On a last-minute trip to the San Fernando Valley over the weekend, we decided to take the “long way” home. From Santa Clarita we headed out the 14 Freeway to Pearblossom Highway and up curvy mountain roads to Crestview. We meandered through Big Bear with a stop for lunch and down the mountain, navigating hairpin turns and marveling at the stunning views.
We turned to head through Yucca Valley heading east towards Arizona on a ribbon of a highway that stretched further than the eye could see. As we drove along through desert vistas and deserted roadways, we noticed we were alone. At one point, we didn’t see another car or sign of civilization for about 30 minutes … well not exactly.
We did spot a couple of freight trains slowly chugging along to points unknown. Suddenly, off in the distance, a water pumping plant nestled in against the base of a mountain on the valley’s edge appeared. In a few more miles we spotted the turnoff to the pumping station and a shocking sign of civilization. Right there in the middle of nowhere was a makeshift direction sign. Dozens of hand-painted arrows were nailed to a pole. We slowed to a stop, snapped a couple of pictures and continued on.
In another 15 minutes or so … at least I think it was about that long, we stopped keeping track of time somewhere on that lonely road … another strange site appeared. This time it was a run-down gas station overhead heavily laden with shoes. What looked like hundreds of pairs of shoes hung haphazardly.
For the second time we scratched our heads and wondered what we were seeing. Why were these strange sites out here in the middle of nowhere?
As we stopped for dinner, we grabbed our phones and googled the spots. I’ll let you check out the stories behind our fun desert finds. Read the story of the California Highway 62 sign post. Read the story of the Rice Shoe Tree.
You’ve seen me recommend getting off the highway and taking back roads many times on this blog. This weekend was another reminder of what makes the back roads so much fun.
There’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored, hidden gems are just one of the reasons to get out there and start exploring.
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