Saturday, March 17, 2007

So I went for a drive...

...wanting to get the hell away from Where The Ghetto Meets The Sea.

Though I did not wear green in honor of St Paddy, I drove a green car. Double "green," in fact...



A good thing, too, considering the gas prices here...



I went out to what's called the "high desert," which backs up against the mountains...



There were groves of these trees all over the place. I have no idea what they are, but suspect they might be pear trees, since the nearest wide spot in the road is called (as it has been for many, many years) "Pearblossom"...



Twenty miles away, there are housing developments galore, totaling tens of thousands of new homes. Thanks to the incredible rise in housing prices in California, the collapse of weaker mortgage lenders and a few other factors, many of the new houses sit empty, and work on some other developments has stopped.

One way or another, the desert has a way of overwhelming those not prepared to deal with it...



I'm guessing none of those new houses will last as long -- or look as interesting as they decay -- as this one...



For an obvious reason, the fun of poking around in interesting places is diminishing rapidly for me.

When I have someone to share such outings with, I'll be ready to go again, and stop to look at thousands of fascinating things and places I glanced at today as I drove past.

The fresh air and 90-degree temperatures were nice, though.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yikes...choke! Those gas prices! And why CA housing prices haven't collapsed before now is a mystery to me. Oh well, a nice drive outside the city is always a nice way to spend an afternoon. Hoist a green one for me, Scribbs. :)

John0 Juanderlust said...

2.42 where I bought fuel today.
Good thing, but still high.

Carbon footprint. When you think of all the BS terms that have been shoced down our throats over the years...

Wonder how hard it would be to hide out in one of those abondoned places and work on making it self sufficient. Are they guarded?

MrScribbler said...

HO'F -- The two places shown are behind fences. Plenty of others out there waiting for recluses to roll in and hole up....

In fact, that's what I was thinking all the time I was out there. I really dig the desert.

Maybe I'll end up as Death Valley Scribbler.

Dorrie said...

there were big plans for Borrego some years ago... didn't happen. And you're right, people get overwhelmed about the desert, especially in summer!! I wouldn't want those bills for air conditioning and I wouldn't like keeping indoors all the time. But I LOVE the desert none-the-less.

Pity we didn't get to do that desert trip during my visit... :-(

Doug said...

Wow. Gas is actually cheaper here than there, when you do the conversions.

As much as I hate snow, I doubt I could handle the desert heat all the time.

MrScribbler said...

dal -- In the winter, it sometimes gets below freezing in the desert.

I realize that's blazing hot by Ontario winter standards....