Sightseeing in Barstow

3/30/09 (Still no internet access.. lol) ~ My Step-dad finally got to meet up with that old childhood friend of his here in Barstow. He had given me 3 names of men that he had grown up with and one of them is still living here in Barstow. (Of the other two, one passed away last year and the other is living in Washington state in the same town as my Great-Aunt. Sequim, Washington. We'll have to try to meet up with that fellow if we make another trip up there.) We met him and his wife for breakfast and they had a great time reminiscing about all the people and places they remembered. After breakfast my Mom, Step-dad and I took off to do some sightseeing in and around Barstow.

First stop after leaving the restaurant was the house that my Step-dad grew up in. My daughter wanted us to take a picture of the house so she could see if it looked like what she remembered. My Mom and Step-dad say that the house is still the same color as it was back then, but that a lot of the trees and shrubs that used to be around the house are gone. The driveway is still sandy and the area where my daughter used to play in the sand still looks like the sand is deep enough for a kid to play in, just as it was when they brought her up here when she was a little girl. I know my brother will be interested in seeing the pictures of the house as well.

After driving around in the city of Barstow checking out different buildings my Step-dad remembered, we headed out towards Calico Ghost town in the hills north of town. Back when I was a kid, we used to go camping in the canyon next to the ghost town. So, we headed out there and found the entrance to the canyon and drove back in there until my Mom and I spotted a familiar area. Of course, I had to take a couple pictures to send to my brothers. The one to the left shows part of that area of the canyon where we think we used to camp. I can remember my brothers and I exploring all the mine shafts and tunnels in the hills around this canyon. Oh, what memories.. lol...

We drove up in the canyon where the ghost town is but my Step-dad didn't want to get out and walk around the town, so we just talked our way past the gate so we could get into the paved area below the ghost town so I could take one picture. **sigh** We also tried to visit the Route 66 museum and the Railroad museum at the old Barstow train depot since we were nearby, but they were both closed. They're only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and of course, we were there on Monday. So we wandered through the Chamber of Commerce section of the depot and looked at all the old photos and read some of the information about the depot. Then we wandered down the length of the building peering into windows, admiring the architecture. Apparently it's one of the last (and best preserved) of the Fred Harvey Houses left in the country. They've done a beautiful job of keeping the building up. Dummy me, I didn't take any pictures of it.

One last picture for this entry, and that is of a motel we spotted across the street from the building that used to be the Barstow Garage (It's now a church!) back when my Step-dad's father owned it. The Route 66 Motel... The old cars parked in the courtyard was what drew our attention. My Step-dad went inside the Barstow Garage/church and wandered around while my Mom and I wandered up and down the sidewalk outside looking at the cars across the street. Mom and I even spotted an old Nash Rambler that looked sort of like the one she had when I was a kid.

Update (4/4/09) I'm sitting with my cousin in a Starbucks in Riverside so I can get a connection to the net... This trip has been fun, but trying to get online has been frustrating to say the least! I think I will probably just upload any addition blogs articles and photos when I get home. We're scheduled to leave early Monday morning to head back north... So, Tuesday will be "upload" day... lol...