We originally referenced 100 of our favorite desert books five years ago. We still enjoy browsing museum gift shops and used book stores for nuggets of gold in the form of guidebooks, nature guides and history books. Discovering obscure out-of-print books is extra fun. Many new books have been published recently that also deserve our…
Those unfamiliar with the desert often remark about how dead it looks. Colors of browns and grays. Spindly looking shrubs and trees. Where’s the wildlife hiding? Let us open your eyes to the hardy, thriving flora and fauna of this magnificent desert we call home…
On March 2, 2023, we woke to the appearance of a tiny visitor, just outside our front door. This girl has set up nesting duties in our Ocotillo in a pot near our front entrance. The Trochilidae family includes the world’s smallest birds, with the most brilliant iridescent colors, the fastest wingbeats, and the most amazing…
Have you ever wondered what it used to look like in the Mojave Desert in yesteryear? When ingenuity and pure desert grit was king? Do you want to learn secrets the desert has to tell?
Please join us for Part One of many trips through time illuminating the Mojave Desert’s amazing past and present. Trip the light fantastic with us–the desert way…
Calico’s reputation as a ghost town is well deserved as there are numerous reports of actual ghosts being sighted. Lucy Bell King Lane, a longtime resident who ran Lucy Lane’s General Store has often been seen in her store.
Margaret Olivier, the last schoolteacher, has been seen teaching in her classroom. Tourists who have talked with Margaret thought she was part of the staff dressed in period costumes, only to find out she has been dead since 1932. There is even the ghost story of Dorsey, the shepherd dog that carried the US Mail between various mines.
Was that really the howling wind that woke us up at 3 a.m. at our Calico campsite, or was it Lucy Lane?
You may be familiar with the large marble Chinese Guardian Lion statues between Route 66 and Kelbaker Road but did you know Amboy may have once had its very own living African lion? “Old Man Miller,” as he was known in the Amboy area, was the first person to spot a large African lion near…
Update: January 2026: UMPI added American Studies to their Master’s Degree programs. Update, May 1, 2025: UMPI recently changed their academic policy about accepting certain ACE credits for some degrees. New students should check with their student advisor for clarification. “How long have you been working on your degree?” someone asked me as I neared…
After Snowmageddon finally dwindled away, we visited to the nearby town of Bandera, Texas; known as “The Cowboy Capital of the World,” with a population of 957. The charming little town struck our fancy right away…
Happy Traveler is an 130-site RV park with tight quarters. It offers full hookups, 30-50 amp service, pool, seasonal activities, shuffleboard and a laundry room. The park does not accept RV’s over 40 feet long. Tall hedges separate each site. We’ve camped here twice but hesitated to write about it because we actually don’t have…
Dateline: March 10, 2012… The Associated Press–“Dr. Robert Schuller and his wife Arvella announced “with great sadness” Saturday that they resigned from the board of directors of the Crystal Cathedral, the televangelist ministry he founded four decades ago in Garden Grove, California, and made famous through his “Hour of Power” television program. Their resignation was…
