ThurmTrip::Artichoke Festival, 19 May 2002

Artichoke Festival, Castroville, California
5 Days/4 Nights; 1,581 Miles

Fly I-10 west 200 miles to Desert Center, California. Exit north onto CA Hwy-177 and enter into the southwest deserts of California.

Ironage Road. Huge short-cut, but a slow go for six miles. Rough road that probably does not get subjected to much maintenance. Quiet, lush, sandy desert turns into salt flats.

Route 66. Route 66 was empty, but it is rough road. You can drive fast, but you cannot drive real fast.

Amboy Crater. You can see why the mountains looked full of gold: They glitter. The road glitters. I've hiked out to Amboy Crater, but did not climb it. It can be climbed, but it takes time. [The book Road Trip USA indicates that this area may end up being a huge trash dump.]

Bagdad Cafe. We met a man at the Bagdad Cafe who had been everywhere. Where are you from? he asks. I tell him Tempe, Arizona. He replies that he has been to both places. Our waiter was an old guy. He reassured us the food was safe by saying the old lady doing the cooking has been cooking 38 years for him and he is still alive and kicking. Bagdad Cafe is on Route 66 in Newberry Springs, California.

Barstow, California. Nice downtown. Great murals.

Bakersfield, California. Flat. I need to return to get a picture of the Bakersfield sign. CSUB. Somebody at CSUB asked me to review an article on the Unix Operating System.

Night #1: Bakersfield, CA; 525 miles

The drive from Bakersfield to the Pacific Ocean is through miles of fertile farm land. Give it water and food grows. All kinds of fruits, vegetables, nuts. We missed James Dean's crash site. As you near the coast, wine country sprouts up. Miles of flatness results in huge rolling hills and then the ocean.

Highway One. If I had to be a cow, then this is where I would live. California Hwy-1 hugs the Pacific Coast.

Elephant Seals. Wow. Why was I so envious of them? More elephant seals.

North on Hwy-1. Much of the road is lined with flowers. It is a color explosion. Ocean on the left and mountain on the right.

Night #2: Marina, CA; 808 miles

Castroville, California. We arrive just in time for a parade. one | two | three

Artichoke Festival. This was not what I expected. It was a local community event. It is interesting how my employer emphasizes diversity. The Artichoke Festival is fun because of the diversity. There was a parade, there was food, there was entertainment, and there were families having fun. [ Pam and I | AgroArt | Eating Contest] I almost entered the artichoke eating contest, but I don't know how to eat artichokes.

Cinderella Motel. Drove from the Artichoke Festival in Castroville to Hollister. The drive was via Gilroy (location of recent earthquake and home of the Garlic Festival held in July). Total miles were 58 -- most of which were driven in a light rain.

Night #3: Hollister, CA; 866 miles

Highway 25. Hwy-25 was suppose to give a view of an Asbestos Hazard Area, but instead it was nothing more than 100 miles of scenic route. It would be a major drive to get close the Asbestos Hazard Area. Instead, I hit a squirrel and saw deer and horses and cows. Hwy-25 is an excellent drive, but it is curvy and takes time.

Hwy-25 sort-of ends in Coalinga. We stopped at a McDonald's to use the bathroom and to get two small coffees. I order two small coffees and the girl says that will be sixty-three cents. I reminder her that I ordered two coffees and she said she knew, but that she charged me the senior rate. I tried to tell her I wasn't a senior, but she insisted. I liked Coalinga.

I-5 South. Windy road. Very windy. I could see why I-5 has had serious accidents during storms [wind, rain, and dust]. I was prepared to stop if Mother Nature got mean. Driving I-5 at 75mph required keeping two hands on the wheel.

Agriculture. Growing one's own food. My parents did it. And they did it well. My dad use to walk out into corn fields; it was his job. I wanted to walk out into fields.

Twentynine Palms. I am going to return to the towns of Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree National Park, and Twentynine Palms. I thought Yucca Valley was a ghost town (picture opportunity), but I was wrong. Yucca Valley is alive. It is only 17 miles north of Palm Springs and 22 miles east of Twentynine Palms.

Twentynine Palms: great murals. Nice restaurants. Carousel Cafe was cute, but the service could have been better. [Nice use of mirrors, shapes, booths, plants and colors.] I'd like to spend a day hiking around Twentynine Palms.

Highway-62. Hwy-62 may be my favorite stretch of road. It is 100 miles long and it connects Twentynine Palms to Parker, Arizona. There is one stop sign at the location when Hwy-177 connects. The drive is flat and fast. After the stop sign, we encounter a Tamarisk Tree of shoes. I didn't want to part with my shoes and so I stuck Arti the Artichoke on the the tree. The Shoe Tree was in the middle of nowhere. The wind was blowing garbage and dust.

Night #4: Parker, AZ; 1411 miles

Hope, Arizona. The drive from Parker to I-10 is an easy 100 miles. You drive through small towns such as Bouse, Vicksburg, and Salome. One area is called Hope. Upon leaving Hope you are told that you're beyond hope.

Catch I-10 east and immediately stop at a rest area (5 miles). Tempe is 70 miles away.

Total miles: 1,581
[ICO]NameLast modifiedSizeDescription
[DIR]Parent Directory  -  
[IMG]01_IronAgeRoad.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 54K 
[IMG]02_Route66.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 96K 
[IMG]03_AmboyCrater.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 45K 
[IMG]04_BagdadCafe.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 69K 
[IMG]05_BagdadCafe.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 82K 
[IMG]06_BarstowMural.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 68K 
[IMG]07_BarstowMural.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 77K 
[IMG]08_CSUB.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 114K 
[IMG]09_Hwy-1.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 67K 
[IMG]10_PacificCoast.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 75K 
[IMG]11_ElephantSeals.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 142K 
[IMG]12_ElephantSeals.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 117K 
[IMG]13_Hwy-1.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 48K 
[IMG]14_Kcoast.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 74K 
[IMG]15_Hwy-1.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 98K 
[IMG]16_CastrovilleMural.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 121K 
[IMG]17_Parade.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 57K 
[IMG]18_Parade.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 67K 
[IMG]19_Parade.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 58K 
[IMG]20_PamThurman.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 81K 
[IMG]21_AgroArt.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 73K 
[IMG]22_EatingContest.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 69K 
[IMG]23_ArtichokeFestival.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 47K 
[IMG]24_CinderellaMotel.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 55K 
[IMG]25_Hwy-25.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 81K 
[IMG]26_WindyRoad.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 32K 
[IMG]27_OnTheRoadAgain.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 77K 
[IMG]28_Field.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 50K 
[IMG]29_29PalmsMural.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 63K 
[IMG]30_29PalmsMural.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 69K 
[IMG]31_Hwy-62.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 42K 
[IMG]32_ShoeTree.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 72K 
[IMG]33_ArtiOnShoeTree.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 112K 
[IMG]34_GarbageAndDust.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 58K 
[IMG]35_BeyondHopeAZ.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 68K 
[IMG]36_US-60.jpg29-Jan-2012 00:53 56K 
[TXT]HEADER.html29-Jan-2012 00:53 7.8K 
[TXT]README.html29-Jan-2012 00:53 1.3K 
[TXT]artichoke.html29-Jan-2012 00:53 2.7K 
Writing about the trip is the third and final part of a road trip. The writing about the trip allows you to do the road trip again. It motivates you to do it again and again and again.
Keywords
   Tempe, I-10, Desert Center, southwest deserts of California,
   Hwy-177, Hwy-62, Iron Age Road, some connector road, Route 66, 
   Amboy Crater, Bagdad Cafe, I-40, Barstow, Hwy-58, Bakersfield, 
   Hwy-99, Hwy-46, James Dean, Paso Robles, rolling hills, Hwy-1, 
   Pacific Ocean, Salinas and Marina, Castroville, Artichoke Festival,
   Hwy-152, Gilroy, Garlic Festival, Hollister, Cinderella Motel, 
   Hwy-25, Pinnacles National Monument, Asbestos Hazard Area, 
   Coalinga, I-5, Hwy-138, Lancaster, Palmdale, Hwy-18, Apple
   Valley, I-15, Victorville, Lucerne Valley, Hwy-247, Landers, 
   Yucca Valley, Hwy-62, Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, Joshua 
   Tree National Park, Hwy-62, Shoe Tree, Parker, Arizona, 
   Hwy-72, US-60, Salome Road, I-10, Tempe

Author: G.D.Thurman [thurmunit@inficad.com]
Created: 22 May 2002