Today we drove around the Barstow area looking for Americana. This area is rich in strange and wacky desert folks and, accordingly, rich in Americana. Quite a bit of it seems to have been created by the truly nutty so we were delighted to search the local area for examples of bizarre stuff created by the…uhhh…shall we say, profoundly eccentric.
Before we even got on the way, I glanced up at our RV park’s electrical pole and noted they may have some wiring not in strict compliance with the National Electrical Code. It seems they have violated sections on wiring, festoon lighting, insulation, electrical box wiring fill, low voltage/line voltage separation, electrical enclosures, wire rating, safety and reason. Since our trailer is not located directly below nor in close proximity to the naked conductors, we figured we were safe while on a short trip to see all Barstow’s beautiful parts.
It turns out that Barstow does not have any beautiful parts. However, right near our RV park there is a parched dirt lot filled with wacky, Road Warrior type yard art or vehicles created by a local welder. We know this because while we were looking at these vehicles, a strange man in an old mini-van skidded off the road and started explaining all there was to know about the vehicles, Barstow, his grandmother, a store somewhere and a big bridge. He had very few teeth and even fewer white ones. He talked incessantly and we found it was quite difficult to even get in any words, particularly words like, “We’re outta here!” We eventually escaped but we now have knowledge of many disconnected Barstow facts.
Barstow’s downtown, at least that section called Main Street, is a unique assortment of pawn shops, ancient abandoned motels, empty storefronts for rent, many traffic signals although there are few cars, some gas stations and many locals scurrying about on the sidewalks attempting to find shade. Today the temperatures have dropped to a balmy 102 degrees so some of the pedestrians found shade before they were incinerated. Pity.
Barstow is hard to admire. It is ugly, dusty, unbearably hot, windy and absolutely without any redeeming features but some folks seem to like it here, particularly the dentally-challenged. Go somewhere else. We have not seen any towns more miserable than Barffo since we left West Virginia.
Check out Barstow stuff. Click the asterisk *