Our second day in Joshua Tree we took a couple of walks to old deserted mines. Weather was perfect. Ed was particularly taken with the remains of two old trucks, one of which was actually a car with the back seat removed and discarded nearby to make it into a work truck. The roof had been customized, to fit it's new truck-ness, by nailing sheet metal onto the wooden frame. The second truck had the tires still attached... well, parts of them, anyway.
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| I can make such a deal for you! ---Imagine the surprised look on your wife's face when you pull up in this baby! |
We also saw an old tank with a very strong rim!
The second site, Lost Horse Mine, was reached by a longer hike, way up at the top of a very remote hill. It was supposedly discovered by an old prospector while searching for a wayward steed. He sold his rights for $1,000 ---big bucks in the late 19th century.
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| Looking down from Lost Horse Mine, to the rock piles of Joshua Tree. |
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| Colleen displays her Happy Hiker step. |
It was the best preserved old mining structure and equipment we have ever seen.
Then, a drive to a mountain top view point. We encountered a bit of wildlife along the road...
It was VERY windy and cold on the mountain top, so Colleen wore the new hat Ed had bought for her earlier in the day, and got a compliment from a passerby.
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| Looking south to the Salton Sea at upper left. The farthest mountain is in Mexico. |
Next morning we were up early, knowing we had a long drive ahead of us. Six hours... with no stops and no traffic. Of course lots of both slowed us down considerably.
Ed took a couple of last minute photos of the very creative little studio where we have stayed for the last three nights...
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| Looking out our front door. |
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| A creative way to diffuse light from the skylight. |
We decided to go out for breakfast. We had heard that "Country Kitchen," a little restaurant close to our studio, served up a darn good breakfast. We seated ourselves at a little table in this tiny little place, and the no-nonsense proprietress, Mariene, who immigrated from Cambodia over 20 years ago, plopped menus in front of us. We barely had time to look at them when she returned to take our orders. She asked in very brisk and efficient fashion what Colleen wanted, then said... "Got it!" and moved on to Ed. After his "Got it!" she left and we began looking around. On the wall were photos of Mariene, a few years younger, smiling happily standing beside Anthony Bourdain from the Travel Channel. Sharing the same wall were quotes from the Dali Lama and more quotes from maybe her grandmother, which were for sale for $3, plus hand made roses for sale for $5. A handwritten sign by the register says, "In God we trust. All authors (sic) pay cash". We laughed when another customer asked if she could substitute a biscuit for toast and Mariene tapped her finger on the menu and commanded, "Read the menu!" She is a wonderful character and kept us chuckling, and our breakfast was excellent!
Another beautiful cactus...
We had never seen the Salton Sea, and since we were so close, we decided to take a detour to view it. Pretty amazing to think this immense body of water resulted from a goof in plumbing, when in 1905 the folks in charge of levees failed to manage the water flow. The Colorado flowed into this basin for 2 years.
Once we got back down off the mountain, it was straight freeway to suffer through....125 miles of misery through the LA basin. We were reminded how much we dislike this area. Well after dark we finally checked into our sweet little studio for the next two nights... an air bnb in Thousand Oaks. Tomorrow, for something completely different, we will explore the Getty Villa in Malibu.
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