3-RANDSBURG, CA

After leaving the coast we headed inland planning to spend the night at a rest stop on Highway 58 near Boron…or “Boring Boron” as was our nickname for the area from way back. Trust me. It’s a pretty accurate name!

When we arrived we found the rest stop was closed, now what? We went another few miles to Kramer Junction where Highway 58 intersects with the 395 and pulled into a very small and packed-out Pilot Truck Stop.

There was no way we wanted to compete in such close quarters with the big over-the-road truckers so found an huge open dirt lot about a quarter mile up the road where we parked.

The main reason for spending the night in that area was in order to again visit Randsburg, which was only about 30 miles north. We’ve been there a couple times before. Remember, we are trying to “go back.”

Randsburg is what is known as a living ghost town, meaning that there are still some people living in this mostly ghost town community.

We turned off the highway and onto a wind-y road. There are rusty remnants of the gold mining days which began here in 1895 scattered around on the hills.

The main street of Randsburg looks like an old movie set.

There are a lot of little very old buildings that hold antique/junk shops and a few bars.

Right in the middle of town is the Randsburg General Store. It is the one business that is open every day.

The day we were there, the Friday after New Year’s, the town had lots of motorcyclists and ATV riders there taking a break. The General Store is the only place to get food so it was busy.

We ordered chocolate shakes and a hamburger. They make the shakes and malts the old fashioned way and they are wonderful! The shakes made it to us fairly quickly, but the hamburger took forever. This is NOT fast food.

In 1896 the General Store was built and the current soda fountain, which was purchased in Boston, was installed in 1904…110 years ago. The store has had several owners over the years but has been in continuous operation since 1896.

There IS a limit to modern conveniences here. For instance, the restrooms are about a block up the street. Just follow the map…and it’s further than it looks.

Finally the hamburger arrived and we decided to take it to go because it had been so long arriving.

Late morning we arrived in Indio at the Casino 29 parking lot where we are meeting up with the California Chapter of Coaches 4 Christ. We were members of this chapter years ago when it was very small, actually just getting started. It has grown tremendously, but there are a few people we know from the original group.

Will be spending the next week, first with our own C4C Pre-Rally, doing mostly just fun stuff. It is a group of about 30 coaches. Then begins the Northwest Area FMCA (Family Motor Coaches Association) Rally.

Again we meet up with old friends. Steve and Carol Brumm are a couple we used to go to church with when we lived in Simi Valley. They now live in Fountain Valley but have a condo here in Indio.

They met us at our motorhome and then took us over to the restaurant at the country club where they live. It was a good time catching up on friends and family once again.

This afternoon we are caravanning over to the fairgrounds where the rallies will officially take place and where we will be staying for the next week.