My uncle, Robert Matson, was a long time(to my knowledge) resident of Ridgecrest, CA.  He loved it out there.  He was an avid fisherman and ham radio operator.  I believe he went to Ridgecrest after the Navy moved in.  He was a civilian employee at the naval station.  His military was in the Army, not Navy!!  He earned the Bronze Star in WW2 during the Battle of the Bulge.  I don't remember as much about this place as I would like as I was quite young when I visited there.  I would like to visit again some day.  I discovered, just within the last couple years that I do have cousins and one still lives in Ridgecrest.  This is a nice web site.  My congratulations to its creators.  It is nice to visit Ridgecrest this way.  Gives me the urge to come there sooner to see just what the web site couldn't show!

I never really lived in Ridgecrest/Inyokern but spent many a hot summer there.  I lived in Bakersfield but my Aunt and Uncle, Bob and Carolyn White (Carolyn Lewis) owned and operated the Homestead Restaurant.  Bob had two sons Bobby and Danny White.  Carolyn had two daughters, Kim and Stephanie Huggins (or White).

Many summers I would spend with them and work in the restaurant. I have so many fun memories of the desert, riding motorcycles to Robbers Roost, digging on the Old Stagecoach trail, just being a kid.  My parents were much more strict so I couldn't wait to be unleashed at Aunt Carolyns for the summer.

My grandmother, Ila Marie Wengler was married to Constable Lee Wengler and lived in Ridgecrest but it wasn't nearly as much fun as Aunt Carolyns.

Lee Wengler, Bob White and Kim White (Huggins)passed away many years ago. My grandmother passed away in June 2004, my Aunt Carolyn is alive and living out of state.  I keep telling myself that I'm going to make a special trip to town and eat dinner at the Homestead but I'll bet it isn't as good as when my aunt owned it!