Theme ~ My 50 Years in America
I came to California in 1972, , after a cross-country trip in VW Bug with a guy from Philly, who had moved to Sacramento, and whose ad I answered. His name was John, and fortunately for me, he was extremely nice and easy to get along with. My first view of California, after we crossed the California border at Needles, was the great Mojave desert.
I still remember the first time I saw water for sale at a desert gas station ~ 25 cents a gallon ~ and knew I had arrived in a different world from the wet and humid East Coast I just left behind.
In 2005, my husband and I bought our home here in the canyon and at first we drove back and forth to Los Angeles a lot. The trip takes you through a part of the Mojave Desert called the Antelope Valley and the towns of Lancaster and Palmdale. Here are a few things you may see along the way:
On the way down the mountain to the small town of Mojave, we pass this truck. In spring, flowers grow from the engine compartment.
If you stop and get out of your car, you may come upon a lizard, like this one. Hopefully, you will not encounter the Mojave rattlesnake, or Mojave green, as it's called around here, the most poisonous snake in North America.
On the other hand, encountering a road runner who just caught a snake would be a fun experience.
California poppies color the desert orange in spring, covering acres upon acres with their lovely flowers.
Something else that covers acres and acres in the desert are airplanes. The airplane boneyard outside the town of Mojave is huge; the planes are left here to be dismantled, or just left, so many of them. I have only seen a small portion of this boneyard, and it is an amazing sight.
After you leave the town of Mojave, you pass a sign for Silver Queen Road, which appeals to my sense of both romance and adventure. A silver mine, but who was the queen?
Looking for an entrance to the mine, I found an opening into the mountain, framed in wood, old wood. It's difficult to see, but it is located to the left in the above picture.
One day, on our way home from Lancaster, we stopped at this casino, just to check it out. They had no slot machines, just a group of rather sad looking desert people gathered around a card table. There was nothing for us there, but I left with this picture. I think it is pretty cool with its patriotic colors of red, white, and blue. And that sky!
