Boo and I started out our road trip home from Tahoe around 6:00am this morning. It’s actually an awesome drive because there is so much to see. The only thing that’s annoying is when the navigation system (the lady in the sky) tells me “turn right in 282 miles.” Is it really necessary to tell me that I need to turn…..282 miles before I actually have to?
I’m a sucker for any turn off labeled “Vista Point.” I’ll pull off and snap a photo…..it’s bound to be good if they devoted a whole detour for a view.
Here’s Mono Lake:
The Vista Point before Big Pine:
I’m obsessed with this little ghost town in the middle of nowhere. It’s called Red Mountain. I am certain that people still live there……a few houses have potted plants on their stoops…..and the plants are alive. The thing is….I’ve never seen a human being in that town. And there is some crazy cool stuff lying around: an old golf car, an Italian looking sports car, a boat resembling the Orca (Quint’s boat) from Jaws….but it all looks so abandoned…..even post-apocalyptic.
This is the old grocery store:
I stopped for a moment and walked around, locking Boo in the car. I’m obsessed with this bear and wanted to get a close photo:
I took a similar picture 3 years ago in 2009…..but just had Mr. LBB slow the car down so I could lean out the window. (If Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre lives anywhere….it’s here. And if anyone in Red Mountain has an internet connection, I hope I’m not the first one to break the news to you.) Notice how much has changed….except for the bear.
I’m on a mission…..I want to find someone who knows someone who lives in Red Mountain.
Okay, moving on….
These signs give me anxiety:
I’m so glad I get to use the runaway truck ramp….
…..said no one ever.
Oh, and trucks give me anxiety in general (this is MORE than just OPC). No offense to any truckers out there. I just think I watched Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive one too many times.
Boo and I stopped at Kramer Junction* for a break and some antique shopping.
*Kramer Junction also reminds me of a movie…..remember Cable Junction in Jaws 2?
Boo asked about everything in the antique store. What’s this? A rotary phone. What’s this? An ice cream scoop. What’s this? A record player.
I bought an old scale and a few vintage cameras:
Boo finally fell asleep for about an hour after watching The Bee Movie approximately 5 times. So if you ever wanted to know how long it takes to get from Palm Desert to Lake Tahoe: it’s 5 to 6 Bee Movies.
“We’re not made of jello, we get behind a fellow! Black and yellow!”
She woke up right around Morongo Casino. Have you ever seen the movie Mosquito Coast with River Phoenix and Harrison Ford? I think the casino looks just like a big, creepy Mosquito Coast jungle ice maker:
And the windmills mean we’re finally home….10 hours later!
I love it! I only wish our drive down south was so interesting! We do about 1054 miles in a day… and there are no ghost towns at all! And we get Peppa Pig all the way!
I just saw an awesome post about how to turn vintage cameras into night lights. Something I might just attempt some day.
Glad to hear you had a nice trip and a safe journey home.
Your such a great mom Ashley! what a fun trip! 🙂
That ghost town intrigues me. According to this website: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ca/redmountain.html 130 people live there!
Love the bear photos. Looks like a fun trip!
125 people actually still live in Red Mountain. There’s a gold mine there that still operates so most people are there seasonally. The Silver Dollar and Owl are still habitated.
cool trip home
the last time we were in Palm Desert, we went to a quasi-ghost town that was nearby but I forget the name. It did have a restaurant we ate at (that the health department was downgrading to a B just as we walked in!)
What?? Where?! I have to visit 🙂
Ash…
I think it’s near Pioneertown…
Red Mountain looks creepy! I’m glad you locked Boo in the car. It reminds me of Area 51 and Groom Lake! I’m sure if you sat in your car over night you would see Aliens for sure!
Ashley, if you don’t like trucks you would love seeing “Duel” with Dennis Weaver!
According to this article, there’s a class at San Juan College that studies the ghost towns around there and takes you into them (I think this is the right Red Mountain):
Looks like a really fun trip! You took beautiful photos, but that bear gives me the creeps.
I think Mt. St. Helen’s has one of those truck run off ramps… Kinda odd. That abandoned town seems real interesting- the bear is kinda creepy.
It was really fun to follow your journey on Instagram yesterday. What a journey!
Umm… are you taking these pictures while your driving? 🙂
We set our GPS to speak British English and named her Penelope. Despite the friendly reminders, we frequently ignore her. We are still waiting for the day when she says: “Fine then, figure it out yourself!” and shuts off.
That ghost town is awesome!!! My husband and I are always on the look out for a good ghost town to go snoop around in…hum, maybe that make us wierd…and while I never think about Leatherface while we are snooping there have been a few times I’ve been convinced that we are on the scene of a real life “Children of the Corn” village.
Love that drive. My family lives in Crowley lake, right up that way from where you were. And Maximum overdrive is the creepiest movie ever. You always get it right!!!
Every time I go somewhere and it is at night time I am totally creeped out thinking Leatherface will get me. Seriously, he is real!
My dad is a trucker. I have never seen that Stephen King movie.
I love the photos you captured. And I like that Boo asks a lot of questions like you do. Her mind is working!
That bear looks like she lost a bunch of weight and got a boob job! I love that you take pictures of odd things as you drive down the road. I do that too. My kids call me a drive by tourist…
I love those windmills!!!! So pretty.
and that bear creeps me out!
I just made that drive a few weeks ago and I remember seeing that bear. Crazy huh. That drive is beautiful. I did find a delicious Cafe in Lone Pine called Alabama Cafe. Its so good you need to try it next time your up that way.
Next time we make that drive up to Tahoe, I’m totally
Stopping to get a look at creeper bear. Is that off the 395?
i live in malta…its an island approx 17 x 9 miles BIG!!! i’d get bored visiting the same places over and over driving for so long!!! wish we had that kind of open spaces….
Ashley: I’ve never posted here before (just been stalking…. Ha, ha) It was bad enough when you said Boo asked what a record player was (in an antique store, no less)! However, your reference to a “vintage camera”….. that’s the exact kind of camera I upgraded to in high school! You should have seen my first two before that!
LOVE your blog, but today you made me feel my age! ((hugs)) to you girls!
Love your adventure with Boo. Such a cool trip. You bought a boat, why not buy this town and make it rock with life–with live people and no more junkyards. Also, the bear has changed a bit–gained some weight from 3 years ago, and her arms have changed positions [probably from directing traffic].
What’s even more annoying than the gps telling you to turn in 282 miles, is when it starts saying, “Turn right in 2 miles. Turn right in 1.5 miles. Turn right in 1 mile. Turn right in 0.5 miles.” And after you successfully miss your turn because you were paying attention to your gps, you hear, “Recalculating route! When possible, make a legal U-turn.” while you’re on the highway. 😛 Sometimes they make life easier, but sometimes I wish I could just use a normal map!
awesome pictures!!! I just love roadtrips in the Sierras – love love love those almost abandoned towns and the gorgeous mountains. I always want to stop and take pictures yet rarely do – next time!
I just have to tell you that my husband and I were so excited to use a runaway truck ramp the other day. But that’s because we’ve always wondered what it would be like and we were not in a runaway truck. There’s a campground off I-70 just east of Vail. The map showed that the runaway truck ramp led to a road into the campground, so I convinced my husband to take it. It was quite thrilling actually.
Mosquito Coast was one of my favorite movies when I was little! I have never actually known anyone else who has seen it-so funny!
What a great trip!!! I am soo glad you had a wonderful time!! You are on an adventure just like we use to do on all our trips to Ireland, Scotland , UK and all over the country!! We love you, mom
Looks like a fun adventure! When I saw the picture of the old grocery store, I pictured Nicholas Cage stepping out of a torn screen door, wife beater tee on with strategically placed “sweat stains”, hair just the right amount of “greasy and tussled”, with a Marlboro in his mouth. And then he walked down the porch and casually leaned up against a porch post with a squinty look across his eyes. Wind blows dust through the background of the scene, and a tumbleweed dances by (ok…i got a little cheesy with the tumbleweed, huh? lol). So…..Anywhoozie….a picture is worth a thousand words (so I will spare you anymore of mine!). Love your posts! They always make me do one of three things….laugh, THINK, or make my imagination go CRAZY wild!!
Kelley
I don’t like the runaway ramps either when we pass them going through Virginia and West Virginia – partly because we are pulling our fifth wheel and can actually imagine having to use them.
I love the windmills. We have some in western Ontario, but many people in my province seem so against them – despite their green energy. I think they are beautiful!