That's pretty much as I imagined it, being somewhat familiar with the area. There are a lot of straight two-lane roads, puncutated every mile or two by four-way stops. Some citrus, nectarines, pomegranates, etc., are grown in the area, so you don't always have much visibility approaching those intersections.
It sounds like you are very familiar with the area as that's exactly what it looked like. Both vehicles involved would up in the ag fields.
I've always thought it odd that California law requires that you tether a dog in the back of a truck but kids can ride there. I'm not for tying up kids but perhaps they should not be allowed to ride in the backs of trucks.