San Joaquin Valley, California (Google Maps ⧉, OpenStreetMap ⧉)

"Long Pond and Black Pond, liked by New York visitors, were not enough for a man who had seen the Yosemite and ridden the length of the San Joaquin Valley through square miles of wildflowers."

"All I knew was that they lived far north of here, in one of the dusty, hot San Joaquin valley towns."