Off The Grid in California - Bombay Beach / Salton Sea / Salvation Mountain / Slab City / East Jesus
A visit to the desert of Southern California to check out the stretch of hwy 111 which leads out to the middle of nowhere . Stopping at the banana museum , roadside relics , Bombay beach at Salton Sea and ending up in Slab City . Home to Salvation Mountain and East Jesus .
Transcript
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today's adventure brings us to the
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deserts of Southern California taking
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the 111 south through some desolate
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regions known as grapefruit Boulevard
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welcome everyone Adams the Wu here
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tagging along is my friend Nicky have
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you ever been to this area before
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nope I was last time you're out here
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it's been three or four years a lot
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probably has changed but a lot it's
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probably similar and stayed the same
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we're just gonna see what there is to
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see on the side of the thoroughfare as
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well at the end sound good let's do this
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I noticed behind you there is a bow on
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the ground huh I'm inviting you to join
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me today shall you starting off here at
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the North Shore community center and
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coffee Club the sign says gifts but it's
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written over some other wording which is
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hard to make out and there is a pamphlet
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in the window that states 2010 most
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likely when this establishment closed
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music barbecue and fun look at the date
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stamp do you see what printer printed
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this out no I just see I just see a
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flyer well no it's like Oh what you
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that's the technical term it's
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old-school yeah I'll look it up but yeah
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you remember those are like white men
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took up the entire desk I try I'm
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drawing by line dot matrix dot matrix
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printer yes you see the dots is a part
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of the matrix
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it might look beautiful but upon closer
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inspection this is a very prickly piece
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of foliage oh my goodness look at those
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oh we just got me I'm trying to pull
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away and this right here touch my thumb
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it's done
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Wyn oh yeah oh wow it's a dangerous
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plant no joke that could cause some
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serious damage to your skin example up
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there the wood has been peeled back
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carved away by these little prickly
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thorns this states let's do the Banasik
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which kind of makes sense because right
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over there is the International banana
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Museum just past the dumpster I don't
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think it's open today
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in fact I'm kind of wondering if it's
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even operational at all anymore I do
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like that SoCo liquor and Sporting Goods
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and bait signage retro in the distance
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there that's a relic these ants have
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created a home here burrowed into the
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ground you'd see hundreds of them just
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doing their thing down in there down in
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that hole taking food to and fro setting
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up a homestead a little bit of
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everything listed on this one I'm
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guessing probably 70s mid late 70s this
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was planted here it's just a rough
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estimate guess if I had to had to give
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one it's all locked up and chain linked
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off but these are the facilities to the
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right that fellas got a sweet stash and
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the other guys taking care of business
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reading the paper
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adjacent to the attraction is skips
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which looks like a little convenience
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store at one point it was a gas station
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you can see here in the foreground the
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concrete is where the pumps used to be
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at one point I can safely say I've never
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seen a dog banana before but now I have
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in painted form on the side of that wall
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dog banana this little monkey says
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closed one thing this location is noted
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for is not allowing filming it's a
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dollar to get in but no video or
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panoramic pictures they are prohibited
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inside the mascot for skips appears to
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be a drunk turtle we're here on the
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wrong day of the week it is not open
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today but I am admiring the facade
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itself
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they don't make they don't make
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structures like those too much anymore
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check out the design of that very unique
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looking to say the least see how it kind
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of just protrudes outward you see it
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better from this particular angle
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way off in the distance underneath the
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gas sign written on that awning says
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open 24 hours that this day and age is
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not applicable
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feliks auto repair is what it once was
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I know you're a fan of textures you
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think of the texture of this will of
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this behind us perfectly delicious what
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is it about textured items that you like
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so much I can taste them that would be
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disgusting but I don't have to taste it
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I can just I can see it like oh you can
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visually taste it yes it's delicious I'm
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just kidding don't touch just touch just
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look just like this is a pretty good
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saying show the love all because it's
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abandoned does it mean it's forgotten
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pretty solid like iron solid yeah it's
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like how heavy weight wise you think it
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is your quarter pound you even have a
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pound oh look an aunt has chosen it nice
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it's a good place to reside
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it's more or less petrified wood
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protruding rocks it's very decorative
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and a remnant of the past where a
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payphone used to stand
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there are lots for sale but written over
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it
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there was a motel old motel signage
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underneath us and it look there you have
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to have a eagle eye to see it but it
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says Motel making way to Bombay Beach
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population 295 an elevation of 223
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and by turning off here and driving down
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this road for about a quarter mile we'll
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end up at the Salton Sea
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the ski in the lowest bar in the Western
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Hemisphere now serving cocktails
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this cactus has like a purplish hue to
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it a purplish green hue there's a
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cluster there and then there's a
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singular one over here that's also
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purple Hewish the last resort' stop for
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Bombay Beach the second part is
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difficult to read the inscription see it
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faintly there
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the letters have been removed but it's
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up there some sort of art installation
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here that's moving and shifting you can
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see that see that sphere kind of
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circulating around that's different
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as the backside of the cylinder where
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that art was located in the distance
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there's a train going by with a lot of
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military vehicles
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trucks Wow
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and then down here
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do you see the foot back in there with
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some painted toenails there's a foot
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you might think it's an ordinary fish
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but it's an airliner it's an airplane
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with the tail fin of a fish
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there's someone perched up there on the
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roof above the carport in a chair hello
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up there and here's the dinosaur that's
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different
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looks pretty cool with the Sunburst
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coming through that whatever that top
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portion is what are you doing in the
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middle of oh you're not in the middle of
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road anymore so now I could just say why
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did the seagull cross the road wait now
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you're going back into the middle of the
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road what are you doing in the middle of
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the road seagull alright I guess that's
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where you feel comfortable
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there's a bathroom right if they're
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inside that trailer tucked away in these
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shrubs is a house of residence
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look in the window there you think
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someone lives here is another art
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installation I really can't tell anymore
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pretty wild he's ridiculous in the
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desert of all places of the desert
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there's ducks behind us
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yeah squawking this is an enchanted
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forest in a desert by the Dead Sea
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mr. cow perched atop that roof hello mr.
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cow
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some bicycle wheels way over there up
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top
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some Devo caps and a metal tree a lot
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going on here this property making my
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way closer to the water now there's a
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dragon coming out of the sand right
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there Wow look at this pirate ship kind
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of sort of make it out of the wreckage
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you're more daring than I does it feel
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pretty stable oh whoa I heard it I heard
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a creaking you need help getting out
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okay you got it you got it
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Oh careful I'm not really helping you go
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down the way you come up my friend
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that's a swing set out in the water
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about waist-deep
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pretty sure this door leads and know
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where the wind's blowing it the winds
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blowing the door to nowhere
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so then on this mattress this bed is a
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burnt mannequin torso charred remains
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beware of biohazard that's not caution
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radiation area oh goodness
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to read that prior Hitchcock would be
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proud
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continuing on stopping off at the United
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Food Center for some beverages it's a
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little dry and getting dehydrated out
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here even though this Pepsi sign looks
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retro it is rather new but check out the
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Orange Crush in the distance that's been
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there a few years
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nine two two five seven
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that's the zip code there is a small
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roadside motel here what I find
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interesting is the size of this former
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phone booth
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I think I've ever seen seed one like
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that before
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retro fire engines from a simpler time
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as well as tractor-trailer for the ideal
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melon company dairy products are making
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that out correctly
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straight down this direction a few more
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miles is the mountain of salvation
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looks as if they're giving it a fresh
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paint job not allowed to meander up the
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side normally you can walk up to the
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peak not there taking care of business
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in fact even this area also is not
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accessible closed due to rain keep out
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you can even see where it's washed away
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there the way it's created is the paint
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is overlaid on top of hay bales right in
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the middle of the screen you can see it
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kind of protruding through what's where
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it's been washed away here is a
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miniature version kind of like a scale
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model of the entire premises so what
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you're looking at is a tiny teeny
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percentage of it and that's the real
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deal huge an enormous amount of empty
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paint cans over there surrounding the
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god is love box on the ground the
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display of the boat has also been kind
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of stanchion doff with Tubbs and pieces
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of wood they get a little barricade
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there
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in all honesty we're getting a little
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behind-the-scenes look at how how its
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kind of all formulated except they're on
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the ladder and he's just kind of throw
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in the pack in the mud hit it all tight
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so we can put the paint over it
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takes a lot of upkeep the original
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creator passed away that he has a plaque
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here that was dedicated back in 2016
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Leonard Knight was his name we have him
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to thank for this people come from all
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around you can see the light traffic
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passing by it's very very peaceful very
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quiet except except for the dogs barking
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obviously this piece of equipment is
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loaded with Bible verses has all the
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different passages acts 2:38 Matthew
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3:11
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notice the trailer hitch here well the
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hitch that connects to the truck I
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should say and then on the bumper John
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3:16
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but the grill repeatedly has the word
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Bible over and over and over that is one
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sweet ride look at the antlers out of
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there both the windshield right in style
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this says right there
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basically you just bring your RV or
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living accommodations out here and plant
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a seed there are some military
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helicopters flying over what am I
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witnessing right now it looks like lots
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of shoes and tinsel hanging from the
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trees and then down the grounds a lot of
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discarded shoes and pants and
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undergarments no no it's just a bunch of
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clothes
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written all those boards states if you
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think you're free you'll never escape
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as all the information and activities
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that are taking place in the community
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a lot more going on than you would think
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including a library a skatepark an oasis
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East Jesus is not underlined slab city
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do not climb do not climb on the plane
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and surprisingly oh hello there UPS
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makes deliveries all the way out here
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please honk is that a spider station
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wagon is that a it's like almost like a
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monster card so dragon alien spider
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thing oh it is kind of like a dragon has
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a dragon kind of scales on all those
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chairs or seats are set up there on the
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right so you can watch all those
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television television sets they are on
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the left a whole wall of them this tower
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has been constructed it's about three
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stories tall I give or take just a
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guesstimate but inside are a bunch of
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goose goose noggins hiding amongst the
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trees hi
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oh I see what happened - I know where
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the necks are but down below this robots
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body there's their bodies some sort of
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elephant creature on the left there in
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this car is kind of jacked up just to a
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little bit with some something
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permeating out of the top of the roof
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has a weapon for his right hand his arm
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kind of converts into a weapon of some
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sort in my opinion this looks very
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dangerous to be to be playing on I got
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some very sharp sharp odd objects on
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this playground the equipment that's
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hoof
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yeah stay off of that inside the kissing
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booth this guy right here he's waiting
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he's waiting could that be a Wizard of
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Oz homage there the leg sticking out of
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the destroyed structure the path seems
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to lead this way pass this decorative
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glass and through this door seems a lot
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of choices lot of choices it's been in
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the spoons
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there's a big old flamingo back there
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back over in Slab City now welcome to
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the internet cafe here it is in the
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California Ponderosa the ultimate
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off-grid experience there's a lot of
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people residing out here even a spot
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designated to lay their their pets in
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their final resting place
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a little bit of debris
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for one reason or another no one has
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picked these spots there used to be you
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can see where the roads see where the
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roads are
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but no one's camped here anymore trash
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well those clothes they're just hanging
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and even more oh there's like a recliner
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like a lounge chair right in that branch
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and like that on our way out gotta love
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this American flag RV nice just across
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the way are these stacks of rocks lots
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of them a couple dozen at least not only
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in this section but stretching all the
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way on that area as well that's gonna do
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