Forgotten Places & Empty Ghost Towns In Desert - Desolate Road Trip Los Angeles To Phoenix Arizona
Desert Road Trip LA To Phoenix
Transcript
0:02
welcome everyone Adam the woo here how
0:02
the record have you here's your man as a
0:07
recording of this it is bunted June 26th
0:11
2023 I am departing
0:13
out of my hotel here in Hollywood next
0:16
to the Hollywood Hills
0:19
across the way right over there I will
0:22
be hitting the freeways and back roads
0:26
mostly freeways on the way to Phoenix
0:28
about 380 400 ish if I Veer off let's
0:34
call it 400 mile commute out of
0:37
California
0:38
to Arizona where I will be in Phoenix
0:40
the next few days series of days
0:44
I'm inviting you to join me on this
0:46
commute
0:48
shall we
1:03
found these classic cars off to the side
1:03
of the road here in Cabazon
1:06
I made about an hour and a half commute
1:07
give or take about an hour
1:16
gonna fuel up here in town and also
1:16
check out some dinos
1:19
I always stop at the Peewee dinos
1:21
before continuing
1:23
out into the desert
1:52
and even farther back in the property
1:52
there's even more back there
1:55
a lot of them
1:57
self-pumping gas nozzle in full effect
2:01
five dollars and two cents
2:04
for five dollars and three cents I guess
2:06
if you round it up wow
2:08
wound it up rounded it up unless I
2:12
wounded it up but take a look at this
2:15
getting fuel right next to the Peewee
2:19
dinos and where the wheel in used to be
2:26
I was able to go inside there before
2:27
they tore down in fact I ate in there
2:29
when it was open
2:31
made famous from peewee's Big Adventure
2:38
T-Rex over in the distance
2:38
fueling up
2:43
neighborhood of large March make sure
2:43
you tell them Large Marge sent you
2:53
look they're unloading a piece of
2:53
equipment right there it is windy out
2:56
here
2:57
oh it looks like the Burger King closed
3:00
down over here too Burger King is now
3:02
closed
3:04
interesting
3:16
love these dinos
3:20
first the Mexican restaurant behind me
3:22
that I just showed that closed
3:26
wheel in torn down over there
3:31
and now the drive-through of BK
3:33
not operational they are doing some
3:35
construction inside there though so
3:36
maybe it's going to reopen but can't go
3:39
through the drive-through
3:40
there is no drive-through
3:47
I also think of the wizard
3:47
Fred Savage movie California
3:51
not really seeing a whole heck of a lot
3:53
of construction happening here though
3:55
even though there's a fence up
4:03
it's also interesting to have this
4:03
barbed wire
4:06
very very windy
4:08
they got this barbed wire stretched
4:11
around the side
4:13
who were the authorized Personnel that
4:15
are allowed in here large March
4:23
a large Marge you saw was
4:23
her ghost
4:25
also believe Tears for Fears the
4:27
Everybody Wants to Rule the World video
4:30
filmed right in front of here too
4:32
well the old building that was here
4:35
the Claude Bell statue of the
4:37
the guy with his mule his trusty mule in
4:40
the pay phone it's always fascinating to
4:42
me too when they built this Burger King
4:43
and that other restaurant that's closed
4:45
on the other side of it see how they
4:47
built it at an elevation evidently there
4:49
was a discrepancy a contingency between
4:52
the owners that built these and the
4:55
dinosaurs and they built them up on a
4:56
higher level for no reason other than to
4:59
obstruct the Dinos
5:02
from the freeway why would both of these
5:04
be built up elevated like that just to
5:07
obscure the view of this Roadside
5:09
Attraction from the road I don't know
5:10
the backstory on it seems pretty
5:12
dramatic
5:17
a few years ago I went to a screening of
5:17
the wizard at the Chinese Theater and
5:20
they had the little boy
5:21
from it not Fred Savage the other the
5:23
other star and there was a q a and he
5:26
would not he will not do the line
5:30
kind of like Macaulay Culkin won't put
5:32
his hands on his cheeks and do the
5:33
scream from Home Alone
5:36
this won't do it
5:50
classic
5:52
I always make me so happy just stopping
5:54
off here it really does you also see a
5:56
lot of the big old solar windmills out
6:00
as well I just go on for
6:03
a couple miles
6:05
it's like hundreds of them
6:07
see the two in the foreground there but
6:10
there's a lot more way off in the
6:11
distance too
6:13
again notice how this building is
6:14
elevated no reason for it other to
6:16
obstruct The View
6:20
of the dinosaurs
8:24
even though a lot of this Trek is going
8:24
to be on the freeways I am trying to
8:26
Veer off a little bit to some of the
8:28
side streets and back roads when I can
8:38
and I just did
8:38
see what I can find also
8:41
no
8:43
matches or Flames out here
8:46
take a look at this you can kind of see
8:48
it it says
8:49
if you light it
9:01
up to a five thousand dollar fine if you
9:01
light it
9:03
we will write it meaning a ticket
9:15
and windy so it would spread pretty
9:15
quick this is the community of Desert
9:18
Edge
9:19
the golden Lantern market and liquor
9:22
corner of cork Hill Road right here
9:26
yeah the little Community is called the
9:28
Desert Edge the edge of the desert so
9:30
now from here on out
9:32
I'm going fully into it
9:34
I was on the edge On The Desert Edge
9:37
but now I'm going in
9:46
it's like there's an old
9:46
vacuum pump over there too
9:49
looks to be a lot of trailers out here
9:52
but mobile homes very nice area though
9:55
this little section here is called
9:56
Caliente Springs
9:59
very nice
10:01
Little Pond there
10:09
Blair Station RV superstation
10:09
and what Drew me in is like this
10:11
kind of unique mascot on a building over
10:14
here he's right there on the corner of
10:16
the roof
10:18
it's like an otter perhaps
10:21
can't tell what that is I need to zoom
10:22
in on it
10:25
let me zoom in on this we're in a
10:27
captain's hat
10:45
there's always such a serious Vibe out
10:45
here in the desert
10:48
it's always fascinated by desert areas
10:52
and just what you can find
11:06
also a random speed limit 25 mile an
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hour speed limit sign
11:28
certainly there has to be rattlesnakes
11:28
out here
11:33
how picturesque is this though
11:49
it's closed up house
11:50
no one lived here for decades
11:59
way off in the distance is dry and warm
11:59
as it is here you see the snow peak
12:01
Hills up there
12:03
I got my rental car there
12:12
scorpions too it's probably scorpions
12:15
snakes of scorpions I could do without
12:18
and big spiders I don't care for those
12:20
either tough to tell if this was a home
12:22
or a business got some satellite dishes
12:24
around it
12:25
it's a mailbox out front nothing is open
12:27
here it looks like it probably was a
12:29
business of some sort
12:35
of sitting here
12:35
doing nothing
12:55
it is desolate out here
12:55
I would imagine being a homeowner out
12:57
here would be very difficult just so
12:58
much wind like you try to put a chain
13:00
link fence up
13:01
and the wind gusts are so strong
13:04
they just blow the fence down
13:07
I'm sure it's a real problem
13:09
right here in the center of the road
13:11
there is a pipe an exposed pipe
13:14
coming out of the pavement right there
13:16
going around it
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it's like popping up out of the ground
13:26
this road is like a roller coaster
13:32
goes up
13:32
goes down
13:39
it's been like this way for the last few
13:39
miles
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it goes up
13:46
also a lot of signs that flash flooding
13:49
is a real thing out here
13:50
and it might not seem like it is
13:57
goes up goes down
13:57
might not seem like it is but I've been
13:58
in a desert storm before and it is
14:00
something else
14:02
pop up out of nowhere
14:04
and just torrential downpours when you
14:07
wouldn't think they would exist
14:21
it's down
14:23
goes up so I passed through Desert Edge
14:26
the Desert Edge
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which was on the edge of the desert and
14:30
I've got back on the freeway commuted
14:32
about another hour
14:34
and now I am in Desert Center
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foreign
14:42
probably not the exact center of the
14:42
desert but the name of the town is
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Desert Center I always stop off here
14:46
whenever I'm in this area
14:56
head over there in a minute
14:56
it was an episode of Airwolf filmed out
14:58
here many many years ago the TV show
15:01
Airwolf
15:06
which is kind of fascinating to think
15:06
that Jan Michael Vincent was in this was
15:09
in this area
15:11
filming a classic TV show it's also
15:14
incredibly warmer out here and I think
15:17
it's going to get even warmer closer I
15:19
get to Phoenix and being in Phoenix than
15:22
it was in Southern California
15:24
very nice and SoCal during my tenure
15:29
there
15:30
but it is warm
15:33
feel the heat
15:37
and the difference
15:57
there is an active post office down
15:57
and a cafe that's used specifically for
16:00
filming
16:02
for TV shows and commercials and whatnot
16:11
only a couple hundred people live in
16:11
this town
16:13
I mean obviously not right where I'm
16:15
showing
16:16
but there are some some houses on the
16:18
outskirts this kind of looks like the
16:20
big metal door that Leatherface
16:22
Texas Chainsaw that's not metal it's
16:24
wood but it kind of gave me that
16:27
that look when he pulls the door
16:35
and their Leatherface
16:35
in here
16:47
there's a water cooler right here
16:47
an oasis
17:02
nothing ever changes out here been
17:03
through here a couple times over the
17:05
last decade or so
17:07
the only thing that changes is the spray
17:10
paint more is added
17:13
to these desolate empty buildings
17:33
oh my gosh that bag startled the crud
17:33
out of me
17:34
I was going to point out that maybe some
17:35
skaters are out here and this this
17:37
bathroom out of my peripheral vision I
17:40
wasn't looking at it
17:41
I thought it was like an animal or
17:43
something
17:55
I think someone might be over there
18:13
I just won't take a chance and I'll go
18:13
this way
18:51
looks like the innards of a piano
18:51
or a musical instrument
19:28
it's like those old hotel rooms or
19:28
apartments or whatever these were they
19:30
still have the mattresses inside
19:57
some tubs of old ice cream Grand ice
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cream
19:58
barrels
20:00
cobwebs and
20:02
Springs from the mattresses may or may
20:05
not have been a plaque here at one point
20:07
you could see the indentations and the
20:10
holes there in the Rock one drilled
20:12
there and one drilled there
20:15
but the plaque oh yeah you can even see
20:18
part of it there you can see the
20:21
silhouette around the side where it was
20:25
but no longer a plaque there on the side
20:27
of that rock
20:42
you still see the
20:42
the ladders there leading into it oh man
20:45
this is a bummer it's a couple years ago
20:47
I passed through here gosh probably been
20:49
two or three years ago now
20:52
and there was a sign in the window
20:53
saying you could call a number and use
20:55
this for filming you know film crews
20:56
could come out here and utilize this
20:59
and I always wanted to get inside here
21:02
and take a look at it but
21:05
not happy that someone has busted out
21:07
the windows obviously no one is renting
21:09
this a film anymore they got the old
21:11
Diner
21:12
down there the old newspaper
21:15
old newspaper rack you got the diner
21:18
counter
21:19
over there shards of containers glass
21:24
over here
21:26
and then across the way
21:28
the old Desert Center Market and the
21:30
still active post office for the 200
21:32
plus residents that live you know a mile
21:34
or two from this little
21:46
yep someone just shattered all the
21:46
windows out
22:13
stuff out here over time this is usually
22:13
what happens
22:18
the Shutter's there on the window
22:21
like the style of the building
22:28
very unique
22:28
with the exception of Airwolf I don't
22:29
know what else
22:31
this was used in even though it did have
22:34
on this smashed out window the sign that
22:36
said call to utilize it for filming
22:47
you can even see it looks like one of
22:47
the rocks that they use to throw into
22:49
the window there
23:01
probably not a lot of law out here the
23:01
law
23:03
probably not a lot
23:06
it's a pretty Lawless area
23:54
oh wow
23:54
it's like a whole mechanic shop like a
23:55
top of a
23:57
top of a bus or top of a train top of a
24:00
train car there
24:02
and you got the old mechanic shop
24:04
shelves where all the parts
24:07
what about
24:27
yeah that is a train look at that
24:27
the heck
24:29
that's a portion of a train
24:32
unless I'm guessing wrong there's also a
24:34
shop vac right here
24:45
very interesting
24:51
I definitely want to document this
24:51
Market over here because it looks like
24:53
it's about to cave in
24:55
I would imagine the next time I roll
24:57
through here which you know the heck
24:58
that will be
25:00
it'll be awful now I've covered the
25:02
Airwolf stuff before but there's a
25:04
really good video and I believe maybe
25:05
the first person who ever discovered
25:07
that they filmed that episode
25:10
with the helicopter flying this way
25:14
there's a video by sightseeing Sally
25:17
he's probably still on the interwebs you
25:19
can search that if you want to see some
25:21
good matchups
25:23
of the Airwolf scenes I've talked about
25:26
it a few times but it didn't go into
25:28
Super detail like she did you want to
25:30
see that
25:31
I am just here to document this because
25:34
it is Desert Center Market oh wow
25:38
dust a little bit of a dust Breeze going
25:40
on there
25:44
because I believe they use a lot of
25:44
these Interiors
25:46
in that episode
25:57
not structurally sound at all look at
25:57
this this is like a grocery store it's
26:00
like an old grocer belt here
26:02
you know where you'd ring up paper or
26:04
plastic
26:06
you got the cash register over there Joe
26:10
Rowe was here
26:12
and
26:14
you know broken out display case and
26:16
Coca-Cola
26:18
vending machine I imagine Coca-Cola
26:20
probably wouldn't mind having that back
26:23
and maybe they don't care
26:34
oh this is so dilapidated
26:34
and especially how much wind is out here
26:42
yeah the last time I was out here a
26:42
couple years ago that was not all busted
26:44
in this was not all busted in
26:52
unavoidable desert progress there are
26:52
some active residents out here at least
26:54
those that are working in the area again
26:57
have their own post office
26:59
at the flag up top
27:05
zip code 922
27:05
39
27:13
there's me right there in the reflection
27:18
one thing open in this little area is
27:20
the post office
27:28
looks to be an organ right there or a
27:28
piano of some sort musical instruments
27:33
just all the doors are wide open
28:29
I'm not a math whiz I'm pretty good at
28:29
basic math
28:31
multiplication division addition
28:33
subtraction
28:40
obviously whoever created this really
28:40
good at math but not good
28:43
that's spelling
28:54
holy Matt Damon we're here I have
28:54
continued on a ways I am now about 15
28:57
miles on the outskirts of Blythe
29:00
California pretty close to the state
29:01
line
29:03
of Arizona and something that I have
29:05
never been to before
29:12
giant desert
29:12
figures
29:17
there's also a giant desert truck
29:17
approaching over here so I'm going to
29:19
move
29:20
over this way
29:27
1932 George Palmer spotted six giant
29:27
figures etching the ground along the
29:29
Colorado River
29:31
called antaglios
29:37
in toglios these figures range from 95
29:37
feet to 171 feet three humanoid two
29:41
animal animal and one spiral
29:43
they were made by scraping away
29:45
dark desert varnish to expose lighter
29:48
soil underneath
29:50
and it is a California registered
29:53
historical landmark
29:54
it's a little ways off the main road
29:56
from the marker so I drove the rental
29:58
up this dirt road
30:03
can't drive past here I have to walk the
30:05
rest of the way
30:15
I want to find that
30:17
very windy
30:26
yeah it looks as if they put a
30:26
chain-link fence around one of these
30:29
that way people do not walk across it or
30:32
destroy it
30:34
but I believe this is the
30:37
figure I was just showing you see the
30:40
outline there on the ground this thing
30:41
is Big see the arms the Torso the head
30:45
right here
30:59
the legs
31:59
now in the town of Blythe
31:59
or tractors here
32:01
pickup truck tow truck I should say
32:09
farm equipment outside this little
32:09
restaurant called steaks and cakes
32:14
right there it's an old truck right here
32:16
too look at this
32:27
this is like the main road through town
32:27
I guess you could call it the Main
32:29
Street
32:36
I had a boat up there with a fishing
32:36
pole
32:37
this liquor store also has a
32:39
delicatessen in it
32:47
and the El Diamante bar next door looks
32:47
to be closed
32:56
Now official
32:56
in Arizona
33:22
passing now through the community of
33:22
Quartzsite Arizona again
33:24
across the state line
33:26
a couple planes I've been through here a
33:28
couple times cross-country trips but I
33:30
never noticed
33:32
these planes here one of them's on top
33:34
of a big
33:37
tractor trailer truck
33:45
oh it was a bus over there too
33:45
old city bus
33:50
now the only times over the years I
33:50
passed through here just been on normal
33:51
days
33:53
where the town is pretty empty
33:55
but once a year they do an event called
33:57
RTR which is the biggest nomad
34:01
Congregation of people rvers and people
34:04
who kind of go off the grid
34:07
and they all meet up here once a year
34:09
and I've always wanted to go to one year
34:12
you could rent an RV for a week
34:15
show up everybody bring a tent maybe not
34:17
even an RV
34:18
I think it'd be kind of neat to
34:20
congregate here when there's thousands
34:24
thousands and thousands
34:28
of people here
34:30
boondocking if you will
34:33
definitely a different vibe then I'm
34:35
sure than it is normally and I can just
34:37
imagine during those events
34:40
a lot different through here as far as
34:42
the amount of people
34:47
it's like there's a little either a swap
34:47
meet or a junkyard over here
34:51
Everything Must Go
34:58
yeah it's like a old Pepsi machine over
34:58
there I don't have any room to
35:01
that's a couple of video games
35:06
I don't really have any room to take
35:06
anything home but some cool stuff were
35:09
dinosaur there Mill Creek Outpost
35:13
camel
35:20
here I've
35:20
showed where he's laid to rest before
35:26
I think if you were going to come out to
35:26
that event with all the people you would
35:28
need some sort of Transportation other
35:29
than the camper you were in check out
35:32
the camel stop over here
35:35
camel stop auto repair that is awesome
35:40
never noticed that before in my travels
35:42
passing through here
35:44
again a few years ago I passed through
35:49
I'm gonna add to the Ambiance of that
35:49
windmill turning
35:52
and there's the post office right next
35:54
to the camel's top
35:55
never knew that either so right here at
35:58
Oasis books readers Oasis books
36:02
the former owner used to always be in
36:05
here without any clothes on now the gate
36:08
is open
36:10
but it looks like it's all closed up
36:12
says they're having a reader's fair but
36:14
look there's anybody here so I don't
36:15
think I'm going to get out the gate was
36:16
open
36:18
but I heard the gentleman passed away
36:19
the guy used to own this place but you
36:22
would go in there he was always in his
36:24
birthday suit even when it wasn't his
36:25
birthday he became very famous for that
36:29
I mean he would wear some just a just
36:32
enough
36:33
like a cloth loin item
36:37
but other than that it was kind yeah it
36:40
was it was interesting
36:42
but unfortunately I heard that he passed
36:44
away a couple years ago
36:46
so he's no longer there but hopefully
36:49
there is someone watching over the place
36:53
which obviously there is if the
36:56
gate was opened
37:10
met him a couple times
37:10
obviously couldn't put him in the video
37:12
but you know what I mean continued on a
37:14
ways now I made it over to Tonopah
37:21
see the shadow of the car
37:21
almost touching the post office
37:24
the crow flying by
37:31
a small little town of Tonopah
37:31
t-o-n-o-p-a-h
37:40
there is a motel not a hotel but a motel
37:40
here an old neon side they have Mineral
37:44
Wells
38:43
that's gonna do it
38:43
for today got a couples of bottle
38:45
bottles of water for the room
38:48
it is warm even after dark it is a
38:51
little
38:52
definitely warmer here in Phoenix than
38:54
it was in SoCal
38:56
well that's gonna do it for today I'll
38:57
see the next video the Vlog
38:59
is over