Were there lizards back then?

I had a terrible stay at my Glendale hotel. First of all, when you enter the lobby and you're greeted by a guy behind a inpenetrable glass wall, you don't feel that welcome! I knew something wasn't quite right when the supposed non-smoking room had it's door wide open...as did several other rooms on the floor! Airing it out...for what? The room itself smelled musty and not all that clean. I soon discovered this was one of many problems. There was NO facial tissue, NO clock radio, NO soap holder in the shower and rough towels! To make matters worse, when I got back from the Five For Fighting show, I passed a couple of people smoking on the walkway, two doors down from mine. I entered my room to find...it smelled like smoke! I think the smoke seeped under the door and through the 1/4 inch gap around the wall-mounted air conditioner! Needless to say, when I do my AAA review of this hotel, I will not be complimentary!

My first item on the agenda today was a visit to Fort Tejon State Historic Park in Lebec, CA. Stationed at this fort from 1854 to 1864 was the 1st U.S. Dragoons. The unit was most famous for their failed experiment of using camels in the U.S. Army. This park has original and restored buildings from that time. But, what interested me the most? Lizards! Small lizards were crawling all over the sunny side wall of the Barracks building. I hadn't seen wild lizards since I was growing up in southern California. All the kids had pets that they caught from the wild...snakes, tortoises...and lizards, too! I spent a good amount of time following the little critters...took a few pics, too, as you can see. So cute! I wished I could catch a couple for pets, but I just left them alone. Hmm...I wonder if those same lizards were crawling around Fort Tejon way back when?

The other fun thing for the day was going to the California Living Museum in Bakersfield. This zoo has animals and plants native to the surrounding area. The place was pretty small, but I managed to find something of great interest...rattlesnakes! Yes, many zoos have rattlesnakes, but it's not often you can actually SEE them really up close! I snapped some nice shots of the reptiles through the glass.

In general, the weather today was pretty nice. That all changed when I reached Fresno...rain! And, it rained all the way to my pit stop for the night. It might still be showering tomorrow morning, but it's supposed to clear up and be sunny the rest of the day. Crossing my fingers that will be the case as I'm going to visit Yosemite National Park!