Summit Chevron

What is so convenient about this station is the CFM handy dandy pumps. The City of Tehachapi and the Union pacific Rail Road attracts a lot of Rail Road contractors coming from different parts of the state and from out of state who carry CFM fuel cards; and the convenience of driving down the 58 fwy to see a Chevron which accepts this card is certifiably refreshing.

I’ve passed this place three times, even though I really wanted Noble Romans pizza, something they had in the midwest. In August 2013, I was still living out there, unfortunately. More than ever, I wanted to try the pizza at this location. Previously, I had not been there at an opportune time and this was exactly that.
Outside, it says «The Barn» several places. Inside, it looked okay – at first glance. I asked about how fresh the personal pizzas were. The person who came from the back seemed irritated and said that she’d just replaced what was missing. There was one of each type. I got The Works – what you’d called Deluxe or Supreme elsewhere.
The person behind the other register rang that and I asked to pay for a drink, but I had not filled a cup yet. He wasn’t friendly but also not unfriendly.
I went to set the pizza somewhere around the dining area. I don’t believe that there was a clean table or counter. Had it been cleaned in a week? I don’t know. I had the notion that the employees or their families messed it up and left it that way, so no one else would use it. I wouldn’t use it twice.
The pizza was as good as I would have expected in the midwest, near Noble Romans’ headquarters, and the Mountain Dew was good.
I don’t think I’d ever stop again. There are plenty of places to eat in the town, as well as Love’s Travel Stops at the next exit, which is where I usually stop when I’m in a hurry.

I would like to say, succintly, that Tehachapi has a biting cold wind. If you foolishly get out of your car to pump your gas, remember to bring your pea coat or risk freezing between the gas station and the snack center.

My buddies and I were just about done with the first leg of our big Thanksgiving road trip to Phoenix/​Vegas, when we pulled off the interstate and into a Chevron in Tehachapi, CA.
What a town it was. Plenty of run-​down factories, trailer parks, and dilapidated buildings littered the landscape, each a rusted-​out trademark of a former industrial town gone quiet.
The Chevron we pulled into was your typical gas station, with self-​service pumps, coolers full of cold beverages, aisles of bagged snacks, and an attendant who seemed desperate for some conversation.
Somewhere along the line during our 8 minutes in the place, he ended up showing us pictures of his brother (who is a pride fighter on the Ultimate Fighting Championship Circuit) and describing, in detail, how to make the perfect «Jungle Juice» cocktail.
«Basically, you take a 1.75 of standard vodka, a 12 pack of Budweiser, and 3 small 12 oz cans of frozen concentrate pink lemonade. Stir to taste,» he said.
«Double that recipe up if you’re expecting a big crowd, but prepare, he said, «for a firestorm of drunken debauchery.»
Wow. A firestorm? I tried to imagine exactly what that looked like, when out comes the photos from the big Halloween shindig he was at, with an un-​named conspirator wielding guns and wearing masks. Apparently, only one ”real” fight broke out. But it was just a broken beer bottle over some guys head, oh it was the attendant’s brother who had to get in there and break it up.
Just then, I non-​chalantly took a step backward towards the door, partially expecting a homemade recipe for a Molotov Cocktail to come out next.
Finally, at last, we were ready to get back on the road, so we settled our tab, purchased some snacks, and bid farewell.
Every gas station stop should be like this.