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Mojave Road 2000!!!!!!!!
Sometimes we look forward to taking a trip for the excitement
of rocks, mud, and challenges, but the annual Mojave Road is time to kick back
and watch the scenery and history go by. This year was no exception, and what do
you know, not a hint of snow or rain the whole weekend.
We all hooked up at the AVI hotel Thursday morning, well, most
of us did. Unfortunately it turned out that out that Phillip (aka Tiffy) and
his crew from England got mixed up on the dates, and while we were on the trail,
they were killing time waiting to meet us on the NEXT weekend.
This year we even had three old Land Rovers along for company.
Tyler and I were in my beat-up blue ’72 for it’s last trip before the
rebuild. Karen
Sindar and her husband were in their “Red Ruffy” ’74
station wagon, and Ty Lewno drove up from San Diego in his green ‘73 for the
trip. (let’s see, if we combine the horsepower of ALL three of them, we
still would probably be over 100 hp shy of Raymond’s new 401)
The start of the trail outside the AVI parking lot was hidden
because of recent work in the fields, so we caught it on the other side of the
highway. From there we made the first stop at the petroglyphs, and meandered on
to Goff’s. There, Dennis Casbier generously let us spend the first night,
camping amongst the fantastic old gold mining equipment, and probably a few
ghosts of their former operators. Since our last stay there in 98, Dennis has
completed the one room school house, and has the two-stamp gold mill assembled.
The rest of the trip went smoothly, and we were treated to
quite a few new blossoms on the desert plants throughout the trip. Plan was to
do the full trail through Afton Canyon, but when we hit Baker the “worlds
tallest thermometer” was heading upward of 100 degrees. We stopped at the
Razor exit and decided to call it a day, and finish later in the fall after
things cooled. Good thing, as we were seeing temps over 115 as we headed through
Barstow.
It hit me as ironic that the trail that used to be considered
exciting and dangerous by our predecessors is now the one we use to relax and
take a nice drive in the sunshine.
JL

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