USA

Across the Mojave

B Byrd

— 4 min read
Across the Mojave

On Monday we headed out of Las Vegas on our way to Los Angeles. This included a long drive through the Mojave National Preserve.

We saw a set of three concentrated-solar power stations beside the highway, which was very cool. As far as I'm aware, there's only one other operating in the world (in Spain I think).
The bright spot is molten salt in the collection tower. You can see some of the light coming in from the array of collection mirrors.

We stopped for lunch at the famous (apparently) Peggy Sue's 50s Diner.

Peggy Sue's was very kitschy, as evidenced by the above.
They also had some diner-saurs in the yard 🙄.

After lunch we headed over to the other side of the highway to visit Calico, a local ghost town. We were expecting it to be somewhat touristy, but A was disappointed in the lack of authenticity. Turns out, it's kinda a ghost town of a ghost town.

Calico was originally a mining settlement from the 1880s, but was redeveloped/ reconstructed by the Knotts (of Knotts' Berry Farm amusement park fame) as a western themed amusement park. While they did preserve some original buildings and rebuild on original sites, it must not have worked out too well. In 1966, the Knotts "gifted" the property back to the local county, who run it as a tourist attraction to this day.

It mostly amounts to a collection of themed gift shops, and some attractions you can pay extra for (train ride, mine tour, mystery shack). As such we likely wouldn't recommend the ~AU$45 entry fee. That being said, we managed to spend 2 hours wandering around to break up the drive, so maybe it was worth it.

The main street of Calico.
The local fauna. These Chukar birds were noted on local signage. They're so named for their distinctive cry (I didn't hear it).
The less official and more dangerous (and hence more appealing to small boys) lookout point.
J found these ruins particularly appealing (we approached from the side that didn't have the "Closed — Keep Out" sign).
There is a small child hiding here, but you can't see him till...
...here.
Sunset over Calico.

After Calico we headed out for L.A. and our final stint in North America.

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