The lower loop is quite nice, and has cell service.
Getting to the southern desert area takes a comfortable two days of travel for us. Stopping once in the central valley, and then again around Barstow puts us in good shooting distance to get to Joshua Tree, or Anza Borrego the next day. Since we were not in any rush, and because we vacated the smells of Harris Ranch early, we had time to drop Richard off at the bottom of Woodford-Tehachapi Road so he could sneak in a bike ride. I drove up 58 to the Walmart parking lot, where I blogged while waiting. Along the road, I was passed by a convoy of three Cybertrucks. Lord, those are ugly. Sorry if you’re a fan, but “boxy” doesn’t begin to capture it.
Launching from the helicopter landing area, near Keene Cafe
We did not have reservations for that night, and thought about maybe staying in the BLM at Sawtooth Canyon instead of our two standby RV parks in Barstow. But we didn’t want to diminish the joy of eating at Penny’s Diner, so Ghost Town it was!
Not bad at all
Sometimes this place gets booked up with OHV parties, but otherwise it’s pretty likely you’ll get a spot. There were plenty of places available so we tried one lower down to see if we could get better cell service. That worked well, plus, we got a tiny little hike in to go up to toodle around the ghost town. It is super cute when decked out for Christmas. We only walked around for about two miles, but that was enough to earn some Penny’s calories.
So cute and fun!
We will probably track back through on our way home. May well stop here again. It’s a very pleasant, fun little place for an overnight with hookups, and pancakes nearby. There were some OHV people there, but it was not crowded or chaotic. Someone needs to explain to me what the signs mean that say: “Ride In and Ride Out Only. Strictly Enforced.” What else would you do besides riding in or out? I don’t get it.
Ghost town goes night night
Total miles: 242.1, 17.3 mpg, 3 hours 37 min from Harris Ranch. Site 14 full hookups, but used dump for lower loop. Good cell if you are in the lower loop. As soon as you get behind the hill to the upper loops, cell drops out almost completely.
