The Silver City Ghost Town, in Bodfish, California, was created out of derelict old buildings from the gold mining era that were brought together in a labour of love by some history-loving people. There was a small entrance fee, and the friendly young guy working there spoke with a slightly southern drawl. Some of the buildings were set up with mannequins and historical items inside them, and I noticed there was a noose tied to a branch on one of the trees in the centre of the town. It all felt pretty authentic, and had a certain creep factor that kept Fisher and Milo adequately on edge, which was half the fun.
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We left the KOA campsite near Weldon, which had been a really enjoyable stay, and drove to Barstow, a city on historic Route 66. There was a rest stop there called Barstow Station that was constructed out of old train cars, and it attracted a lot of tourists who were headed to the coast or to Las Vegas. We also checked out nearby Calico Ghost Town, which was much bigger than Silver City but also much more commercialized. Because of that, visiting Calico felt less like exploring California’s silver-mining past and more like duelling to keep our cash.
After Barstow we moved on to Twentynine Palms, the town closest to the eastern entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. According to Wikipedia, the Joshua Tree was named by Mormon settlers crossing the Mojave Desert, who, upon seeing the tree, were reminded of the biblical story of Joshua extending his arms up to the sky in prayer. They do kind of look like they have outstretched arms, but they also look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book. In the park, Joshua Trees are also considered to be the Tree of Life because of how many animals and insects depend on them for survival, making them essential to the health of the Mojave Desert. Another cool element of Joshua Tree National Park was the granite rock formations that were formed there over 100 million years ago. There was one particular formation that looked liked an archway, and we had to climb up to get into it. Once inside, Fisher said it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen, and asked if we could come back to see it the next day (a highly unusual request). We sweetly called it his “tree-hugging moment”, like the one(s) I had had in the Redwoods, and Fisher then understood why I had gone on and on about my trees. We did go back the next day to absorb the Mojave’s tremendous beauty, hiking some trails we hadn’t done the day before. It is definitely one of my favourite parks, and writing about it now makes me really miss the desert.
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After Twentynine Palms we had one more, fairly non-descript, overnight stay in California – in Blythe – and then drove on to Arizona for a well-timed homeschooling conference…