The Empty Roadside Stops From Los Angeles To Las Vegas - Closed Waterpark In Desert / Baker & Zzyzx
Los Angeles To Las Vegas March 2023
Transcript
0:02
welcome everyone
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Adam the Wu here has the recording of
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this it is Thursday March 9th
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2023 currently in Southern California
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out of the desertness desertists
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desert esque region
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I'll be going to Las Vegas
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currently heading that direction here
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in my rental car
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beautiful snow peak mountains off in the
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distance I'm inviting you
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to join me
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on my commute
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from the greater LA area that was
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technically an Orange County Orange
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County I stayed in Buena Park the last
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series of days did some La stuff did
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some Orange County stuff and now I'm off
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to Vegas what happens in Vegas
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does it always stay in Vegas join me
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shall you
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take a look at the snow up there of
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those mountains
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it's very Gusty and very windy
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feels great out here
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gotta hit some roadside stops along the
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way right off of Interstate 15 there's
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these rock formations and when you're
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driving down the freeway they look a lot
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like Vasquez Rocks from a certain angle
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when you get up closer to them they
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don't really look as Jagged as Vasquez
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Rocks which is a little north of La
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totally different area
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still pretty pretty interesting rock
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formations though this is a route I have
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taken many many times
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from LA to Vegas and then just
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cross-country road trips and whatnot
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I will not be going back to California
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in fact
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after my tenure in Vegas I will be
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flying back to Florida out of Vegas
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dropping off this rental car after a
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series of days stop off here at this
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very unique Barstow station I'm in
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Barstow now
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I'm gonna get a coffee and also show how
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this Mickey D's
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has trains out front
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it's kind of iconic file this one under
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travel day which is basically getting
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from point A to point B showing things
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along the way which sometimes works out
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pretty good check out the Santa Fe
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railroad cars here now on the other side
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there's like an Eatery
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inside but on this side oh this door is
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open right here must be like a little
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maintenance Bay or something or this
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door is open
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leading to like a little closet
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and the train cars even wrap around here
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to this end too look at the size of this
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hand up here look at that handful of
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coins is like
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half the size of the person giving the
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coins or taking the coins there's also a
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water tower
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over here as well kind of a beacon
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from the interstate
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set up just like an old old uh station
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of subscribe it's called The Barstow
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station but it definitely has that old
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tiny feel here and you can go right
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inside and just got to Showcase what's
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inside here I'm gonna go inside get
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myself a coffee and just came to see
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what see what's happening inside the
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Barstow station
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it's been a while since I've been inside
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I've passed by this many times fueled up
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in the general vicinity before
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it's been a while since I stopped inside
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just check it out stretch the legs
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decided not to grab a coffee inside
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there
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for whatever reason the line was kind of
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long
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to Mickey D's so stop somewhere else
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gotta go ahead and head to Vegas
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I-15 north from here
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Las Vegas Nevada
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something you definitely don't normally
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see
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golden arches right here on the side of
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an old train car right
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different
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it's like embedded right there on the
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side
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self pumping gas nozzle fueling up here
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price per gallon
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4.89 for
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regular unleaded
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wondering what this random machine is
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here on the side near the gas pumps
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states that 24 hour
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surveillance but it wouldn't be for the
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gas pumps because the gas pumps are
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right there
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that's interesting
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I don't know what the heck that is
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it's not an ATM
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huh
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this little building has seen better
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days
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looks like it caught fire and is
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decomposing falling in as an old
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television set
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one place I always like to stop at
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Peggy Sue's 50 Diner not to eat but to
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look at some of the interesting things
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oh also take a look alien fresh jerky
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Texas style in Vegas all right now
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actually Baker's in California
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before you get to the state line I'll be
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stopping there too down the road hey I
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just checked my directions and 50 miles
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to Baker California still a ways they
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already got the signs out here and
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speaking of signs sign signs everywhere
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is signs says day and night camera
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surveillance right up here on this thing
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it's like almost like a hand not hand
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written but it's like almost like a
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sharp beat style but in here there are
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dinosaurs there is a pirate dangling
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from a tree there is an assortment of
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buildings which does not look like you
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can go in any of the buildings at this
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moment you know just like prehistoric
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creatures all around in here and the
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diner itself is shaped to look like a
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jukebox for back in the day as well
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which is kind of neat this little
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Courtyard area back here and it's
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definitely warmed up a lot since I've
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gotten out of L.A maybe it's just uh
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because it's warmer today all over this
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general area but out here it'd get
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farther in the desert it has warmed up
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quite a bit it's definitely a little
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warmer than it has been in the last
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series it is the area out back to or the
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area out back is referred to Peggy Sue
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Diner soar dinosaur park Diner and a
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sore I think a bird just flew by the
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camera there so you got the outside area
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which has the prehistoric creatures but
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then inside there is an assortment of
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nostalgia as well inside the building
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known as Peggy's I'm not ready for any
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food quite yet I think I might stop in
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Baker and get some but I always like to
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stop inside Peggy Sue and just showcase
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some of the stuff that's in here it's a
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must stop off we're going from LA to
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Vegas in my opinion or from Orange
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County to Vegas whichever
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yeah Southern California to Vegas just
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like a cool little cool little stop all
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the little weird quirky roadside
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attractions always worth a stop off
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beside Peggy Sue's
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all right heading back to my car and
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gotta continue on
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all right now I'm gonna grab a coffee
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from Eddie's World here in Yermo
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California
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Eddie's world there's a lot of these
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kind of stops on the way to Vegas
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this place has all kind of stuff ice
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cream
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souvenirs things like that
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gas already filled up though so the
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mascot must be
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right there in the middle is that an egg
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not sure what that is
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an egg or some kind of circular I'm not
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sure what that is right there it says
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right above Eddie's world and welcome
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also this is interesting there's like
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this little
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I don't know what this is like a
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partition in front of here
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trying to figure out what that mascot is
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either way
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it was not Eddie's world it's Eddie
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world
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as long as they have coffee that's all
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that's really
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that's that's the main focus right now a
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little caffeine for the drive
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oh the back seat of that vehicle it's
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grogu
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I gotta say it wasn't like super
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impressed with the inside of that place
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it was it was all right but I got some
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Peet's Coffee however
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which I took it took a sip of this
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pretty dang tasty but these I don't know
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the inside of that I don't know if it's
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worth pulling over I mean obviously the
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outside of it with that huge ice cream
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thing is awesome but other than that
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pretty standard just a big open area
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with a lot of gifts and whatnot
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right off the side of the freeway
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through this area
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are the Ten Commandments that says you
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shall not covet
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pulled off this little side road
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parallel to the freeway
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really hardly any cars on this one
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off in the distance is a water park that
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closed decades ago if I had to guess
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lots of spray paint all over
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everything
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slides have been removed but I think
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some of the pools might still be in
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this is like a quintessential on the way
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to Vegas
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from SoCal
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sight line whenever you kind of look
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over here
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this was the old pull in parking area
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or actually this was the exit you can
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see the exit signs there I don't need
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some of the spray paint
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and this was the full parking lot
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just walk up here real quick before
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getting back on the road last time I
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drove by here I don't know a year or so
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ago
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there was a really bad dust storm I
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couldn't even get out of my car
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barely even see out the window
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I had to look from a distance
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but all the structures are still intact
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other than the slides that they've taken
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down just a lot of spray paint got a
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piece of the old signage there
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protruding out that's pretty cool
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it's a Lisa Simpson
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painting on the side
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you see the old
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structures out there that have the water
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slides on them and take a look it still
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says water park or at least says water
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par
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you could use your imagination a lot of
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people out here
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on the slides and they're swimming
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trunks
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that was probably used for like
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skateboarders BMX and those with spray
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paint
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it's like a desolate wasteland out here
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in the desert
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foreign
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still right there
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here's where the churn styles were
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and a fountain
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probably won't be too long before
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everything's burned down you can see
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this building's been recently burned
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that one over there
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as well
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this one still stands and all these
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other ones still stands snack bars
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gift shops things like that
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and up at the top of the hill is where
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the slides were
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but as I stated the slides have been
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removed just the
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stanchions and the structures with all
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that's left
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this must have been the lazy river
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yeah you walked in right there and then
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the
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Lazy River went all around the park
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with another pool right here as well
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and the stairs leading up to the top of
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the slides up there
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and there's where the slides dumped out
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go down the side of this incline and
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then dump into the water
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oh and there's Bob down there there's
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Bob
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all right gonna head back to my car
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continue driving still got a ways to go
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just seeing the sheer amount of artwork
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on the walls here on the floor down
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below
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over my shoulder here
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definitely tell people have been coming
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out here for many many years pulling off
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the side of the road and walking in here
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it's just so wild right off the side of
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the road
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I mean I guess I have no reason to tear
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it down until they build something else
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new here and they probably never will
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tear anything else new or build anything
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else new here
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not really sure what this is used for
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now it's all fenced off says mark it on
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the side
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it's all fenced off chain link and
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barbed wire
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this is like I don't know 10 15 miles
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from where I just was
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and now approaching the most bizarre
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named Road ever
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physics or is it zyx
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I think it's sizzix
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but it could be zyzix either way
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it's a bizarre name for a road
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sizzix Road sizek's Road
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this is ax Road and then the next exit
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up from there which is like another five
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miles or so is into Baker Baker
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Boulevard which takes you directly
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into Baker
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and even though there's a lot of
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desolate stuff
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here in this community there is a lot of
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stuff open
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but the Royal Hawaiian Motel is not one
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of them
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and as you can see I'm not the only
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person stopping to take photos
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classic signage here this old retro sign
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neon for me there's something very
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comforting about Baker simply because I
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stop here every single time
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I've gone through this route this
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thoroughfare and I always stop at the
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Mad Greek I'd say nine times out of ten
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I stop at the Mad Greek and get a shake
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one of the best shakes I've ever had
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so I'm gonna do that while I'm here this
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kind of shows the trajectory of the
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distance I've gone you got Hollywood
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you zoom in you can even see Universal
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and Pantages and all that
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and then he got Disneyland down there
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they have not converted the Hollywood
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Tower to Guardians out here on the mural
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and I hope they don't
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then you got the country stored at this
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murals on the side of and you got the
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distancing arrows there the distance
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signs
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and then you got over here Las Vegas
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which is where I am heading I'm heading
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to Vegas into some of the iconic pieces
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landmarks
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from Vegas so this just kind of shows
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the progression of distance
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from this journey that I have taken
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today
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the bun boy Motel is also closed
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Marketplace 15 has seen better days
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and
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one thing Baker's also known for it
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didn't work for a long time there were
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many years you passed through here and
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the world's largest
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would be a thermometer I guess it'd be a
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thermometer world's largest gauge of
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temperature
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was not working but now it is working as
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they got it working a couple years ago
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now I checked the weather app on my
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phone and it says it was 68 69 degrees
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here in Baker now check the weather app
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on my phone and according to that it was
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68 69 degrees
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but according to the largest
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self-proclaimed thermometer the
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self-proclaimed largest thermometer
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or weather stick
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it is 67 degrees
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which is pretty Pleasant for this for
18:22
this time because sometimes it gets to
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be like 110 120.
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so you can see it has every 10 it has 30
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40 50. and if it's in the 60s it goes to
18:32
that Mark and then it goes the 70s 80s
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90s 100 this thing could get to like 140
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degrees
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that would be toasty if I tallied up how
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many shakes I purchased from this place
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over the course of my lifetime it would
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probably be over two dozen
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it also used to be a Mad Greek in Orange
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County kind of near knots I think it's
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on beach or maybe somewhere near Beach
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Boulevard it's in Orange County but it
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was converted to a noggles noggles is
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back the
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they you know Mexican taco place and
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there's no more Mad Greek so this might
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be the only Mad Greek that I know of
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there might be more but this place is
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still standing here in Baker and has
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some delicious shakes I highly recommend
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the shakes from here oh
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look at this beautiful thing this is
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like ten dollars I think I ordered the
19:18
large I probably should have got a
19:19
medium I didn't realize I think maybe in
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the past I ordered like a smaller
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or a medium but or that or they've just
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upsized the
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the deliciousness of this I went with
19:29
just a straight up vanilla
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oh this thing is good I think it was
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like ten dollars and change give or take
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first time I ever had this I was in a
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band and we traveled through here
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I think we were going to play a show in
19:43
Vegas actually and they were like oh we
19:45
can stop at the Mad Greek and get a
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shake and I was like all right yeah I'm
19:48
bored for that idea and then once I had
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it I was like oh my goodness
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that was kind of hooked ever since I
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don't stop every time I go through here
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but like I said probably nine times out
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of ten
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and I'm always kind of trying to spread
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the word
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about the shakes I have here
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pretty dang good their food's pretty
20:08
good too but I'm gonna go over to alien
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fresh jerky which is just down the Baker
20:11
Boulevard and get some jerky
20:15
oh that's thick
20:28
that is good
20:28
a little umbrella on there too a little
20:30
parasol
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it's so thick I gotta let it melt a
20:35
little bit
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straight up vanilla another too
20:41
complicated
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they have really good food too their
20:50
food here is awesome
20:52
but I'm you know
20:54
let me get some jerky for the rest of
20:55
the trip not too not too much farther to
20:57
Vegas
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I'm kind of curious
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if they have finally opened
21:05
the hotel down there they were building
21:07
a hotel at alien fresh jerky I'm gonna
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find out it's only about a quarter of a
21:13
mile or a few hundred yards that way
21:23
now this is the the regular alien jerky
21:23
place and this is the extension around
21:26
the back that they have had under
21:27
construction for years
21:30
years now they're going to have some
21:32
accommodations and I am just waiting for
21:34
this thing to open I come stay here but
21:37
still under construction back in there I
21:39
can't even drive back in there and take
21:40
a look at it or anything
21:46
slowly but surely one day one day it'll
21:46
be open here's the time travel station
21:48
right here has alien pretzels according
21:50
to the signage
21:51
here's an alien giving the peace sign
21:54
and of course this
21:58
alien type vehicle
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out front it is open
22:15
oh yeah quintessential road trip to
22:15
Vegas stop off
22:17
look at this you can see the alien down
22:20
inside the little ship there take a look
22:28
it was just a small little place before
22:28
they completely read it in front of this
22:30
looked like some sort of a
22:32
gosh I don't know what this is
22:34
a vessel of some sort like a tank
22:43
all right I'll stop inside get some
22:43
jerky let's see what other kind of stuff
22:45
they have inside here it's probably
22:47
you know I don't really have a certain
22:49
particular flavor of jerky that I like
22:50
but I always like to get a couple bags
22:52
every time I pass through here it's like
22:53
a Rite of pass it's like a win and row
22:55
moment you have to get some alien fresh
22:57
jerky wooden Baker
23:00
that in Mad Greek those are the two
23:01
Staples
23:03
of Baker California yeah since the last
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time I was in here I guess a year or so
23:06
ago they have extended and changed the
23:08
interior just a little bit too A lot of
23:10
it looks the same
23:11
but a lot of it has changed they've
23:13
added a few more things kind of opened
23:15
it up just a little bit and added a few
23:17
more differences that I had some stuff
23:19
still the same but it did there was
23:21
there was some noticeable changes
23:24
different areas a little corridors
23:25
through here and merchandise and things
23:27
like that
23:28
all in all always good to stop off at
23:30
alien fresh jerky and Baker
23:39
they do exist at least jerky does at
23:39
least jerky exists kind of decided about
23:42
aliens yeah I've made they might exist
23:43
and right across the street this place
23:45
Chinese food place fast food place
23:47
closed
23:49
it's like a beacon that alien up there I
23:51
ended up getting
23:53
pepper beef jerky
23:56
and the original beef jerky look at this
23:58
one this is on like a
24:00
like on a horse this one
24:03
look at that
24:04
I can't go wrong with some alien fresh
24:06
jerky I don't know how fresh it is
24:09
I don't know what the aliens
24:12
thought process on freshness is the same
24:14
as humans but it might be
24:17
so
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not even a countdown no announcement no
24:21
clue
24:22
when around the back will open when the
24:24
hotel will finally rear its head but
24:26
when it does
24:28
I'd like to stay there
24:30
it's back over there back behind it'd be
24:33
so cool to stay there one day
25:59
pretty much desert desert desert desert
25:59
desert
26:01
and then right at the state line the
26:02
Nevada state line
26:04
civilization
26:10
casinos
26:10
Slots of Fun
26:12
cards of plenty
26:21
gambling goodness
26:21
if that's your thing
26:27
it's like a little Oasis in the desert
26:27
it's really weird
26:29
goes from nothing to this the last time
26:32
I passed through here Buffalo Bills was
26:34
still closed I thought it was closed for
26:35
a few years
26:37
but it has reopened but it does not look
26:39
as if
26:40
the coaster has opened
26:43
in fact I don't know if they'll ever
26:44
reopen this coaster I went on it back in
26:46
2015. it is pretty scary
27:00
there's also a log ride inside here
27:00
that log ride I believe is not reopened
27:02
either
27:44
looks like this entire casino here
27:44
I think this is Gene Nevada
27:47
is closed down
27:49
pulling off the freeway onto the exit
27:51
see a lot of stuff's boarded up and
27:53
shuttered and they have these cone they
27:55
were cones
27:57
out in front they don't want anybody
27:58
driving over to that area
28:05
it's called Terribles
28:05
it's closed there are two of these
28:08
Prospectors the other one I pass on the
28:10
way in this is the second one
28:12
doing a little mining for gold
28:19
that's the luck buddy
28:19
best of luck
28:20
someone on a dirt bike out there or a
28:23
four-wheeler that's a dirt bike
28:25
and I got a train going by
28:28
got off of the main thoroughfare got off
28:31
the freeway the interstate
28:33
on this little side road
28:35
going over to seven magic mountains
28:38
or when they put seven magic Mountains
28:40
in
28:41
because that's been probably three four
28:43
five six years ago now
28:45
lost track
28:47
see how the seven magic mountains are
28:49
doing
28:50
it's like an art installation
28:53
of sorts there are quite a few people
28:55
out here this has given me some Cadillac
28:57
Ranch vibes
28:59
a Cadillac Ranch where the cars are
29:00
sticking out of the ground every time
29:02
you go by there there's usually quite a
29:04
Congregation of people like this out
29:07
years ago when they first put this up
29:09
hardly anybody would be here but over
29:11
the over time the legend of seven magic
29:13
mountains has grown considerably and
29:16
people know about it and they pull over
29:17
here and look at it I'll finish it one
29:19
two three four five so say one two three
29:25
oh there's one beside it
29:28
four
29:30
one two three four five six seven
29:37
magic bounds this guy's gonna jump
29:39
so if you just pan around this way
29:42
take a look okay so sometimes they're
29:44
obscured one two three four five six
29:48
wait one two three four five six seven
29:58
you just walk a few feet and one's
30:04
seven magic mountains and then over here
30:08
are some smaller
30:10
little rock formations that people have
30:12
put up
30:18
here's
30:18
I guess the big thing is just everyone's
30:20
doing the jump photos let everyone's
30:22
doing the jump foot is very interesting
30:25
what I'm curious about is what the heck
30:27
is going on back here
30:29
what is the private event that is
30:31
happening out here in the desert it says
30:35
area closed for private event
30:44
the alien
30:44
a private event
30:52
so you can't go past this
30:52
the area is closed
30:54
for a private event
31:04
s oh look at this look at this
31:04
March 10th and 11th
31:10
that's tomorrow
31:10
today's the ninth as a recording of this
31:28
it's pretty cool with the sun setting
31:28
down it
31:29
kind of like golden hour
31:35
there is a parking area off the distance
31:37
let's go back to my rental car and get
31:38
into Vegas I'm almost there another
31:39
option instead of taking a rental car or
31:41
personal vehicle to Vegas
31:43
can always fly in you so choose
31:47
I did not choose that option however
31:57
when you arrive in Vegas you should
31:57
probably go you know it's kind of a
31:59
winning row moment
32:01
did you get a photo with the sign but I
32:03
don't really need a photo I just need a
32:04
document that I've arrived so I'm going
32:05
to walk over here to the side if you
32:08
want a really good photo it's better to
32:09
wait in the line but a lot of people get
32:10
over here to the side and get their
32:11
photo from the side I'm just going to
32:12
kind of stay up right here
32:16
zoom in
32:20
I am in Las Vegas for the next series of
32:22
days at least the greater Las Vegas area
32:27
maybe some on the outskirts but a lot in
32:29
Vegas Cropper too
32:33
that's gonna do it for today I'll see
32:35
you the next video