It was 40 degrees when we left the Grand Canyon. Nice and cool. But as we headed west and entered into a very dry barren land, it was hot. Ok, it was only 80 degrees, actually a very cool day for the desert, but it was a big change and hot for me.
We drove for 360 miles before stopping. In the barren desert. Really, you can see for miles and miles and miles!
We found a nice little rv place, Newberry Mountain RV Park, conveniently right off of I 40 with good reviews in Newberry Springs, about 20 miles east of Barstow, CA. It was not busy and we found it very comfortable. The owner was very helpful, nice and accommodating. We also found out that there were some nice places of interest in Newberry Springs and Barstow, so we decided to explore the next day and stay another night.
We started the morning visiting the Calico Ghost Town. It is a reconstructed silver mine rush site from the 1800’s. Very commercialized and probably an ok place for taking the kids to get an idea of that time and place. There were several impromptu rootin’ tooting’ shooting’ cowboy acts in the roadways and by the little train. There were also tons of souvenir shopping opportunities. But not my cup of tea, I won’t be going back (unless I’m taking grandkids).
Next stop was lunch at Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner. A big tourist spot. Opa’s burger and milkshake was great. Unfortunately, my Philly cheese sandwich seemed to be missing the cheese, but the beef was tender and yummy.
On to Barstow to check out the Western America Railroad Museum and Route 66 Mother Road Museum all housed in the Harvey House. Both filled to the brim with lots of information and memorabilia. Both are free. A must stop if you’re curious or interested. We were.
Did a little driving along the original Route 66 to see some other historical sites like the Bagdad Cafe (from the movie). We didn’t stop in but the buses did. It is supposed to have good food. And checked out a little bit of the train traffic. It’s a busy place with lots of train traffic. All in all, we had a fun and interesting day doing something quite off the agenda.
Time to move on.