7-1-2022 INTRODUCTION TO 4TH OF JULY TRIP

 Don’t have it be said that Lindy and Rob let Independence Day escape without finding a parade and festivities in a park somewhere!  It’s an excuse to get out of Dodge, to be sure, but also, tradition is tradition.  This year remains in question based upon the price of diesel fuel for the beast.  He gets hungry and that requires taking out a second on the house to fill up Noobee’s 90 gallon tank.  That considered, we’ll wait until the insanity in Washington DC settles down and take a couple of smaller trips this year.  This is one of those smaller trips.

"Not a good sign," as they say.
(Good ol' California!)

We are desert rats, as you know, and if memory serves, it’s been many years since we’ve been to Borrego Springs, CA.  Chosen as the resort de jour, we wail with Willie, “On the Road Again!”

 

Avoiding the freeways can be a tricky business but that is our standard.  At Baker, the road continued south through the Mojave National Preserve, once frontier, then commandeered by BLM and now watched over by the National Park Service.  There was not much to see other than sand, tumbleweeds, cacti and Joshua trees, although some signs told us to be on the lookout for jackrabbits, desert tortoises and coyotes.  Nope, they’re all hiding.  Then, we came upon the Kelso Depot, or more accurately, what’s left of Kelso Depot, through which the main transportation line, owned and operated by the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad passed.  It stretched from, you guessed it, San Pedro to Salt Lake.  How did Kelso Depot get its name?  Three workers threw their names in a hat and then drew out a name, John Kelso, and thus Siding # 16 was named Kelso Depot.  Eventually, Union Pacific acquired the railroad.  Built in 1924, the depot’s function was to provide extra locomotives and water for steam to help pull the heavy-laden trains up the grade heading north.  When diesel engines took over, the population of Kelso dropped from 2,000 hearty souls to zero.  An historical foundation acquired the depot and restored it to its original glory, complete with a “lunch room” and employees’ dormitories upstairs. 

Kelso Depot Post Office

The Kelso Depot jail where many a
disorderly drunk spent a night or two

Kelso Depot (closed)

 

Moving along, we came upon what is left of the town of Amboy:  a café, motel, school house and a building we suspect might be a hamburger joint.  Importantly, we traveled on an original section of Route 66 through Amboy as the highway department made abundantly clear to us tourists by painting it on the pavement.

Pavement in front of metropolitan
Amboy, CA

Noobee on Route 66

Downtown Amboy, CA
Population:  five

 Continuing on our quest for the back roads, we crossed over the freeway and continued on a small black road through Joshua Tree National Park.  The park is heavily populated with, wait for it, Joshua trees (and other desert vegetation).  There are colossal brown rock formations and canyons that wend their way between tall, brown, rock mountains.  Not a significant departure, in many ways, from where we live in our little desert town.  That said, it begs the question of why the cartographer colors this park green on the map.

The intersection of Kelbaker Road
and... um.... Sand Boulevard?

 Eight and a half hours later, here we are, parked at the Springs at Borrego RV Resort.  A long, interesting, fun day of travel.  Time to relax and sip a toonie!