Tehachapi? Isn’t that in California? Aren’t you the “Lancaster, Pennsylvania” Graveyard Rabbit? All those questions probably come to your mind, don’t they? Well, the answer is YES, Tehachapi is in California and YES, I’m the Lancaster, Pennsylvania Graveyard Rabbit. However, I used to live in Tehachapi and I am visiting family here this week, so I decided to do a little “Cemetery hopping” while in California!
Avelino Martinez
The day was beautiful, blue skies, (yes, the skies were this blue!) temperatures in the 70′s, a typical December day up in this mountain community. I dropped my granddaughter off at work and headed on a mission.
Avelino Martinez is buried in Westside Cemetery, with his site facing north and south, not east and west like all of the other stones in the cemetery. Reason for this? Don’t know, but it’s a fact! . . . and just who is Avelino Martinez? I knew because I had been into town and read one of the beautiful murals painted on the buildings in town, and now you can know, too!
Side of the H.R. Block Building in Tehachapi, CA
Isn’t this great? Not only do we have a picture of this 112 year old man on horseback, but we have his biography, too? Don’t you wish he was one of your ancestors?
Since I have one more week in California, I plan on hopping by a couple more cemeteries in obscure places. Expect another story or two, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s Graveyard Rabbit!
