Tom & I had to take a drive out to Ca this weekend to help my son’s friend with some computer problems. Last night when we were discussing the best route to take back, Tom suggested we go the “long” way via 395 thru Death Valley and blow by Scotty’s Castle. (Legend has it that it was built by Walter Scott, aka, “Death Valley Scotty,” with the money from his rich, secret gold mines. In reality it was built by his partner, Albert Mussey Johnson as a vacation home for his wife, Bessie.)

As fascinating as that all sounded to me, I nixed the idea right off the get go. Two reasons: it’s an hour or two longer, and we have no idea if there’s anywhere to stop to eat or use a bathroom.

We’d be driving wayyy out through the middle of nowhere for four to five hours and, I don’t know about you, but when I get really hungry, I get headaches sometimes and I get pretty damn mean (we affectionately refer to that as getting “hangry” now). On top of that, I’ve had two kids and I think it’s pretty common knowledge that after child birth, your bladder shrinks to the size of a pea (no pun intended ;-/ ). And yes, that would be me.

But then I got to thinking about it again this morning. We just took a beautiful drive thru a small part of Death Valley last weekend and it was such a wonderful experience.

And then I got to remembering how we (Mom, Dad & my two brothers) used to drive cross country via Route 66 every two years back in the late 50’s and early 60’s. At that time there were stretches of road with nothing but a gas station every 1/2 day or so. Since I was under 7 years old on that last trip, I really have no idea how many miles that was. But I do know it was pretty rare to see any other cars or trucks either. Funny thing, when we did see one, we’d all wave at each other like we’d all just seen Santa in each other’s cars!

(The first picture shown above was taken in Beatty, NV, known as a "Gateway to Death Valley." Yes, those are rather friendly wild donkeys. Tom took the next one just as we were coming up out of the north end of the valley. The third picture, shown below, was taken in the ghost town of Rhyolite, a few miles outside of Beatty.)

Either way, I was just thinking, so how did Mom & Dad do it? I mean those gas stations only had gas and sometimes a coke bottle machine out front. If you were lucky, you could use their bathroom and drinking fountain, and maybe buy a map. Oh, and some had pay phones for a nickel or a dime. (Remember “collect calls?") No candy bars, no chips, no Subway Sandwiches or McDonalds, ha! Nothing! I’m not even sure McDonald’s was invented yet…maybe you can find that out.

Yeah, so I really had to think about how Mom and Dad did it way back then.

As I got to thinking about it, I remembered there were always “pull outs” along the 2-lane highway. A pull-out was a little moon-shaped, gravel patch about two car widths on the side of the road. They usually had a picnic table, a trash can and one shade tree just off on the edge. That was it. No BBQ’s or porta-potties. (I’ll explain our options for that in just a minute) But that’s where we would stop and have lunch.

Mom and Dad always packed fixings for sandwiches so we wouldn’t starve to death. I don’t remember exactly what kind, but I do remember Mom always liked to made egg salad, bologna and PB&J for lunches at home. So, I’m guessing that’s probably what we had.

Occasionally we were allowed to buy a bottle of pop (aka “soda”) at the gas station but usually it was just water. And nope, no individual plastic bottles, it was Dad’s canteen. He would refill it at gas stations along the way and we’d all get a sip or two. Oh, I don’t remember any ice chests either; everything was either desert hot or lukewarm at best. Can you just imagine three kids, not seat-belted in, playing in a chest full of ice as we’re barreling down the highway? Ha – no way we would have lived to see the end of that trip!

Anyway, we always had apples too. No bananas or oranges or anything else, always apples. Mom said it was something we couldn’t fight over cuz we each got our own, they’re fairly tidy to eat, and we could throw the core out the window. Of course, that part always made me feel weird because we were taught from a very young age that littering was wrong: Dad would break our arm or the government would fine us a million dollars and throw us in jail if we got caught, right?! That’s what the signs always said! Actually, we were all more afraid of Dad. But he assured us that tossing an apple core out the window was ok because animals could eat it or it would eventually dissolve into the earth like any other old plant.

Now the bathrooms... ha... that’s funny now that I think back on it. Dad and my brothers, well, it was pretty easy for them. But me and Mom, not so much. So, did I mention how talented my dad was regarding wood working? What he did for me and Mom was carve a wooden toilet seat! Polished and shellacked it so it was as smooth as a baby’s butt. And although there weren’t always “privacy” bushes along the road, Dad could at least find rocks. That way he could arrange a few rocks, set that seat on top and we were good to go. He’d just take my brothers for a long walk or keep them otherwise occupied while Mom and I took care of business crouched behind the car door. You couldn’t pay me to do that today, LOL!!!

Well after all that reminiscing on my part, Tom and I decided to go ahead and take the long route home via highway 395 that weekend. Turns out it was so worth it and I really didn’t have to “hold it” for more than a couple hours. We also packed a lunch before we left so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting hangry.

On the way we found an interesting little town out in the middle of nowhere called “Trona.” Trona is actually located at the western edge of Searles Lake which is a dry lakebed from which they mine “trona.” That, in case you don’t know, is a pink colored sodium carbonate (salt). Look it up, it’s pretty interesting.

Then after having lunch, using their restroom, and picking out my traditional tourist t-shirt, we headed on down into Death Valley. (Check out the picture below where we dropped down into the valley.)

Next stop about 50 to 100 miles later (I’m guessing), was Furnace creek, with, yes, another bathroom and a quick looksie in the gift shop for me. Life is good!

We made this drive in about six hours rather than the three and a half it normally would have taken if we’d headed out highway 58 to Interstate 15. But it was so worth it to have the chance to see this beautiful and mostly untouched part of Southern California.

If you ever get the chance to do this drive, do it. And let me know…maybe when you get to Amargosa or Shoshone we could meet for a pop.

Warmest regards,