Shortly after we left Barstow this morning, I saw the sign for Calico Ghost Town, which I've seen every time I've traveled to Las Vegas and back. I've never gone there, though I've always wanted to, so I made the executive decision, and we went.
Calico is a restored mining town, a little touristy but not overly much. It's $6 per person to get in (dogs are welcome), and there are nominal fees for some of the extras, like visiting the Mystery House or panning for gold.
In July, it's hot in Calico, a hundred degrees or more, and we craved the shade and the air-conditioned interiors of the shops. Scooter was a good sport, but we all got tuckered out from the heat. Here's my mom, with Scooter, savoring a cold bottle of sarsaparilla.
I left them there to rest, while I explored up the hill with the camera. At the Sweet Shoppe, they were selling Scorpion Candy.
The lady in the shoppe said her teenage son had eaten one (the poisonous stingers are removed before placing the rest of the scorpion in the candy), not quite on a dare but for the bravado effect. And she said last week a man came in and bought one to eat, but he apparently eats a lot of strange things. Personally, I took a picture and otherwise left all the scorpions alone.
Calico has a lot to offer photographers with an eye for relics that have forgotten how long ago they saw better days. Broken-down wagons and buggies, burned walls, and weathered wood almost beg for black-and-white. And who am I to refuse?
We didn't see everything. It was too hot, and Scooter needed some water and some rest, so we headed back to the motorhome and the road north toward Las Vegas.
And somewhere in Nevada, on a lonely stretch of road, we stopped to buy something to drink at a gas station. These were their prices.
Nobody was at the gas pumps.
1 comment:
Okay I promise not to complain about gas prices for two days. My GOODNESS.
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