2013 Road Trip - Deserts Of The West

Road Trip - Deserts of The West

(above) Packed and ready to roll...Pam and I are heading to Southern California, primarily to visit her brother and bring back a trailer...We are planning on a ten day trip...

(above) Inside there are some changes since the last trip...Up on the ceiling is a new skylight/escape hatch...The ceiling has 'diamond plate' foam for insulation and works fine as a finished surface...The floor has a new interlocking foam pad...Tie down disks are on the ceiling ribs and there is a new radio and a couple pairs of new speakers...

(above) On the road heading south...

(above) A nice day to start the trip...

(above) A tunnel to pass through...

(above) Public art in Oregon...

(above) We are heading now to Eastern Oregon...

(above) Lunch break near Timberline Lodge...

(above) This truck and trailer pulled in and it seemed odd...I went and talked with the driver...The container is filled with concrete...The truck is being tested climbing and braking under load...140,000 pounds...Yes, seventy tons...

(above) Cresting the pass on the way down to the Eastern Oregon high valleys...

(above) Below snow line... Definitely drier than the West side...

(above) Water changes everything on the dry side...

(above) There is still a lot of history standing in these parts...

(above) We came here to Bend OR, to meet John Rhetts...He just acquired the Lexus I built things into last year...Got it from Mike Hiscox...

(above) John gave us a tour of his place and showed off his newest toy...A land sailer...Missing from the picture is the mast and sail...It sounds like it is a scream to pilot...

(above) John built this off roader to access wherever things can roll...The limiting factor seems to be crossing water over four feet deep...

(above) From the cabin you look down, way down on our high roof Sprinter...

(above) All wheel drive (custom drivetrain) and everything is 'as good as it gets'...Believe that...

(above) Me and John...

(above) John is about as interesting man as you'll meet...His dad was Ambassador to Liberia, back in the Kennedy administration...John was in his late teens then...Later John was a psychologist and did pretty well with some investments...Always a thinker that gets things done, he is very adept with conceptualizing and building things that seem improbable...I have sincere respect for the man...

(above) Pam models a pregnancy 'mask'...A 'Time Machine' is on the floor just behind her...Ask John about it....

(above) After a great evening of fine food and well told stories, Pam and I headed out to see the full moon in the Eastern Oregon sky...

Day Two...

(above) John suggested an alternate route to take and we are on it...

(above) The rain from the night before created some fast burning off fog...

(above) The light quality was amazing...Yes, I pushed the colors but the way the light saturated the morning was amazing, as you'll see...

(above) Sand pile for road work...

(above) Heading to Burns Oregon...

(above) As empty a road as there is...

(above) Strong silhouettes with the harsh light...

(above) Still some fog lifting and burning off in the distance...

(above) Not much out here, except for the occasional cafe and gas station...

(above) Most of the pictures were taken at 53 MPH...

(above) Home is what you make of it...

(above) No idea what the stack was used for...

(above) Nice tree shaping...

(above) Patriotism is strong here...

(above) Getting close to our turn to the more scenic drive...

(above) Solid...

(above) I'm not going to caption everything, you can see what's what...

(above) This area is known for the wild horses...

(above) The clouds were interesting...Way better than having a 'blue bird' day...

(above) Beyond the flags, a dirt road to the Tree Top ranch...

(above) We stopped for lunch at the start of a big north / south valley...The mirror got in the way of the full valley view, sorry...

(above) The start of many ups and downs...

(above) I got new tires last week...

(above) Snack before lunch...

(above) The paved road soon ended...

(above) Then it was three hours over some decent gravel...

(above) It felt like we were the only ones out here...

(above) Some colorful rocks in the hillside...A geologist would be in heaven on this drive...

(above) Rest stop about halfway through the drive...

(above) I haven't spent any time on this side of the Cascades and was wondering why it took me so long to finally do this...

(above) Postcard skies...

(above) About once an hour somebody would pass by...

(above) Vacant...

(above) Flat bottomed tree...Cow country...

(above) Aforementioned cows...

(above) About a hundred yards from where the pavement resumes, this car did not heed the 'Gravel Road Ahead' sign and at the first turn found out why it was there...

(above) Welcome to the West...

(above) Every so often something man made would be there...

(above) Late afternoon meal time...

(above) Pick one and take a load off...

(above) World famous...We had one and it was tasty...

(above) State of the art kitchen, circa 1953...

(above) Onions grilling...Bacon soon to be added...Then the burger...You know you want one...

(above) The parking lot was a lonely place...

(above) Formica, ketchup, water tumbler...

(above) On the road again...Skull on the beam...

(above) Just 70 miles to Winnemucca...

(above) Rain clouds off in the distance...

(above) Without the road it would be all desert...

(above) And finally, Winnemucca...Where the winners are...

(above) These next few shots were horribly backlit, so I adjusted them to this...

(above) I like 'em...

(above) Urban campsite...

Day Three...

(above) GOOD MORNING NEVADA...!!!...

(above) I wonder where this road goes...???...

(above) Good to know...

(above) In some areas we saw more trains than cars...

(above) Big house on the prarie..

(above) The temperature outside was mid 70's...

(above) Dry lakebed...

(above) Telephone poles just vanish in the distance...

(above) Wonder what they do there...???...

(above) ...and there...???...

(above) You remember what state you are in when you come into a town...

(above) My guess is the truck was a prize...

(above) Tie the steering wheel in place and put a brick on the gas pedal...

(above) Infamous Mayhem...!!!...Mud Drags...!!!...I'm coming back in August...

(above) Harsh environment...

(above) Luckily today wasn't that day...

(above) Then out of the desert, a lake would appear...

(above) Just so pretty...

(above) The land of State Champion high school baseball teams...

(above) And on the other side, the road goes just as straight...

(above) Whoa, that high...???...

(above) Then you come over the crest to appreciate all that height...The east side of the Sierras...

(above) Thanks, it's great to be here, where’s my bullet-proof vest…???...

(above) Mono Lake is down there...

(above) Sometimes it looks like a painting...

(above) On we drove until we found a rest stop to have lunch...

(above) Heading south on the 395 through the Owens Valley...

(above) Look at all the free stuff...!!!...

(above) At the end of the day, we camped on a lake in the shadow of Mount Whitney...

(above) Nice and quiet...

(above) Not at all bothered with us there...

Day Four...

(above) Beds put away, coffee in the holders, ready to roll...Mount Whitney in the background...

(above) I climbed it in the '70's...

(above) Translation: We have no idea what to do with this place...

(above) After all of the empty miles, we eventually hit the edge of the Inland Empire and the traffic that is the harsh reality...

(above) After about an hour of gnashing of teeth we were back on the back roads...Nice sculptures...

(above) Then after a nice countryside drive and a steep descent to the desert valley below, we made it to Pam's brother's place in Borrego Springs...They live on a golf course...It was nice to finally get here...

Day Five...

(above) In the morning Pam's brother Randy and I went for a bike ride through their community, where there is also an upscale RV park...

(above) Three Jeeps in a row...Tow vehicles like these are called "dinghies"...

(above) The RV park clubhouse has a Southwest theme to it...

(above) Hummvee as a dinghy...You win...

(above) Where I spent close to two hours without getting out...

(above) Randy and Lonnie's Patio...

(above) Required equipment...

(above) Stretching or pull-starting the electric car...???...

(above) Look, don't touch...

(above) The trees were swinging pretty good in the wind...80 degrees never felt so right...

(above) Back to the Casa de Happy Hour...

(above) Later we went to the Anza Borrego National Park...

(above) Guess what's for lunch...???...You are...

(above) On a road out to the desert to check out some art...

(above) Acre upon acre of steel sculptures...

(above) One last stop on the way home for some fresh grapefruit...Makes a better Greyhound...

Day Six...

(above) Early morning start...Drive out to watch a sunrise...

(above) Then it was time for a hike...

(above) One of Lonnie's boot's soles came off, so we peeled the other one off as well...

(above) Our destination...Natural palm grove...

(above) The things are just huge...

(above) It must've rained recently...

(above) We enjoyed the oasis, then hiked back...The rest of the day was purely pool time and fine food, stiff drinks and wondering why it took so long for me to finally make it there...

Day Seven...

(above) We needed to get on our way to pick up that trailer, so it was on the road again...

(above) Don't they know, people die in the desert...???...

(above) We took a detour through Mecca because it was more scenic than the other way...

(above) This is the bottom of the Badlands that you saw in the pictures from yesterday's sunrise...

(above) Humans do not do well out there...

(above) It would be suicide to try to cross this county on foot...It's exactly like this until you are deep into Baja California...Imagine how you even get up to the top of one of those, then how do you cross another hundred miles of territory just like that...???...

(above) These things pop up here and there...

(above) I was showing Pam how to do a double exposure when I made this...

(above) Such big country...

(above) That's all you needed to say...!!!...

(above) Every now and then, a place like this would just be there...Stop the van, shoot the shots, get back in the van, roll on...

(above) California / Arizona...Colorado River...

(above) In the sky, a hundred yards from The London Bridge...I refused to take a picture of that "only a tourist would stop to see that' attraction...Pathetic....

(above) The trailer we picked up to take back to Pam's dad...

(above) It's basically a fifth wheel equipped trailer...

(above) We found a campground right on Lake Havasu ....

(above) Arizona sunset...

Day Eight...

(above) Another warm, still, morning...

(above) Around the campground were some of the best examples of American excess you could ever hope to see...

(above) Nothing sips fuel, it guzzles it...all in the name of fun...

(above) Speaking of fun...

(above) I asked what you want to know...140 MPH...

(above) She's a beauty...!!!...

(above) I'm thinking the Sprinter might not be big enough to tow it...Damn, I was ready to put it on the Visa card...

(above) Where they tweak them to go faster...

(above) Just how many of those things go in one of those things...???...

(above) Back to the desert...

(above) Did you miss us...???...

(above) Detour...

(above) For years I've had the Matchbox Sprinter in the van...Why I never used it as a photo prop before...???...

(above) You can say that again...

(above) Even if there was barbed wire and guarded, I'd find a way to escape...

(above) Barstow...

(above) Another day done, night at a highway rest area...

Day Nine...

(above) Funny how the Sprinter seems no so big anymore...

(about) QUIT SHOUTING AT ME, I CAN READ...!!!!...

(above) So when was the last time you saw one of these in this good of shape...???...

(above) Rusty, but intact...

(above) Saw the smoke from miles away...

(above) House fire...

(above) We found this nice park to spend the night...

(above) Then it started to rain...

(above) Hard...With hail...And a weird sounding wind...The radio I put in the van has a built-in NOAA weather radio...Let's see what the forecast is..."There is a funnel cloud moving directly over your asses right now..." Words like tornado kept coming up and the "..if you are in a RV get the hell out of it and seek underground shelter" were repeated ..I just opened another beer...

Day Ten...

(above) Morning ritual...

(above) How big of a maple bar do you want...???...

(above) Ready for another day's adventure...

(above) This road into they Trinity Alps of northern California was insanely steep, and windy...Photography from the driver seat wasn't really an option...I'll get Pam to post some of her shots later...