Day 9, Part 3: Sunday, April 30th, 2006
Ontario, California to Beatty, Nevada
Destination number three for the day is a place called the Devils Playground, which my brother and I first became fascinated with back in 1984, when my family crossed the Mojave Desert on our way to Claremont. Many years later, it inspired a song that I wrote for the band that Jeff and I used to play in. Before now, though, I've only ever known the place as a label on a road atlas map--I've never really gotten close enough to it to see what it looks like.
To get there, I take the long way through the Mojave, crossing it from south to north. It's a long and empty road, but if the RVs can make it--I figure--then so can I.
The Mojave is a wonderland of heat and light and space. Getting out of the car to take this picture, I notice that the world around me is absolutely silent, too. Not a single sound ruffles the slumber of the jagged mountains on the horizon.
The Neon looks as happy to be out there as I am.
Meanwhile, the telephone poles just have to endure.
South of the tiny settlement of Kelso, I finally get these pictures of the dunes of the Devils Playground.
I have no time to get out into them tonight. There is still a long ride through the rest of the Mojave, in the fading light, waiting ahead of me. But I have a feeling that some day I will be back.
