The road from San Diego to Vegas skirts through the southern portions of Los Angeles before roaring over the mountains and into the desert. Mile after mile of freeway unfold across the desert as cars rocket back and forth between the two capitals of sin, lust, and greed. On this particular day a batch of moisture had found its way into the arid interior. Thunderheads loomed large to the east. I encountered my first taste of rain since leaving Oregon as I crested the last hill and beheld the city of Las Vegas.
The first hints of clouds.
The Zzyzx off-ramp. I came this way a month prior on a previous trip through the desert.
At least according to the welcome center, Nevada is closed.
Casinos built right on the state line. Every single road entering Nevada has a casino as the official welcome committee.
RAIN! I had to use my windshield wipers!
Rolling into Vegas with some stylish Hummers and Escalades.
Last weekend I took a trip with Zach and Sondy to Death Valley and the surrounding countryside. On the way there we stopped off at the Mojave Spaceport to check out the aircraft boneyard. Coming back from the valley of death we detoured out to Zzyzx and took the long way home along the Angeles Crest Highway.
Look familiar? Kirk and Spock battled many an enemy under these rocks.
It’s a long way up from the parking lot.
A young Kirk?
Sondy on the summit waiting for her alternate time line Spock to arrive.
Sondy got tired of waiting and decided to become Spock instead.
Mojave Spaceport!
Some old planes parked at the entrance as an advertisement.
This MiG can be rented by the hour. For $2400, you too can fly shotgun in a fighter jet. Several are available for rental at the same time allowing for awesome dogfights. One person even proposed to his girlfriend while they were dogfighting against each other.
Some F-16’s sitting on the flight line. The air force is too busy with the various wars to do their own testing so they loaned some jets out to a private company that does testing of new configurations for them.
The MiG gets ready to take off.
Somehow we stumbled onto a van tour of the Mojave Spaceport. For five dollars each we got a 45 minute narrated jaunt through the aircraft and spaceships.
BAE Systems has a big facility for retrofitting old fighter jets into target drones for missile testing.
Some of the old jets parked outside being outfitted with drone equipment.
Over in the aircraft boneyard. This is where jets go to die.
That “boat” was used in the filming of WaterWorld.
For sale: one 747. BYOEngines.
The doors are left open to prevent mildew.
The wrecked tail section and other bits are from the TV show Lost.
The engine cowlings would make a nice planter box.
MythBusters used this plane to test the shoe bomb myth. Myth confirmed!
A series of tubes. The internet?
This airplane is up on blocks. Must have been in east LA.
The first commercial passenger jet to be able to fly non-stop across the Atlantic.
Some old fighters in storage.
The storage area for planes that will be flown again.
A Belgian cargo transport aircraft. There were several of these sitting out in the desert.
We found some interesting vehicles on a flatbed at a truck stop.
A big cement plant on Route 66 outside Victorville.
Joshua trees in the desert.
Sunset on Highway 18. We drove on to Highway 2, the Angeles Crest Highway. Our fine German touring auto took us up and over the mountains, and back down to Pasadena. If only my Taurus was as efficient and reliable!
