Barstow, CA (03-11-12)

Barstow is a pretty small, desert town, past it’s prime, like so many of the small historic towns we’ve been to,  but it turns out there is plenty to do in this area.  We spent a week here and didn’t do or see everything. Some places that we saw, we could have passed on, had we known what they really were- such as the Calico Ghost Town.  As far as I could see, we paid an entrance fee for the privilege of shopping in their stores.  It’s a partially restored ghost town, but  most of the buildings that were open had actually been converted to stores, and the buildings that housed the museum, town hall and blacksmith shop were closed.

In it’s heyday, Barstow was part of the “Route 66” phenomenon.  Once Henry Ford started cranking out automobiles at an amazing pace, the American people realized that the road system in this country was not developed enough for people to use their new cars the way they would like.  The Federal Government stepped in and created the Federal Aid Road Act, to help states fund the new highway system that was required.  Route 66 was one of the results.  It follows old wagon and railroad trails, from Chicago to Los Angeles, and like the wagon trails before it, was a symbol of freedom and adventure to the American people. It was used by many to head west to California, in search of the American dream.  As the road grew in popularity, businesses popped up along the way.  Everything from Gas stations to restaurants and lodging could be found along Route 66.

Years later, with ever more cars on the roads, larger highways with more lanes became necessary,  and with the building of Interstate 40, Route 66 became obsolete, as did many of the business along it’s route.  Nowadays people drive on Route 66 to enjoy the historical significance of it, or to just plain get off the boring, mundane interstate and have fun on the road.
Barstow has three decent museums- the Rte 66 Museum, the Twenty Mule Team Museum and a railroad museum.  They are all free.  Of course, they are only open a few days a week, but that’s ok, the price was right!

Having had our fill of indoor activities, we found ourselves heading to Rainbow Basin to do some hiking.   Our hike into Owl Canyon was awesome.  The rock formations here are like nothing we have seen before.

The colors are amazing!

We hiked deep into the canyon, happy that we had brought our GPS with us!

There were a lot of rock climbing opportunities, most of which I declined, but Paul had a great time climbing in and out of the canyon and over huge boulders.  He is actually in the picture above, leaning against the protruding rock formation.

We have now moved on from Barstow to Tecopa Hot Springs.  You can probably guess what this town is known for.  We are on the edge of Death Valley, near Area 51, according to the locals.  I must admit I had a chill go down my spine when I heard that.  We have absolutely no cell phone coverage here, and only have the internet through the campground Wi-fi. The locals say that whatever the government is doing here, it is the cause of no cell signal.  Anyway, if you don’t hear from us again, you can assume we were abducted by aliens!