Rt 66 - Cool Springs Camp, AZ

Rt 66 - Cool Springs Camp, AZ

After surviving some great hairpin turns and the descent from Sitgreaves pass and through the Black Mountains, the valley opened up and the driving was easy. It was still early morning on Day Two of my “Goodbye God, I’m going to Texas” roadtrip. I had left Oatman and the burros behind and driven through Goldroad, which is once again an active mining area. There were some spectacular views from Sitgreaves Pass but the view before me was pretty cool as well, with one of those Arizona-type of pokey mountains up ahead. My next stop would be Cool Springs, AZ.

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Rt 66 - Sitgreaves Pass, AZ

Rt 66 - Sitgreaves Pass, AZ

After making friends with several burros in Oatman, it was time to get back on the road. My next destination was Sitgreaves Pass, which tops out at 3,550 feet. The pass was named for Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves, who traveled through the area in 1851. I would be traveling along a very narrow, two-lane blacktop with no shoulders, crazy switchbacks and steep drop-offs plunging thousands of feet down. This is my kind of road.

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Rt 66 - Oatman, AZ

Rt 66 - Oatman, AZ

Day Two of my “Goodbye God, I’m going to Texas” roadtrip. I left the comforts of my free room at the Tropicana in Laughlin, Nev and headed east for the Black Mountains. I was going to Oatman to see the burros. Once I left I-95 and started heading up into the mountains, the scenery became spectacular. Sheer, steep cliffs along the narrow winding road, jagged peaks, it was pretty amazing. And in about an hour, I was in Oatman.

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Rt 66 - California Inspection Station

Rt 66 - California Inspection Station

This is the third California Inspection Station built in Daggett. Its predecessor operated from 1930 until 1953 and was the one featured in the 1940 film version of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. This station shut down for good in 1967. But they forgot to tell the pigeons.

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Rt 66 - Goffs, Cal

Rt 66 - Goffs, Cal

My first stop in Goffs was the 100-year-old Goffs Schoolhouse. It’s a one-room mission style desert school built in 1914 by the County of San Bernardino. It has been completely restored and returned to its 1914 feel and appearance. It’s been placed on the National Register of Historic place and is currently a museum and cultural center. The surrounding grounds are filled with interesting artifacts of years gone by. Unfortunately, it was closed when I arrived. Click HERE for more history on the old school and town.

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Dunmovin, Cal

Dunmovin, Cal

If you've ever driven through the Mojave Desert on U.S. Route 395, chances are you've seen this abandoned stone restaurant and wondered about its history. All you catch of it is a glimpse when you're doing 85 mph on the highway. But it's interesting. It sticks in your mind. It beckons. You say to yourself, "self, one day I'm going to stop at this place and see what I can find."

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Rt 66 - Ludlow, Cal

Rt 66 - Ludlow, Cal

It was early afternoon on day 1 of my “Goodbye God, I’m going to Texas” roadtrip when I turned off I-40 to check out the town of Ludlow, California. It’s definitely worth a stop for anyone interested in old abandoned buildings and/or needing gas or something cold to drink. It was 2 out of 3 for me.

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Rt 66 - Newberry Springs, Cal

Rt 66 - Newberry Springs, Cal

I drove into Newberry Springs looking for Tony's Garage, the Bagdad Café and an old abandoned motel I remembered seeing back in 2013 when I was in the area for a Munzee Clan War activity. My luck was much better than Huell Howser's when he visited the town, as I found everything I was looking for and more. Watch the video at the end of this post for a great episode of Huell's California Road Trip

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Rt 66 - Daggett, Cal

Rt 66 - Daggett, Cal

Daggett is a neat little desert town with a rich history. Founded in the 1860s as Calico Junction, the town was later renamed Daggett in honor of California Lt. Governor John Daggett. The town's main purpose was originally being a supply center for the nearby silver mines of Calico.

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Rt 66 - Lenwood, Cal

Rt 66 - Lenwood, Cal

I was driving along a short (36-mile-long) section of the National Old Trails Road, between Victorville and Barstow, Cal. Also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway when it was established in 1912, the National Old Trails Road stretched some 3,096 miles from Maryland to California. When Route 66 was established years later, it incorporated much of the National Old Trails Road into its route.

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Rt 66 - Oro Grande, Cal

Rt 66 - Oro Grande, Cal

I'm guessing that Oro Grande was once a busy little place, with Route 66 travelers stopping here for a rest, a bite of food or some gas so they could continue along their way. There are a number of old buildings here that obviously date back to the 1940s and 1950s, built when Route 66 was in its prime. A few are still in use, some are abandoned, some closed down, some in ruins. The next time I'm in the area, I hope to have more time to stop and explore.

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Old Mines near Lida, Nevada

Old Mines near Lida, Nevada

Even with my old eyes, I can still see interesting things way off the highway, while speeding by at 70-80 mph. Such was the case on Nevada State Route 266 near Lida, Nevada. I was heading east toward I-95 when I caught a glimpse of something unusual several hundred yards south of the highway. My gold mine senses were tingling, so I turned around as soon as I could and headed back to see what I could find.

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Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex

Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex

The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, aka "Goldstone Observatory," is the largest tracking station in the Deep Space Network, which is comprised of three installations around the world. As part of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, Goldstone is used primarily to communicate with deep space probes and satellites, and to study asteroids. The network can communicate and track multiple spacecraft within the solar system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Goldstone complex consists of nine separate sites, spread out over 33,000 acres in a remote region of California's Mojave Desert.

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Darwin Falls, Death Valley

Darwin Falls, Death Valley

Getting to Darwin Falls is kind of a two-part adventure. The first part being the last few miles of the drive to the trailhead. It's a bumpy, rocky road that takes you through some pretty canyons and washes. The second part of the adventure is the hike to the falls, and I enjoyed that a lot more than the first part. Wasn't quite as jarring to my internal organs....

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