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BAKERSFIELD: Buck Owens & Basques Calling all honky-tonk angels: Bakersfield may just be a must-stop. Once home to the late country-music legends Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, this San Joaquin Valley community's workaday, unpretentious facade masks a city of surprises. Located inland and northwest of Los Angeles, Bak- ersfield is reached via California routes 99 and 58. The city of 347,000 is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Basque com- munities in the United States. Family-style Basque restaurants like Wool Growers Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge and the Pyrenees Café add diversity to the down- home cooking of Bakersfield's truck stops and roadside diners. Fans of country music can drop by Buck Owens' Crystal Palace, with its mementos of Owens and his band, the Buckeroos, and catch a show by con- temporary country musicians. It's a fine place to listen to a swooning steel guitar by the light of the jukebox. LA QUINTA: Golf, Hiking & Desert Sun This desert town of 40,000 is a favorite des- tination for golfers, especially in winter when La Quinta is winningly warm but not hot. The combination of golf and fine weather makes it a strong draw for snow- birds temporarily fleeing less salubrious climes. Located 130 miles east of Los Angeles and 130 miles east of San Diego on Interstate 10, La Quinta is in the Coachella Valley, flanked by the rocky Santa Rosa Mountains. The city offers no fewer than five public golf courses of championship caliber and is a host city for the PGA Tour's Career Building Challenge, formerly the Bob Hope Classic. Silver Rock Resort fea- tures an Arnold Palmer Classic Course, while refurbished circa-1926 La Quinta Resort likewise offers a classic course. A prime getaway for early Hollywood celebri- ties, including populist everyman film director Frank Capra, La Quinta Resort is perhaps the best-known local hotel. Don't play golf? Hiking and biking are also pop- ular choices. EUREKA: Redwoods & Victorians In the northwestern corner of California, Eureka, 270 miles north of San Francisco on Humboldt Bay, has the largest deep-water port between San Francisco Bay and 24 2 0 1 7 T R A V E L G U I D E T O C A L I F O R N I A THE SIERRA TAVERN is one of many historic buildings in downtown Truckee, right; the Old Church Plaza, Bakersfield, boXom; tall ship Hawaiian Chie=an with the Carson Mansion in the background, Eureka, opposite top. BENNY MARTY/SHUTTERSTOCK; RICHARD THORNTON/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: REDWOOD COAST CITIES