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Lancaster to Ridgecrest
02/01/2019 • Owens Valley to Death Valley
• This one-day ride has 5 stops. North from LA to Big Pine, CA, then south to Lone Pine, east to Death Valley. South from Panamint Springs, zig-zagging from through the hills from Trona along the Garlock Fault to highway 14, then south back to LA.
1st part • Lancaster to Ridgecrest along CA-14
• Drove from Mojave, past Red Rock Canyon, past the intersections with CA-178, through Lone Pine, and into Independence.
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Dehy Park
2nd part • Dehy Park, Independence, CA
• Took a break here. We can't drive past this place as it is a sort of a sacred spot. Patti had asked that some of her ashes be left here, and so I complied. Now we stop to reflect and remember our daughter, and sister, and aunt. It's a lovely spot to take a break, and to get an undisrupted vista of the Sierras from the valley floor.
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Big Pine Creek
3rd part • Going up Big Pine Creek Road
• Attemped to drive up Big Pine Creek Road to see the valley in snow, but alas, the had a road block with avalanche signs. Yikes!!! That's not something you see everyday.
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Death Valley
4th part • Heading into Death Valley
• Drove from Lone Pine, around Owens Dry Lake, and over the top toward Death Valley. Headed south at Panamint Springs towards Trona.
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Garlock Fault
5th part • Garlock Fault
• This stretch of road, basically from the area of Ridgecrest, running southwest towards Mojave, ends at CA-14 just south of Red Rock Canyon. The entire valley is fairly unmolested by human corruption. A road and a set of railroad tracks, and only a few buildings. Just my kind of drive!
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Barstow
02/04 & 05/2019 • From LA to Hoover Dam, then south to Joshua Tree
• This 2 day trip runs from LA north towards Las Vegas, then follows the Colorado River south to Parker, when we cross the river and head back to the west, towards Los Angeles.
1st part • Day 1 • Mojave to Barstow
• Dad and I have always felt that a vacation trip this direction doesn't really feel that it has started until we would get to area between Rosamond (where the turn-off to Edwards AFB is) and the north end of Mojave, which feels like that last bastion of big city influence. From Mojave we headed east to Barstow, where we indulged in an excellent breakfast at Black Bear Diner.
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Baker
2nd part • Day 1 • Barstow to Las Vegas on I-15
• This stretch of road, basically from the area of Ridgecrest, running southwest towards Mojave, ends at CA-14 just south of Red Rock Canyon. The entire valley is fairly unmolested by human corruption. A road and a set of railroad tracks, and only a few buildings. Just my kind of drive!
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Hoover Dam
3rd part • Day 1 • Hoover Dam
• Going to Hoover Dam is always impressive. Built in the 1930s, this engineering marvel is spectacular to behold. I always enjoy coming here. The new bridge over the canyon is pretty impressive too, with the exception that they built it in a way to minimize the ability to look down into the canyon while driving.
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Willow Beach
4th part • Day 1 • Willow Beach along the Colorado River
• We turned of US-93 to visit Willow Beach on the east side of the river. We encounters some furry friends that seem plentiful in the area of our country.
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Laughlin
5th part • Day 1 • US-93 toward Laughlin, NV
• From Willow Beach we continued south on US-93 to Golden Valley, heading west over the hills and down the steep grade to reach Laughlin, NV, which is on the west shore of the Colorado River. We spent the night there.
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Oatman
6th part • Day 2 • Oatman, AZ
• Crossed back over the river into Arizona. We headed up to the area of the town of Oatman. A very beautiful area with lots of big rocks. And more burros - everywhere!
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Colorado River
7th part • Day 2 • AZ-95 south along the Colorado River
• From Oatman we headed south to where I-40 crosses the Colorado, then got on AZ-95 south toward Lake Havasu, then further south to Parker, AZ where we crossed the river.
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29 Palms
8th part • Day 2 • CA-62 toward 29 Palms
• Once across the river, we folled CA-62 to the town of 29 Palms. Our son Joey was stationed here for a while when he was in the US Marine Corp. This stretch of highway is another one of those I love. Wide open spaces, with very little traffic.
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Joshua Tree
9th part • Day 2 • Joshua Tree National Park
• Once at 29 Palms we entered the Joshua Tree National Park, and headed up to Keys View, from where we could see Palm Springs and Mt. San Jacinto. After this we headed back to LA.
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