Hole-In-The-Wall

Monday, November 7, 2011

For sure you are all asking “where are they today” and what hole-in-the-wall place did they find to explore.   Wait a sec and I’ll tell you.

On Sunday we spent the whole day visiting with Pebbles (Fred and Wilma’s daughter) and SIL Chris, along with his son Jason, son  Christopher (grandson of Fred and Wilma) and his girlfriend, Anne Shirley, and Julie, Christopher’s babysitter and long time family friend. Had a great visit, but it came to an end this morning as we hugged and waved goodbye to Pebbles and Chris.

Leaving Victorville, California, we headed out into the wild blue yonder, generally headed in the direction of home, with a few hole-in-the-wall places to see along the way. Our first stop was in Barstow at the Mojave National Preserve headquarters. We loaded up our books with numerous stamps there and were encouraged to stop at Kelso Depot in the middle of the Preserve before going into Death Valley. It sounded like a pretty good stop, so we turned south in Baker, CA, for a quick trip down and back. It was a very good stop. We really enjoyed learning about the history of the place. There is a train depot in the middle of the Preserve about 35 miles from both I40 and I15 in southern CA. All the way out through the desert you wonder why this place is out there and what it is all about.

It was built for the railroad (train depot, duh) They needed extra engines there to help get the trains up a grade, so they had a roundhouse there and built a large depot with boarding rooms for the workers, a small café, in addition to the depot ticket office, telegraph office, etc. until diesel engines became the norm. The round house has been torn down, but the depot has been restored and is a main visitor center for the Mojave National Preserve. There are large sand dunes just a few miles away. There was also a VC a ways down the road that was for the Hole-in-the-Wall area, but that VC has been closed. So we didn’t quite go to Hole-in-the-Wall, but weren’t far away.

The tracks are still a main line, and a number of trains go through each day. One freight train came through while we were there. There is a steam engine train scheduled to go through on November 20 that would be fun to see, but we had to leave the area.

Leaving Kelso Depot, we went back through Baker and headed north to Death Valley National Park. As we got close to the Furnace Creek area which is the main hub in the valley, we noticed a large number of RVs. Sure enough, here we are in the middle of something again. This is the week for the 49er Encampment, and the place is jammed. We found a camping spot out of the main area, and will stay two nights.  

Check back for pictures.
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