the nation’s second largest oil reserve). The elk you saw are called Tule Elk and came from that oil field mountain. The oil field is called Elk Hills
Fun Fact. You found what looks like motel rooms. Well more like homes for the workers on the farms when it's time to harvest. The oil pumps go on for many many more miles. The fields are divided up and the military has a large section for fueling ships and other important stuff to protect the country. Much in another area has been pumped for over 50 years and the ground level has subsided 60 feet as the oil has been removed. The earth in that area is like sand and as oil is removed the sand compresses.
This was for my good workers they sure haven't did a very good job keeping the place up for the migrant workers and it's be to get all the brush dead trees imagine what it looks inside of the apartments you know that I can't blame that on the migrate workers I mean the owners of this place laugh like it's been all kinds of money on them cleaning the places up got to leave it at bandit with the owners do
Very nice video. We should be happy that we are able to enjoy and be in places that we would not be seeing otherwise. Thanks to you and other UTUBERS who are traveling for us around the world. We appreciate very much your effort for teaching us a lot new places, animals and and things. My name is Dario Mendoza (USA),
You're always interesting and fun with a great humor about you, Adam!! Subscribed years ago and still lovin your vids! Thanks for the adventures and all of the Comic Relief in this messed up world..
This is very enjoyable to travel with you. I really like your sense of humor, also. What a relief from the pressures of the days. I just moved back to a rural town I had lived in over fifty years ago. It had a sign that stated," industry invited" at the entrance. It was farms, and I felt it was ungrateful to the farmers! Hahahaha, no industry! ( Well, horseradish and dogfood, to be fair.) Now I enjoy the town, as I see the sign is gone!
There's a lot of places like Spicer City in Ca. Lancaster which is only 30 minutes away from LA has a lot of desolated trailers and abandoned houses and tumbleweeds. But I enjoyed this video. Shows diversity in California.
I live in Lancaster and yes it still has trailer parks and empty houses but it is also home to 150,000+ residents and growing with lots of new residential and commercial developments too, many work for aerospace companies in Plant 42 and Edwards AFB
So many memories of these quiet towns. My grandfather worked the oil fields and occasionally would take us with him to work. Our family lives in Teviston which is north of Bakersfield. This is home. Thanks for this post.
Thanks Adam-great backroads coverage. Multiple times a year I’m driving the California 46 (Paso Robles HWY) during road-trips between Bend, Oregon and Thousand Oaks, California.
It's a real pleasure when you go off the freeway to Real Amerika. Reminds me of better times back in the 70s. There was far more traffic way out there between Kettleman City and Bakersfield. Thanks for the update.
The elk are Tule Elk. Those large reeds in the marsh you were photographing over to see the elk are called tules. For long term residents (I'm 4th generation) the term for being out in the middle of nowhere is "out in the tules". Durng the wet season there can be incredibly dense fogs that come out of tule marshes called "tule fog". I've been in some where day turned into blackest might and I literally could not see my hand in front of my face. Very dangerous to drive in. Better to pull to the far side of the road and pray somebody doesn't drive into you. The buildings were probably a labor camp for farmworkers in the area. You came a few weeks too late as the landscape was probably still green at the beginning of April. Ours turned to brown in mid-April in the LA area. The "factory" near Buttonwillow was most likely a seasonally used agricultural packing house. They're all over farming areas. The bee hives are called apiaries and moved around seasonally for crop pollination. The bees are busy working and unlikely to sting you if you don't bother them. California still sits on a vast ocean of oil. I grew up in a beach suburb south of LAX. We were still an oilfield. We had two pumps on our block alone and when I went to bed as a kid I could hear the creak of the walking beams along with the bell of the local harbor buoy. A major refinary was a short distance away and the night sky was lit up by the flareoffs of excess gas. Oil still naturally seeps from the ground and even the offshore seafloor. We were always having to clean it off as kids and learned to spot and avoid it. I still see natural seeps and globlets from ocean seeps still float in on the beaches. The industry is just more visible in the southern San Joaquin Valley where you were.
awesome...we used to say that, in the tules...tulies...we also drove around aimelssly back when gas was 26cents/gallon and we called it tuling around...
Thanks for the trip bro that was an eye opener to the bit's of California we never see I've started doing a similar thing to you where I live in Cornwall.
I had an amphibian apocalyptic encounter in Buttonwillow one time. After a rainstorm one evening, I opened my hotel door and there were literally thousands of toads hopping around everywhere. Bufo perplexus I believe!?
I grew up close by in Shafter, Oildale, and Bakersfield. As an airman at Vandenberg AFB in the early 1970s, I made many road trips between between the base and Bakersfield via state route 166, a good memory.
Always happy to see you in my home state, Adam! Thanks for taking us along for the ride and hope you'll stay awhile. P.S. Jed was shootin at some food and up from the ground came a bubblin crude....oil, that is. (i.e. Black gold, Texas tea)
Good beautiful morning, from Glennville Ga., enjoying the video, while drinking my coffee this morning, I 've never been to Cali, I have kinfolks in Bakersfield, thank you for tanking me for a ride with you, have a wonderful day!!
I didn’t know about the Lost Boys train track bridge in Valencia. I thought it was all done in Santa Cruz at the bridge by the beach boardwalk. I assume they used both. Thanks for sharing. 👍🏻
Wow you came rite through my neck of the woods, west side of Kern county. Yeah they’re Tule Elk, indigenous to the area all the way over to the Sierras Thx for the work you do
Dude, been following this road trip and funny you passed right thru my area. The oil field area you went thru is the sunset midway strip and is a significant production area. The bees are to pollinate the almond orchards. The big metal building behind the spicer market is a juicing plant where the pomegranate juice commonly sold all over the nation is made. The “ motel” is old farm labor housing. The old metal building near Buttonwillow is the old cotton gin. Huell howser did an entire episode out there years ago that I believe included the old “ haunted” fellows motel.
@@Telephony954 I can picture him standing there in front of that sign with a bewildered look on his face haha. There is an old historic concrete jail building still standing in Buttonwillow he would have found interesting. I’ve always thought it is a shame it isn’t relocated to pioneer village.
Interesting area with orchards of almonds and pistachios. I used to drive a tractor which towed a mechanical shredder which shreds or mulches the brush from the trees that were trimmed after harvest. They used to burn those trimmings. Can't anymore. A century ago that whole area of the Southern San Joaquin Valley was a vast shallow lake and wetlands area. How time has changed it all.
The oil Jack pumps were quite the eyesore, Orange Blossom honey is something I really do miss from living in California and the smell of the Orange Grove blossoms can be intoxicating. And I think those little houses were probably for the migrant workers and their families. I'm surprised Magic Mountain is still open went there as a kid when it was brand new first ride was the spin out Barrel ride and up came my grand slam Denny's breakfast I was miserable the rest of the day for hash browns were stuck in my sinuses ugh. Thanks for sharing it's been a long long time since I was in California left for Texas in 1980
Enjoyed this! When I have time , I always like to get off the beaten path , take the roads less traveled, the scenic routes.....thanks, stay safe always...God bless you..🙏❤
That probably wasn't a motel, it was most likely one of those places where migrants that worked farms lived at. It would be why you see the large fields next to it
You were right in my backyard. That area has thousands of acres of Almond and Pistachio trees. That abandoned set of identical buildings would be farm labor housing. They are scattered throughout central California . Safe Travels Amigo. Next time you pass through Kettleman stop into Bravo Farms.
Yes those are honeybees used to pollinate crops. The beekeepers transport them for farmers who pay for that service. Beehive theft is a big problem in CA.
The town of buttonwillow gets its name from the button willow tree to the north of the town that is still alive today where native American Indians used to meet with settlers and they would trade under the tree.. the tree is still there... Also, the town of Tupman was built on leased land from oil companies to house Oil workers back in the 1920s and has a school that is still in use built around that time... There used to be a town to the north of buttonwillow but to the South of highway 46 just off of highway 33 that was called Bell ridge it was owned by Royal Dutch Shell and I have metal detected out in that area and found all kinds of old coins jewelry an interesting metal objects...
@Lesko Ty for the information especially about the Natives trading under the tree. I'm from Denver, originally Rosebud South Dakota, but we have Confluence park where Cherry creek n Platte river meet where the Natives met with fur trappers. Colorado was Cheyenne n Arapaho territory. Loved this city but it's becoming sooo gentrified that it's unbearable to live here. Rent n crime is sky high. Love these vlogs where I can escape the concrete jungle. Oh yeah, I'm Lakota n own land but it's desolate. Ty for reading 🪶🦅🪶🦅
You metal detected that area, how cool. I'm here reading these comments because I metal detect and am considering a road trip to that area. Just this morning, I metal detected two 1950's houses in Palmdale and ended up with sixteen wheat pennies, four silver dimes, and a 1954 half dollar. Those five silver coins gives me 89 for this year. Two days ago, I dug a dime trifecta in East Los Angeles, along with ten wheat pennies. Hay, I just noticed something, your handle. This is the second time I've laughed reading these comments. Great screen name/handle, love it!!!! Now I'm wondering if anyone else has commented on your name?
Instagram- AdamTheWooATW
Feels weird heading back to LA areas now that I no longer live there
Has your perspective changed?
👍nice
Hi Adam! Thirdphaseofmoon here! BIG FAN! We are currently in LA Let's Do a RUclips Collab! We have almost 800k subs and just finished our Road trip from Hawaii to AZ and Back!
Miss seeing the CA videos.
Welcome back! I’m in Northern CA Bay Area and when I travel to LA it feels like a different state!
You take us with you to places that 99% of us would never see if it wasn't for these vlogs. I watch these everyday and it's like being on vacation even though I'm at work. Thanks, Adam
Or would have thought seeing
Well thus video is close to home so I've seen most of this, but I live his central America road trips. I love seeing those small American towns
Thank You Adam for taking us along We appreciate it!
I used to try to search RUclips for places to see until I found The Woo. He knows where to go.
More like 99.999% The world is a big place.
So the abandoned buildings were actually homes for farm workers that used to live on the ranch. That ranch used to be called Blue Moon Ranch. I worked on that ranch in the mid-90s. A friend of mines Dad owned it. A lot of fun times out there. Also the factory you saw in Buttonwillow was a cotton gin.
Safe travels.
He left the ranch
Before that they housed German prisoners of war. We have them here in Az.
You must know the guy who commented earlier stating his brother in law owned the ranch.
The abandoned buildings looked like a good place to swing my metal detector. Do you know when those buildings were built, and do you think anyone would mind if I metal detected them? If they were built after the 1950's it would not be a good place to hunt. I love digging old silver coins, you know before 1965?
@@tanyamushaney2743 I always wondered why the German population seemed especially pronounced in AZ.
I believe that coyote @14:48 was headed to the post office @13:40 in Tubman to pick up a package from the Acme Co.
Was that Wile E.?
hahahahahaha
🤣
LOL CUTE.
No no no! He got lost chasing a silly rabbit in "Al bu quoi ki"😅
A lot of people think that the San Joaquin valley was always a desert, which is a untrue assumption.. the San Joaquin valley is a man-made desert in which all of the water that comes out of the Sierra Nevada from the snow melt is managed and has been since the early 1900's.. consumerican valley at one time had three major lakes in the south near Bakersfield in Tulare.. the three major lakes were Kern lake at the base of the grapevine, Buena Vista lake near Taft, and Tulare lake just west of Tulare.. and a lot of people don't know that Tulare California is named Tulare because of the Thule reads that used to grow wild around that area because of all the water from the Kings River and the kawea river flowing into Tulare lake.. Back When Padre Fagas first discovered the silicon valley on his Trek from the Los Angeles area over what we call the ridge route now the San Joaquin valley in the south was a marshland with water sometimes being only a couple feet deep but covered much of the valley.. a lot of people also don't realize that Fresno California is not the original location of Fresno... Original settlement of Fresno City was near modern-day San Joaquin California and tranquility California... And if you go back far enough in time the San Joaquin valley was an inland salt water sea which is why you can find mega amounts of sea shells, old fossils, and Old shark's teeth near Bakersfield near a Hill called sharks tooth Hill...
Fresno was an S-hole when I was there, 5 years.
@@carolharris2357 alot of California towns have degraded in the last 35yrs...
Cool. I didn't know that! Thanks for the info
Here in Merced County i still find a lot of fossils too.
You 100 percent wrong.
I had the privilege of running into Adam the woo yesterday and he could not have been nicer. Keep up the good work my friend, your awesome
Where did you run into him @ ?
The road less travelled is sooo much more interesting. This man is a natural you tuber, he goes down the back roads and looks at interesting things like old coke signs so you don't have to. On many a rainy day I've discovered things like giant burgers and the world's largest ball of elastic bands. There's no where quite like small town USA. Thank you Mr Woo and keep up the good work.
My family lived on Twisselman Rd until I was about 15yrs old. I am 50yrs old now. Loved seeing all of those fields and lonely roads again, I still have dreams of my years out there. Thank you for this video!
Those old houses are part the headquarters for the Blue Moon Ranch. Back in the day it was one of the most prominent cotton farms in the Buttonwillow community. The ranch grew 1,000 acres of cotton, alfalfa hay and wheat. My brother-in-law and his family owned the ranch during the 1950's - 1990's. There were three larger homes, an office and several shops that aren't shown in the video. I spent a great deal of time at the ranch when I was a teenager, staying and working there with my sister and my brother-in-law. It was a magnificent oasis at one time with green pastures, green lawns and the houses were freshly painted and nicely maintained. My sister and brother-in-law also owned the Spicer City Market at one time. I have many great memories from those days and will always cherish the Blue Moon Ranch.
did they own property around willows ca
It would be so lovely to see photos.
what happened ?
Love hearing about places out from everything.
I look for old places where people use to live. I love to dig history with my metal detector, mainly old silver coins and relics. I'm wondering if anyone would mind if metal detected those old buildings? Or how I could get permission? This morning I metal detected two 1950's houses and ended up with sixteen wheat pennies, four silver dimes, and one Benjamine Franklin Half Dollar.
Yes, those white boxes are filled with bees. The bees are used to polinate the vaious orchards in the area. When pollination is done in that area, the bees are moved to a new location.
Farmers rent them.
The Almond tree orchards you passed would need bees 🐝
And they produce honey
❤️❤️❤️
I was thinking "I see no flowers on the trees. Are they living off sagebrush?"
How many times have I driven I5, seen that Tule Elk Reserve sign, and never pulled off. Thanks for this cool drive into our hidden backroads. Fun video. Great job.
Thanks for letting me join you on your adventures Adam. I'm not feeling that well right now and these videos make me feel better. Hopefully I'll be able to go out traveling soon.
❤️
Hello 👋 dear how are you doing?
Thank you so very much,I grew up in O.C. Anaheim and haven't been back in over 20 years. So it was really cool to see your videos. Thank you again and God bless you.
You're the best at making me feel peaceful and reminding me to enjoy the moment. Love your work Adam!
Thank you
Hello👋 dear, how are you doing?
I love the cats and all the wildlife they're so beautiful
mb
I just subscribed. I love back roads. Nowadays, if I am going someplace far away, I always allow a few extra days of travel so I can take the back roads.
I have a great amount of nostalgia for the stretch of I5 from Sacramento to LA. It’s not much to look at but if you’ve driven it enough there’s something cathartic about it.
I used to drive it almost on a weekly basis between the age of 18-21 before I moved out there.
Honestly these last few videos have all been pretty nostalgic/relatable from Reno, where I live now, to the Bay Area and up the 5 all places I’ve spent a lot of my life in and have fond memories of. Been missing them a lot lately, thanks Adam.
This video in particular actually unlocked a memory I hadn’t thought about in a while, I picked up the one and only hitchhiker I’ve ever given a ride to in one of these small towns between pea soup anderson’s and the grapevine. Stopped for some gas, it was around 3:00am and there was an older Mexican gentleman with a duffle bag and a guitar. I spoke enough Spanish and he spoke enough English to get a basic understanding of where we needed to go and that I was heading the same direction. We rode not saying much listening to Banda for about an hour and a half, got off at some random exit, drove a little further into a small farming community, I shook his hand, he threw me $50, and went on his way. It was a nice experience and I’m glad I could help him get where he needed to go. Hope he’s doing well.
I just to live in taft ca and all those areas are beautiful 😍.
I have two memories of the drive through central California, once ON the way down to LA/Culver City in 2002, and the trip BACK north to Washington State 6 months later. The trip down was when California was largely broke so the cop helicopters were not flying so I got away with flying low in an older Honda, an 88 Accord LX-I, loaded down with what I needed for the trip, with no working AC and doing 90 or so down the 5, until I got to the Grapevine Hill, then had to slow down to make the ascent up and then back down passed San Bernadino and into LA itself before getting off at the 405 to Slausen Ave exit.
The trip home was in early January and not all that eventful, but due to potential snowy weather over the mountains further north, which included Oregon mountains north of the Rogue Valley had me needing to continue to beat the storms, which I did and made it home without incident. When driving down there, it was late June, arriving I think July 1st so hot and sunny.
I'm not sure I'd wanna risk it if I was gonna get a heart attack, from bein' cathartac,,,
@@doneown503 what?
I love these videos Adam. Love having my morning coffee watching these. Less Disney..more of these types..love it
You're the "bee's knees" when it comes to these off road exploration videos! Thanks, appreciate it!
Great video as always. Glad you are enjoying life and doing your thing.
My Dad was born in Mckittrick, a small Oil workers town. His Dad worked the Union Oil Fields, by working the boilers to create steam to assist the thick crude to move through the many miles of pipes all the way to Port San Luis to load onto ships offshore.
I was born in Taft
@@mikepatterson4320 so cool to share your families history
We grew up east of Bakersfield…crazy memories.
Those trees may have been almond tree farms. California is the worlds biggest producer of almonds. The bees are being utilized to pollinate them
Càlifornia banned them so producers came to Australia and buggered our rivers and irrigation up as they are water intensive crop.
The long shots of the trees, seemed to intrigue Adam a lot, too bad he didn't identify them for us.
Pistachio orchards are huge in the desert areas. I'm sure that will all go away with the decrease of water in the Southwest.
@@treasurelife6922 If they are waterhogs like Almonds they will.
@@willybones3890 they are. Usually they are drip irrigated or flood irrigation. The pastachios in SE Arizona get shipped to China.
I live in Santa Clarita and spend as much time as possible in these "desolate" areas - I photograph the oil / ag fields and find a lot of solace in those places. Mckittrick, Buttonwillow, Maricopa, Taft, west Bakersfield, etc...
Short note, Taft was originally named "Moron"... The towns people voted to change it to Taft in honor of President Taft when he visited there after the lake view gusher made the news
Love Santa Clarita ❤️
Hi🖐️.. can I know how to get there? please
John H
I use to go to all the areas you are now photographing to transport crude oil etc back in the day. Black Gold. I left CA 1998
Hi John, I’m shooting a short film soon and that former oil field could make a great location - mind sharing where it is? Thanks much!
I worked home health and hospice in Bakersfield and saw patients all over these areas. I would get directions like “ go past the two oil rigs, over the open canal, past two almond orchards and you will see the house”. It could get a little spooky when having to go out on calls in the middle of the night, lol. Some of the farm worker places were almost uninhabitable but almost always immaculate. Despite these things, I have fond memories of those days.
My friend worked out here as a home health nurse years ago. I stoped overnight on my way from Sacramento to LA. I remember it rained during the night and in the morning I have never seen so many giant snails everywhere I guess they came out to eat the vegetables growing in the central valley.
Southern roots. The area was largely populated by people from the South.
Really nice. When I go to Northern California (San Jose), sometimes I take 33 instead of 5. There is also 166. It's amazing.
Thank you for a good virtual trip.
I enjoyed watching the desolate areas of southern California. ❤
Hey Adam, you always find some of the coolest things on your trips! Thanks so much and stay safe!
When Adam says “I’m parked in the middle of the road, nobody around here, no one” …just then a lawnmower starts up 😂😂😂 j/k 😜
It's fun to see you back in the areas of your old haunts. Thank you, Adam!
The empty mailboxes, a powerful clue of the emptying out of rural America. It's been going on for a few decades now.
Little towns who used to have their own stores. Now they're lucky to have a Walmart in the county seat, 50 mile round-trip drive 🚗.
Dollar General on this coast looks for "food deserts".
It's not just an emptying out, it's a redevelopment or development that is taking place, depending on which part of the country you're talking about. Development is what's occurring in the rural areas of Texas and Florida.
I love this kind of eerie yet austere and beautiful desolation. Wish I could have joined you on that journey!
This is Central Valley Cali if your driving on the 5 n or the 99n you’ll pass Bakersfikd button willow is about 30 min west of Bakersfikd I used to manage some homes there never liked the drive out there. Weather is very hot in quality of air just sucks. Great video ❤️
There is nothing Better than Adam on a Road Trip !
Indeed! ❤️
He's the best
He makes me laugh. Especially when he talks to the animals in his funny voice.
@@jimmychanbers2424 yup. Lol
.nice to see someone helping the honey bee!!!
Those small houses at around 8 min mark were homes for the farmers. My uncle used to live in the first house. We used to go visit him almost every weekend. Thise big trees in the back are walnut trees. That place is actually called Blue Moon Ranch. I have a lot of good memories theres from my childhood
My dad was a firefighter for Kern County Fire Dept.for years and was stationed at many of the small towns such as McKittrick, Fellows, Lost Hills, Taft, and Buttonwillow as well as several others. In my later years I worked for a company that had many projects throughout the oilfields and traveled through the same small towns. This brought back a lot of great memories. Thanks for this video!
A new Woo adventure! Thanks for another great ride into the blue horizon, Adam.
My old stomping ground ... Lived in Northridge, Tustin and Newport Beach. Cousins in Landcaster. Loved picking cherries at the farms back in the day.
Love your conversation with the animals its always great love these back roads its great enjoy your trip my brother !😃
The area is in Kern County, the Southern beginning of the ''Big Valley'' and known for oil, mining and agriculture. Just North of 146 is the city of Delano. It is famous in US Labor History as site of the United Farm Workers grape strike of 1965. Labor leaders Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong joined forces and fought for better wages and working conditions.
As a child worker, my family and I would later benefit from those labor wins. I would get a few more pennies for the basket of grapes we picked. Thank you for your vlog TDW. It took me back when we worked the fields near 146. As I understand, the Tule Elk is endanger of extinction - again, gracias for the memories.
I have great memories of growing up in Delano
I live in wasco and would go to 40 acres as a kid
I’ve driven that lovely stretch of the 5 many times to Frisco, but I cut across toward Gilroy so I can stop at Casa de Fruita and it’s other stores.
It’s very desolate.
Great to see the almond trees are flourishing, nice & green & full.
San Francisco not Frisco please
@@tedstryker5264 I’ve lived here since 1960. Hard to break the habit.
Casa de fruta hwy is haunted hwy 152 try driving at 3 in the morning
Was wondering when you were coming close to my town. You did with this episode.. I work at that refinery in Tupman. That’s cool Woo✌🏼
Crazy areas you are at. Kinda of spooky. To quiet. You love LA.
Great video ❤️❤️👍
These backroads can't be beaten. I'm totally enjoying your roadtrip, Adam. 👏🤠👏
This reminds me of my motorcycle trip from Los Angeles to Crader Lake Oregon back in the 70's when we cruised the back roads all the way.
@@harrysurtees8710 That's great
It's always nice to be able to identify with the topic through personal experience. 👏
@@rhondaz356 Thank you for that Rhonda, brings back fond memories.
OMG I used to work there at the refinery in Tupman for 18 years. The post office there handles all the mail for that large oil field (which used to be the nation’s second largest oil reserve). The elk you saw are called Tule Elk and came from that oil field mountain. The oil field is called Elk Hills
I enjoyed watching this video. It gave me a sense of exploring. Please keep doing your thing dude 👍I look forward to watching your next video.
Fun Fact. You found what looks like motel rooms. Well more like homes for the workers on the farms when it's time to harvest.
The oil pumps go on for many many more miles. The fields are divided up and the military has a large section for fueling ships and other important stuff to protect the country. Much in another area has been pumped for over 50 years and the ground level has subsided 60 feet as the oil has been removed. The earth in that area is like sand and as oil is removed the sand compresses.
nodding donkeys?
This was for my good workers they sure haven't did a very good job keeping the place up for the migrant workers and it's be to get all the brush dead trees imagine what it looks inside of the apartments you know that I can't blame that on the migrate workers I mean the owners of this place laugh like it's been all kinds of money on them cleaning the places up got to leave it at bandit with the owners do
Very nice video. We should be happy that we are able to enjoy and be in places that we would not be seeing otherwise. Thanks to you and other UTUBERS who are
traveling for us around the world. We appreciate very much your effort for teaching us a lot new places, animals and and things. My name is Dario Mendoza (USA),
You're always interesting and fun with a great humor about you, Adam!! Subscribed years ago and still lovin your vids! Thanks for the adventures and all of the Comic Relief in this messed up world..
This is very enjoyable to travel with you. I really like your sense of humor, also. What a relief from the pressures of the days. I just moved back to a rural town I had lived in over fifty years ago. It had a sign that stated," industry invited" at the entrance. It was farms, and I felt it was ungrateful to the farmers! Hahahaha, no industry! ( Well, horseradish and dogfood, to be fair.) Now I enjoy the town, as I see the sign is gone!
Thanks for the tour😎👍🏻.
Thank you for tiding me over til I can finally return to the desert 🏜 Always watching Adam!!
Adam, really enjoyed your totally awesome and cool video! Thank you for taking me along with you on your road trip! Very interesting!
Low producing oil wells often have timers. They'll pump for a few hours, then stop. This lets oil seep into the well bore.
That bridge was used in cool hand Luke too. When it was still a railroad bridge..
There's a lot of places like Spicer City in Ca. Lancaster which is only 30 minutes away from LA has a lot of desolated trailers and abandoned houses and tumbleweeds. But I enjoyed this video. Shows diversity in California.
I live in Lancaster and yes it still has trailer parks and empty houses but it is also home to 150,000+ residents and growing with lots of new residential and commercial developments too, many work for aerospace companies in Plant 42 and Edwards AFB
So many memories of these quiet towns.
My grandfather worked the oil fields and occasionally would take us with him to work.
Our family lives in Teviston which is north of Bakersfield.
This is home.
Thanks for this post.
Thanks Adam-great backroads coverage. Multiple times a year I’m driving the California 46 (Paso Robles HWY) during road-trips between Bend, Oregon and Thousand Oaks, California.
It's a real pleasure when you go off the freeway to Real Amerika. Reminds me of better times back in the 70s. There was far more traffic way out there between Kettleman City and Bakersfield. Thanks for the update.
Adam Thank You for the travels
Interesting side-tracks! Everyone should be immensely thankful for those crates of bees - those insects are vital to our lives on earth!!!!!
Love when you are here in LA, you're our new Huell Howser :)
I just discovered your videos, their really great and your really funny too! Thanks 🙂
These are the kind of backroads i would travel with my Dad when he would need to travel out and work on Vapor saving machines for gas stations
I enjoyed your video. I live kind of in this area, but I was not aware of the elk reservation. Thank you for the nice video.
The elk are Tule Elk. Those large reeds in the marsh you were photographing over to see the elk are called tules. For long term residents (I'm 4th generation) the term for being out in the middle of nowhere is "out in the tules". Durng the wet season there can be incredibly dense fogs that come out of tule marshes called "tule fog". I've been in some where day turned into blackest might and I literally could not see my hand in front of my face. Very dangerous to drive in. Better to pull to the far side of the road and pray somebody doesn't drive into you.
The buildings were probably a labor camp for farmworkers in the area. You came a few weeks too late as the landscape was probably still green at the beginning of April. Ours turned to brown in mid-April in the LA area. The "factory" near Buttonwillow was most likely a seasonally used agricultural packing house. They're all over farming areas. The bee hives are called apiaries and moved around seasonally for crop pollination. The bees are busy working and unlikely to sting you if you don't bother them.
California still sits on a vast ocean of oil. I grew up in a beach suburb south of LAX. We were still an oilfield. We had two pumps on our block alone and when I went to bed as a kid I could hear the creak of the walking beams along with the bell of the local harbor buoy. A major refinary was a short distance away and the night sky was lit up by the flareoffs of excess gas. Oil still naturally seeps from the ground and even the offshore seafloor. We were always having to clean it off as kids and learned to spot and avoid it. I still see natural seeps and globlets from ocean seeps still float in on the beaches. The industry is just more visible in the southern San Joaquin Valley where you were.
Man ain't that the truth. Caught in the tule fog once coming back on the 33 just outside Maricopa - scary stuff.
Thank you for the information. It answered my questions. Very interesting.
@@callending I agree, I drove through it twice, and survived, like you said, "scary stuff".
Near the the back side of Beverly Hills High School, there is a disguised oil derrick, owned/operated by B.H.O.C. (Beverly Hills Oil Company).
awesome...we used to say that, in the tules...tulies...we also drove around aimelssly back when gas was 26cents/gallon and we called it tuling around...
Thanks for the trip bro that was an eye opener to the bit's of California we never see I've started doing a similar thing to you where I live in Cornwall.
I had an amphibian apocalyptic encounter in Buttonwillow one time. After a rainstorm one evening, I opened my hotel door and there were literally thousands of toads hopping around everywhere. Bufo perplexus I believe!?
Thank you for taking us with you mr..woo
Adam, you are so blessed to be able to see the new areas in the US. I am so jelly! Thanks for sharing with us. Travel safely, my friend.
Jelly?
@@vivians9392, ~ jelly is short for jealous. 🤓
so lovely and inspiring! all the sand and telephone poles and noow and then then metal boxes and empty garages and interesting road signs!!
You should try the 33 high way from Maricopa to OJai/Ventura
Cool travels Adam, thanks for taking us with you! 🙂👏🏻
Under $6 a gallon in Cali. Sad times indeed when gas costs us an arm and a leg! Happy trails Adam the Woo!
I grew up close by in Shafter, Oildale, and Bakersfield. As an airman at Vandenberg AFB in the early 1970s, I made many road trips between between the base and Bakersfield via state route 166, a good memory.
Always happy to see you in my home state, Adam! Thanks for taking us along for the ride and hope you'll stay awhile. P.S. Jed was shootin at some food and up from the ground came a bubblin crude....oil, that is. (i.e. Black gold, Texas tea)
I'm from Texas and never heard of oil referred to as Texas Tea!
Good beautiful morning, from Glennville Ga., enjoying the video, while drinking my coffee this morning, I 've never been to Cali, I have kinfolks in Bakersfield, thank you for tanking me for a ride with you, have a wonderful day!!
I wish that I could clean up those calico cats and bring them home! My first cat was Coco the Calico!🐈😸
Welcome back. Great video. Would love to see you do the CA coastline (Big Sur area) sometime. It's gorgeous.
I didn’t know about the Lost Boys train track bridge in Valencia. I thought it was all done in Santa Cruz at the bridge by the beach boardwalk. I assume they used both. Thanks for sharing. 👍🏻
I love love this video. My dad worked on that elk reserve when I was really young. It doesnt look like its changed at all😊
I worked there 2 years ago as a Union Millwright. Its a huge oilfield.
Nice to see you back in California.Severe drought out west.Could be a busy fire season.🥵🤷♂️
Great travel video! Thanks!
2022 Woo is some great content, best year since around 2016 in my humble opinion
Wow you came rite through my neck of the woods, west side of Kern county.
Yeah they’re Tule Elk, indigenous to the area all the way over to the Sierras
Thx for the work you do
Dude, been following this road trip and funny you passed right thru my area. The oil field area you went thru is the sunset midway strip and is a significant production area. The bees are to pollinate the almond orchards. The big metal building behind the spicer market is a juicing plant where the pomegranate juice commonly sold all over the nation is made. The “ motel” is old farm labor housing. The old metal building near Buttonwillow is the old cotton gin. Huell howser did an entire episode out there years ago that I believe included the old “ haunted” fellows motel.
So you know about the " Penny Bar " up behind the oil seeps. to bad he didn't find Brown Material rd.
@@Telephony954 I can picture him standing there in front of that sign with a bewildered look on his face haha. There is an old historic concrete jail building still standing in Buttonwillow he would have found interesting. I’ve always thought it is a shame it isn’t relocated to pioneer village.
Yep.that's what I said about the houses then being farm workers. I'm from Visalia, Ca
@@Carrie.7 to bad he didn’t hit superior dairy on his way down
I grew up in the Glendora region of L.A. county. I enjoy seeing the area through your videos. Thank you.
Interesting area with orchards of almonds and pistachios. I used to drive a tractor which towed a mechanical shredder which shreds or mulches the brush from the trees that were trimmed after harvest. They used to burn those trimmings. Can't anymore. A century ago that whole area of the Southern San Joaquin Valley was a vast shallow lake and wetlands area. How time has changed it all.
Adam.... thank you so much, keep livin the dream and thanks for the ride... the wonderlust to roam is calling, feed it brother!
The oil Jack pumps were quite the eyesore, Orange Blossom honey is something I really do miss from living in California and the smell of the Orange Grove blossoms can be intoxicating. And I think those little houses were probably for the migrant workers and their families. I'm surprised Magic Mountain is still open went there as a kid when it was brand new first ride was the spin out Barrel ride and up came my grand slam Denny's breakfast I was miserable the rest of the day for hash browns were stuck in my sinuses ugh. Thanks for sharing it's been a long long time since I was in California left for Texas in 1980
I hate getting sick from magic mountain rides 😒
Yes, I've seen the migrant housing in rural California and Oregon. Looking like slave shacks...😔
Enjoyed this! When I have time , I always like to get off the beaten path , take the roads less traveled, the scenic routes.....thanks, stay safe always...God bless you..🙏❤
That probably wasn't a motel, it was most likely one of those places where migrants that worked farms lived at. It would be why you see the large fields next to it
Agree
👍
I thought it looked quite sterile and plain for a motel... 🤔
Great video..
MORE of California
🏖
I haven't watched you for awhile, why did I stray? I love your channel! You have lost weight! You look wonderful!
The wells have pump off controllers, when the ride in the well sense that the pump isn't full it shuts down and waits for the well to fill up.
Woo loving your vids as usual ! Orange county... Getting close to Sean Clark.
You were right in my backyard. That area has thousands of acres of Almond and Pistachio trees. That abandoned set of identical buildings would be farm labor housing. They are scattered throughout central California . Safe Travels Amigo. Next time you pass through Kettleman stop into Bravo Farms.
Watching you from Hong Kong
Yes those are honeybees used to pollinate crops. The beekeepers transport them for farmers who pay for that service. Beehive theft is a big problem in CA.
I enjoy watching your offf the beaten path vlogs! Thank you for letting me tag along.
The town of buttonwillow gets its name from the button willow tree to the north of the town that is still alive today where native American Indians used to meet with settlers and they would trade under the tree.. the tree is still there... Also, the town of Tupman was built on leased land from oil companies to house Oil workers back in the 1920s and has a school that is still in use built around that time... There used to be a town to the north of buttonwillow but to the South of highway 46 just off of highway 33 that was called Bell ridge it was owned by Royal Dutch Shell and I have metal detected out in that area and found all kinds of old coins jewelry an interesting metal objects...
@Hal I grew up in Wasco. You know any history about that little town?
@Lesko
Ty for the information especially about the Natives trading under the tree. I'm from Denver, originally Rosebud South Dakota, but we have Confluence park where Cherry creek n Platte river meet where the Natives met with fur trappers. Colorado was Cheyenne n Arapaho territory. Loved this city but it's becoming sooo gentrified that it's unbearable to live here. Rent n crime is sky high. Love these vlogs where I can escape the concrete jungle. Oh yeah, I'm Lakota n own land but it's desolate. Ty for reading 🪶🦅🪶🦅
Used to stop at a truck stop in Buttonwillow on our drives to northern CA from LA in the early 70s...sucks getting old...
You metal detected that area, how cool. I'm here reading these comments because I metal detect and am considering a road trip to that area. Just this morning, I metal detected two 1950's houses in Palmdale and ended up with sixteen wheat pennies, four silver dimes, and a 1954 half dollar. Those five silver coins gives me 89 for this year. Two days ago, I dug a dime trifecta in East Los Angeles, along with ten wheat pennies. Hay, I just noticed something, your handle. This is the second time I've laughed reading these comments. Great screen name/handle, love it!!!! Now I'm wondering if anyone else has commented on your name?
Indians are from india.
It’s great to see you back in The OC. 😊👍🏻