Shoshone Village, CA

Shoshone Village, CA lies just outside the southeastern edge of Death Valley National Park almost directly west of Las Vegas and about 135 miles north of Barstow.  We drove up there to see a park and looked around this little oasis town in the desert while we were there.  The town and campground all make up one property featuring a café, general store, motel, Post Office, gas station and museum as well as the campground itself.  They are a welcome sight after driving up through the barren desert along Route 127.  The town truly is an oasis with trees, grass and an amazing hot spring at the site of the campground.

To me the campground is intriguing because it has a pool that is heated by a natural hot spring that keeps the pool temperature at 89 degrees day and night year round.  The spring changes over the entire water content of the pool every four hours.  Can you imagine?  The park also has a pond that attracts a multitude of birds.  I think I may have seen an oriole there with spectacular orange plumage.  A nature walk nearby competes with the pond for the attention of the birds.  Here you can sit and watch them from benches along the trail as they flit from tree to tree.  The campground purposely leaves palm fronds on some of the palms around the pond in which the birds can nest further attracting them to the site.

We ate at the café and then wandered into the general store across the street.  I could not resist purchasing a piece of rose quartz that reminded me of my grandmother’s rock garden when I was a child.  Sitting in my kitchen window in the coach, it glows a soft pink when the sun shines through it in the afternoon.  The memories of tiptoeing along the roots of the tree that embraced Grandma’s rock garden to gaze down with awe at the pink granite rock she had brought back from a “trip out West” has now gone full circle.

I also found a stone I want to make a necklace out of.  It is called orthoceras.  Technically I learned this with some research:  "Orthoceras is a genus of extinct nautiloid cephalopod."  In plain English that means stones of this nature date from about 400 million B.C. and consist of fossils most often set into limestone.  When polished on one side, the stone shows off the fossil.  These fossils are related to today's living species of squid and the chambered nautilus, are quite common and found globally.  Not being a geologist, I can't say that mine looks like what I imagine as limestone, but I like the pattern and it was only a dollar to acquire so I am happy!

Further up the street just past the town’s motel is a small park.  An array of road signs painted in a multitude of primary colors point the way to destinations of the world proclaiming the number of miles needed to reach each one.  Three benches surround the signs formed of softly rounded river rocks.  The rocks are all set into cement to create a smooth, comfortable and cool seat in the mild afternoon sun.  Sitting on one, I gaze up at the road signs and tick off in my mind all the places I have actually experienced listed in those signs.  I feel incredibly lucky in this life.  Almost a year after being on the road, I am still amazed to have the opportunity to be literally traveling down the road to see even more of the places those signs point to.

 

We head back toward Barstow and the mountains seem as if they are watercolors painted against the sky.  The desert is beautiful in its own way as the sun dips lower on the horizon creating shadows and a golden glow as the slant of its rays hit the uneven terrain.  We’ll return here some day and I will swim in the pool, floating in its lovely warm water and gaze up at the stars through the clear night air.  And then for a brief moment in time, I will know what others thought as they trekked across the desert a hundred years ago.  Finally finding the warm spring of this oasis, they too must have rested their weary bodies within its waters under the same night sky feeling the wonder of their existence.

The Glass Bottle House

The “Glass Bottle House” in Calico Ghost Town known as Dorsey's Dog House is so unique that it requires a special note of its own in the blog.  The house was built of wine bottles (presumably a plentiful building material in the days of mining here.)  Layered with the bottoms facing outward between stucco, the bottles form a colorful pattern on the outside of the house.  The bottles additionally permit light to travel into the home through the wall creating a pleasing ambiance within the shop as well.

Now this building is the home of Wes and Michelle’s “Dorsey’s Dog House” (a vendor of gourmet treats, unique bones and fun specialty items for pets.)  Checkout their website at www.dorseysdoghouse.com to learn more.  They also have a page on FaceBook under Dorseys Dog House.  It was as much fun looking at their wares as it was peering through the necks of the bottles to see blurry views of the landscape beyond their glass bottoms.   Do you see the mountains in the photo below?  A clerk here named Patti was as excited to point out unique patterns in the glass, as we were to see them.  Photography was a must here as you can see above and below.

Calico Ghost Town

 

Calico Ghost Town is a restored Old West mining town situated on the side of a hill just east of Barstow.  It was established there in March of 1881 after silver was discovered in the area with its population growing from 40 originally to 1,200 by 1887.  By 1893 the price of silver had dropped and the town began its journey to “ghost town” status.  However, with the help of the founder of Knott’s Berry Farm, Walter Knott, the town was restored in 1951.  Subsequently Mr. Knott donated the entire property in 1966 to San Bernardino County.  The county made the town a San Bernardino County Regional Park and today the site is one of the few remaining original mining towns of the western United States.  There is even an overnight campground there for folks wishing to take in the sights, hike or do photography in the area.

There were over 500 mines dug here.  Names like the “Silver King” or the “Oriental” or the “Bismarck” were given to the most productive mines between the years of 1881 and 1907.  Boomtown is the word used to describe the production at this time with $86 million in silver and $45 million in borax produced from the surrounding hills.  The town boasted 22 saloons, a “China Town” and of course their own infamous red light district.

Now current businesses are intermixed between historical buildings with all restored to depict the era when the town was built including a jail, saloon, blacksmith shop and leather works vendor to name just a few.

The view from the town down into the valley is spectacular.  I suspect many a past resident or even present day visitors have sat upon a rocking chair on the porches of the businesses here dreaming of a fortune to be made in mining if only they could locate the next mining site with its “mother lode” of silver!

Barstow, CA

We've spent the past four nights in the Barstow area.  We’re mostly involved with work and doing lots of driving (more stories on that later.)  Our experience of the high desert area of southwestern California this week is providing us with some very cool (some would say cold) nights yielding to middle-of-the-day comfortably warm weather.  It is very pleasant indeed to have some sunny weather mixed into the time we’ve spent here as well.  I actually slipped on a pair of shorts today.  Yippee!

Main Street, Barstow is actually part of Historic Route 66 and the town is very proud of that history proclaiming it on buildings, in murals and with street signs everywhere.  It is also where Interstate-40 begins its long east/west trek toward Wilmington, North Carolina branching off from the north/south Interstate-15 that runs from Los Angeles through Barstow and then on to Las Vegas.

Barstow is a major staging area for the BSNF railway which utilizes a very large “classification yard” to the west of and just beyond Main Street.  BSNF shares its tracks also with Union Pacific here.  While we were in town over the past four days we saw multiple trains passing through the yard.  Some were loaded with military motor pool vehicles presumably coming or going from Fort Irwin located just north of Barstow.  One train had nine engines pulling it-an incredible number!  One can only imagine the weight they must be hauling and we never did see the end of that train!

The Barstow area was also on the Southern Route of the Mormon Trail with settlement beginning here in the late 1840s.  Seasonally when the weather cooled from October through April this area received rain, new grass growth appeared and the water sources in the Mojave Desert were replenished.  This was the stimulus for people, goods and animal herds to move to Los Angeles from Santa Fe, New Mexico along the Old Spanish Trail or from Salt Lake City, Utah along the Salt Lake Road to follow the Mojave River.  These passed by the site of the current town and settlement began.  Later the trails became highways further enhancing the location of Barstow as a crossroads for travelers and trains.  Today much of the local economy still revolves around transportation.

Also on the Fort Irwin base, NASA has their Goldstone Deep Space Communications Center here including the Pioneer Deep Space Station (designated a National Historic Site) and nearby is a Marine Corps Logistics Base.  Northrop Grumman and BSNF Railroad round out these major employers of the area around Barstow.

Eight miles north of Barstow is Rainbow Basin, which we could see in the distance while driving back and forth visiting our campgrounds.  Known for its multicolored rock formations and scenic canyons, this area is why we found the mountain views so inviting.  Fossils are abundant due to the well-exposed Miocene layers found here.  I even purchased a small fossil rock for a dollar I plan to make into a pendant that looks like it has a delicate gray feather set into the black rock.

Moving On to Barstow

We leave Victorville in the morning and head for Barstow, CA.  The weather here has turned cold with the front that blew through yesterday and the wind persists.  There was rain in the area last night and the mountains gained a bit more snow.

We saw a lovely park today in our rounds of inspecting two.  This particular park was a combination of a mobile home park and RV park.  The grounds were beautifully landscaped and the park was in fine condition.  This is the type of park that makes doing our job a pleasure.  The friendly staff added to that impression.

When the sun went down tonight it had that lovely angle as it touched the hills beyond our coach that makes everything look magical and I wanted to share a couple of photos with you.  Views like this make the desert look beautiful but my body craves warmer weather.  That being said, I am going to crawl under the covers and call it a day.  The boys are already asleep and tomorrow will be here before I know it.

These clouds were interesting in the light of the setting sun above the coach.  

More Chocolate

Eclipse Chocolate Bar and Bistro has a monthly themed dinner.  We went back with Jim's sister and her husband after our delightful Sunday brunch to see what an Italian dinner devised around chocolate would taste like last Friday.  It was beyond every delectable expectation.  This is a must visit for anyone going to San Diego.  I can hardly wait to go back!

We started the meal with a meatball appetizer.  Second course was a minestrone soup followed by the ravioli with grilled vegetables main entrée.  We finished with a “to die for” tiramisu.  The event’s menu had a far more romantic description of the above (see it below) and a picture is worth a thousand words correct?  So enjoy the visual beauty of this young chef’s creations.

 

The young staff of this establishment is working hard to create a unique and delicious experience for their patrons with attentive service.  Will (the chef) shares a passion for his work by visiting with all of us at the event to explain the theory and ingredients used in each course.  Black garlic was one of the ingredients in the ravioli.  He explained that he slowly roasts garlic over several days in a low oven until it becomes caramelized.  This is then mingled with the other ingredients to create fabulously flavored ravioli.

Want more information?  Here’s their website:  www.eclipsechocolate.com

This was our menu below:

mozzarella stuffed beef meatballs with marinara & herbed crostini


heirloom veggie minestrone with kale, percorino romano fricco, & fried sage leaf


black garlic & ricotta ravioli -or- triple meat deep dish pizza


both served with heirloom tomato salad with basil & white chocolate balsamic drizzle

espresso soaked creme fraiche tiramisu with coffee caramel & espresso sea salt

Snoopy's Corner

Snoopy's Corner:

Well, Mom and Dad are back at work.  They started yesterday and worked from 9 am until 4 pm.  After a little nap and dinner, Mom was on the computer until 11 pm.  But she says in the beginning it is going to take a little longer until she gets back into the routine.  Dad was really tired and we hung out together watching a movie last night.

We are moving again tomorrow and heading to Barstow.  There is one park they have to see that is almost to Las Vegas.  Dad says it will be a 250 mile round trip in the car after we get settled in at Barstow.  I'll have my work cut out for me that day watching over the coach (in between naps that is.)

We had a lot of wind here last night.  Somebody said it was up to 65 mph gusts.  I heard all kinds of weird noises, but Dad said it was only the wind.  They said they talked to a park manager ten miles from here yesterday that was thrown out of bed by the earthquake last Friday night.  I'm sure glad we did not get here until Saturday.  The park manager told them it was the worst one he's experienced in the 25 years he's lived here.  Whew!  That was close for us.  Well, I've got to run and say goodbye to Mom and Dad.  They're ready to leave for work.  Catch you again soon.

Love,
Snoopy