Alone In The Desert Thru Ghost Towns of Route 66 - Cross Country Road Trip / California Into Arizona
Ghost Towns of Route 66
Transcript
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out of the deserts of southern
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california
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i am departing the state
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very soon
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just outside victorville as the
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recording of this
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tuesday november 30th
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2021
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right here off of route 66
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we'll be taking this thoroughfare for a
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bit
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and then connecting with interstate 40
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and heading eastbound
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welcome everyone
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adam is the woo here
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this worked out well because i parked my
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car
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walked over here
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not just show the train this just
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happened
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what i really wanted to show was this
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bridge
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this
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awesome bridge that's over here that's
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why i stopped the train
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just a beautiful moment that took place
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oh yeah
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back on the road no real rhyme or reason
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other than getting to florida in the
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next week to 10 days
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a lot of traffic going by here
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is that an awesome bridge
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right over there
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i'm inviting you to join me
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on this
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trek i don't know what i'm going to find
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him i see some familiar stuff that i
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have documented before but it's been a
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while
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this stretch of road is almost like a
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i'm trying to think of the word
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a
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calming
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not just 66 but 40.
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i've done it many many times
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i'm doing it again but it's been a while
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and i'm going to show some other things
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i haven't shown before yeah this is nice
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got the train got the
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what if i need you to join me
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weather's nice i'm excited
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shall you
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this is a long intro but you know what
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i'm leaving it all in
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oh dang
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getting one going the other way too
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that berm got in the way for a moment
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getting the crisp crossing
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of the trains
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and a couple miles down the road as yet
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another train goes by
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in the background of elmer's bottle tree
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ranch
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i am happy to see that this is still in
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existence
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there were some rumors if it was going
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to continue
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to exist
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and stay open to those who stopped by
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after elmer passed away
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a few years ago i believe
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incredible
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a little roadside stop
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all from one man's vision
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of putting some bottles
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on the pieces of metal with limbs
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to make the trees
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hence a bottle tree
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hundreds of them through here
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some flies out here too that are like
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landing on my arm
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i love organic sounds
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of just the middle of nowhere in the
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desert
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traffic
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trains
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i think i'll hush for a moment and just
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walk through this
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and what i mean by organic sounds
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is not everything needs a soundtrack not
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everything needs music
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in fact i kind of go the opposite way
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enjoying
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places
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i really it's like a magnet for me to go
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to places that just have
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quiet sounds
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as opposed to
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putting a soundtrack over something or
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themed tunes
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because if this place
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had music blaring you wouldn't hear this
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a little soda machine there
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a little soda pop coca-cola
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oh
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i knew i heard a train
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back on the road got some gotta cover
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some ground
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it is a pretty obvious statement and
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even saying it
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i just
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don't even know why i'm stating it but
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you get very thirsty out in the desert
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nice little mural here with this ford
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model a on the side
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very quiet in this neighborhood the
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harvey house painted right there
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if you've ever seen bob
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waldmire's artwork you know that bob had
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a lot to say about
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66
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a lot of famous drawings and maps
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there's a little mural of bob right
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there
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yeah i need to get i need to get some
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water get something to drink
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i got santa monica where
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that's where 66 starts
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oh this is where is where it ends right
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starts in chicago ends in santa monica
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is this your store no
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how long have you been open here
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i've been here how long have you been
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open
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for
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40 50 years 50 years
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wow
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the owner came out to
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say hello
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he's telling me that there's a new mural
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over here as well so this this store has
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been here for almost 50 years
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divine's market
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before i could even get inside to get a
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beverage
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came out and talked to me
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ended up getting a couple of waters in
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there for the road
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yeah very nice gentleman that owns this
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place
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moving on
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what's that big the foot
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you love these old-timey bridges as well
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yeah there's a definitely a quality to
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them
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i'm picking up what you're saying
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and i agree completely
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some old metal bridges
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nice
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take a look at this
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outside this railroad museum here in
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barstow
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all these old train cars from the santa
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fe rail line
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number 1460
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union pacific
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9950
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a lot of history with these
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another santa fe
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off in the distance there
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this one doesn't have a name on it but
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it does have the number
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6307
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all these just sitting here for anyone
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to look at
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those that choose to pull off well first
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have to notice them and then pull off to
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to take a look
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safety
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who needs it
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well the answer is you do
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with the conductor here you can kind of
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see the silhouette there
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i know it's getting kind of etched off
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i love it
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and these aren't just trained cars
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oh gotta try to do this with one hand
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go up here this is the where the engine
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is
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right there
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there's that bridge i just crossed over
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all right gotta keep moving this isn't
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going to be what i would call a rush
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trip cross country from california back
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to to florida but it will not be as
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slow-paced as what i have planned for
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after new year's
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when i really hit the road as i've
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stated
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it's full-time
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be covering a lot of ground we'll be
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stopping and seeing stuff but i really
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in the future we're gonna settle into
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areas for a longer period of time
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and try to really kind of
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get into the the nooks
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and crannies of everything instead of
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just kind of going through at a quick
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pace this is going to be kind of a mix
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of both but covering a lot of ground so
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not going to be dedicating one town to
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one episode
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on this trip but
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soon
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soon and the main reason for that is
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because i have a car
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full of all my possessions
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my socal possessions
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and i just feel like i need to get back
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to florida in a timely
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manner
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i was about ready to get back in the car
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and drive off
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my car full of
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a lot of items packed to the brim
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but then i saw this other train going by
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so
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just wanted to mention that
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you might be sensing a theme
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in this episode
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riding the rails
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there's some rails right here
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this was just sitting on the rails
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i gotta get moving down the ways a bit
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you can see the backside of the backside
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of water
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but the backside of a
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movie theater screen an old drive-in
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and a little tie-in
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to the movies
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some science fiction vehicles
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that have been sitting over here from
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what i was reading
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for a very long time
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the business is no longer open
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but these very interesting futuristic
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almost like mad max style
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cars
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still sitting here
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for all to see
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being baked by the sun
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permeating
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rays of the sun
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and it's located
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right next to shady lane
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trailer park
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let me get out and take a look
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didn't do a ton of research because this
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just popped up
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very quickly as i was going by
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so do not know what films these were
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utilized in
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there appears to be a robot there
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working on that motorcycle type item
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says keep off the fence that signage
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there's going to be no problem with me
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following that rule
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do not want to don't touch that
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it appears to be a dinosaur
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sculpture over there maybe a fire
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breathing dinosaur
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yeah i'm definitely getting a mad max
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vibe
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from these could these have been used in
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beyond thunderdome
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and the others could mel gibson have
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been on any of these probably not
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probably more low budget but then again
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those movies were very low budget
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never know what you're gonna find out
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here in the desert
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running parallel is interstate 40 over
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there having trouble speaking
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i-40 runs parallel to this road
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and this is a place that i have stopped
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off many times i cannot
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pass by this
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without veering off at
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the former motel that used to sit here
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from the late 80s film baghdad cafe
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starring
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jack palance or is it plants
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nonetheless they filmed that movie right
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here
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out in the desert the town of newberry
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springs
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and if that is not enough
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to get one excited
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if you're familiar with huel houser
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california gold
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he did one of my favorite episodes
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from the baghdad cafe
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way back in the day
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i've stopped off here many times
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i'm not gonna go in this time i've been
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in here a number of times but it's good
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to see that it still exists
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after all these years even though the
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hotel has been torn down
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the diner portion
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still standing
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doesn't appear to be open at the moment
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so i guess i wouldn't be able to go
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inside either way
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always good to just stop by
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i have to i have there's a lot of places
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like this across the us
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i have to just check in on i just can't
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not drive past
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no one out here
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no one
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out here
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look at this
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just over there a few feet off the road
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is what is referred to as the amboy
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pyramids
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named because of the small community
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just down the road of amboy
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and they look like pyramids but what
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they are
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are from the salt mining back in the day
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and this came from the underground
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there are hundreds
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if not thousands of these
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across the
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short horizon there
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look at that
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here in town
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as yet another
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other train goes by a lot of trains
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today
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i'm noticing this church this building
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over here this church building
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looks like something that tarantino
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would use
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one of his helps
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her rodriguez and dustil dawn even
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looks to be not only the revamped and
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new neon sign
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a couple years ago
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they unveiled this
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i think the old one was starting to fall
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apart
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they have replaced it with a new one
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there's a classic car alert
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in front of the motel
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be pretty neat to stay here one day
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obviously you don't have the time
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on this trip but i would like to start
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adding in some
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interesting roadside
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accommodations at some point
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this is the post office
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and
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is that a is that the mailman
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next to the mailbox
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i think it might be
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at first from a distance i thought this
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was one of those you'd see in front of a
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you know like a an eater not an eatery
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what's the word i'm thinking trying to
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think of trying a blank on it
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grocery store gosh why i worked in a
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grocery store for a long time i don't
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know why i couldn't think of that name
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where you put a quarter in
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and after you put the quarter in
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it would kind of like you know
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shake up and down and you get an
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exciting ride but this does not have a
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quarter slot
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but it does have the name of the town
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and it does have this gentleman holding
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a letter
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area code
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923
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could be a four
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it could be a four there a wheelbarrow
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full of plants
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gas station across the way
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gas is 5.59
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for a regular unleaded it appears
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through here five dollars and 59 cents
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that sign says
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still got about a quarter of a tank half
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a tank since i left earlier
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we go inside the gift shop and see if
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they got any souvenirs i could always
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use a magnet i like magnets oh now
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that's clever
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that is very clever
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root beer
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right there take a look at this
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because you know
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route 66 i'm not going to be on 66 the
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whole time i'll be on 40 i've kind of
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veered off
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of the mother road but now i'm back on
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it
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here's a little historical
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marker here amboy was settled in the
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early 1858 early 1858 became a water
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stop for the southern pacific railroad
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laid its tracks
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roy's has served travelers
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along 66 from the beginning owned by roy
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crowell
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and later operated by his son-in-law
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providing hot food cold drink and
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gasoline to many a weary
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sojourner
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there's a word you don't hear too often
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and motorists can spend the night in the
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motel
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and there's a garage i did end up
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purchasing this magnet
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with the new sign
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as well as this t-shirt t-shirt was 25
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toss that down there you see the shadow
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of my arm
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as i show this
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dang
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that is a
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i think i've ever had this brand of
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butterscotch
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now i did ask
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inside if the rooms were available
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you know for future to rent
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and she said no
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right now they're not in the best shape
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so you cannot rent any of the cabins
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they are referred to as this little
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if you will and there's this very
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interesting
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little pole here with a bunch of items
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on it
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don't really know the significance of
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it says spread love
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there's a capri sun package
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the shoes
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there's a ball and chain
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a t-shirt
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up atop is a top portion of a tree
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oh wow
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i didn't even notice
29:53
but across the way
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is the amboy school
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well it was
30:00
seen better days
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got myself some souvenirs and
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a dang good beverage
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i hope it is
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i just got fruit beer you can't make it
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can't go wrong with those those two
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flavors
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okay moving on reading the placard here
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this building was dedicated in march
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march 8th
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to be precise of 51.
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it doesn't appear as if a congregation
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meets here anymore
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it's like it's definitely seen better
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days
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it's a little walkway could have been
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like a fountain of some sort
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possibly the parsonage former parsonage
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wasn't expecting to see this out here
31:07
kind of in the middle of nowhere
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people have put stuff in the lap as well
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is a shoe tree that has fallen
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you can see there's there's still some
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shoes
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dangling there from the
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trunk and the root system or the
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branches
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all down in there there's shoes all
31:36
through here
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and some of the other shoes
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have been placed over in this area
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as
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well
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and also this memorial cross down here
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which has a bunch of rocks placed
31:53
and even more shoes
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some cowboy boots
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the remnants of the former shoe tree
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you see these occasionally usually out
32:09
in the desert
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and even under the bridge oh
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i could have ended up
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towards the shoe tree
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there's also
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a pair of chuck taylor's right there
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they're converse all-stars
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and a few other ones lining
32:33
the bridge itself
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you see them there
32:38
very peaceful out here
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not a whole heck of a lot of traffic on
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this road
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however
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up ahead is interstate 40 going to
33:02
connect with that
33:03
make up some time
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travel at a quicker speed
33:07
still hit some spots up
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maybe a lot more traffic on the
33:11
interstate than there is
33:13
here on this road
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kind of see the traffic up i have there
33:18
going across i-40
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it's beautiful out here
33:22
just across the arizona state line
33:26
by going over this bridge
33:31
sunset looks really beautiful
33:32
over there off the 40
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i-40
33:36
i pulled off the exit
33:46
to take a look at this item
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created as a golf ball as a story guy
33:48
was created as a large golf ball
33:50
for a community that was going to be
33:52
built here
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supposedly the community was never
33:56
never finished
33:57
so the big golf ball still remained and
33:59
then
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there's going to be a number of
34:02
different things
34:03
that has sat abandoned and empty for a
34:05
long time and now it is a ufo
34:09
type attraction it's also very very very
34:12
windy
34:16
at the moment it is not it is not open
34:18
currently the gates are closed
34:30
yeah the wind is something else right
34:30
now i have my hand
34:32
cuffed over the microphone
34:35
see if that helps today the sign states
34:38
arizona proving ground
34:40
and also says ford motor company
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in all honesty this is probably my
35:12
favorite
35:13
route 66 town i just love it something
35:17
about it i just really like
35:19
a lot of the stores that are here
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it's also
35:22
some say the birthplace
35:24
of cars right the real-life radiator
35:29
if you will
35:31
it's currently 7 18 p.m
35:34
and darkness has reared its head
35:42
made up some miles
35:42
been on the interstate for a while it
35:51
still going to try to get about another
35:51
50 60 miles down the way
35:54
or at least you know another hour drive
35:56
if i was stopping here
35:58
i would be staying here
36:00
at this motel i've stayed here many many
36:03
many times
36:04
nice little cozy spot but
36:06
still trying to make up some time
36:09
well you know what is it open if there's
36:12
someone staying there only one car in
36:14
the parking lot
36:16
little
36:17
coca-cola emblem there on the side of
36:18
this building
36:20
of course closed now
36:36
that was just a train stopping on the
36:36
tracks
36:37
sounded like something out of a horror
36:39
film
36:41
what the heck
36:47
and as the story goes at least
36:48
best i can remember it
36:50
this is a barber shop
36:53
still a barber shop
36:55
yeah there is like not this is not a
36:58
real beehive of activity
37:00
there's a car pulling through
37:07
keep in mind it's totally not even eight
37:07
it's not even 8 p.m
37:13
okay yeah this is angel's barber shop
37:14
where it is said
37:16
john lasseter
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got his hair cut here
37:22
kind of was the the birth of the idea
37:25
for car movie cars
37:39
will sometimes stories morph into
37:39
you know kind of like legends
37:45
there's another look there's a horse
37:45
there it's not really a horse it's a
37:47
fake
37:48
fake horse but it's right there in front
37:49
of the other motel
38:02
and then down here there's a texaco sign
38:02
it is dark out here
38:05
go past this texaco sign
38:07
the
38:09
very popular snow cap drive-in
38:13
which has a lot of neat cars and stuff
38:16
i guess i got through here too late
38:18
to grab a bite to eat
38:26
this is so cool this town is so cool and
38:28
i passed a bunch i didn't even show
38:30
all the shops out of the other the other
38:32
end of the road
38:33
i always think what a what would a house
38:35
cost
38:36
in this area
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or what if i was to just come out here
38:39
and stay for like two weeks
38:41
stay at all the different hotels a
38:43
little well motels
38:45
there's three or four of them here on
38:46
this little strip
38:48
spent a week or two in
38:50
seligman arizona
38:53
getting the vibe
38:55
classic car alert if ever there was one
39:05
they were cones
39:08
a relic gas pump there
39:16
cheeseburgers ooh a cheeseburger with
39:16
cheese
39:18
does that mean extra cheese
39:21
this is a this place is a thing of
39:23
beauty look at this
39:24
gosh
39:32
that is that is awesome
39:32
it's nice and cool and crisp out here
39:34
too the weather
39:35
temperature has dropped now that the sun
39:37
has gone down i've
39:39
donned a hoodie
39:41
they put a hoodie
39:42
on my torso
39:50
i have malts and root beer
39:50
i love this place
39:58
you got the ice cream cone up top there
39:58
look at this place the aztec motel
40:03
right there mother road 66
40:06
speaking of the mother road
40:08
i need to get out of the road
40:10
finally a car
40:12
pulling through here
40:38
there's no one around
41:23
someone's in the doghouse
41:23
some legs coming out of that little dog
41:24
house there
41:26
startled me
41:51
looks like they're getting the holiday
41:51
cheer
41:52
going through here
41:59
that rhyme they didn't me i didn't mean
41:59
for it to run but that rhymed
42:01
went ahead and found some accommodations
42:03
for the evening going to check in
42:09
that's gonna do it for today
42:11
got my luggage
42:13
i'll see the next video
42:16
heading cross country the vlog
42:19
is over