UFO's over Taft, CA

[Jim Ratto]

forget area 51 or whatever, if they are coming, they'll land in the wierd oilfields out in Taft.

[John Rayburn]

Maybe they need an oil change and filter?

[Rick Meredith]

But did they show up on a selective basis without any notice?   

[Jim Ratto]

have you guys been to Darwin Falls out by Death Valley?

one of the weirdest places I've ever been. Drove thru a few times, every time there are signs of life, like sprinklers watering lawns, dogs tied up to lampposts, front doors of houses wide open, cars in driveways with hoods up, laundry hung on clotheslines, BUT NEVER HAVE SEEN ONE PERSON EVER there. Not ONE. It has to be the freakiest thing...   like they all went underground and are watching tresspassers through periscopes.

[Jim Ratto]

nobody huh?

Have you ever been to McKittrick CA? Sheep and I drove through there on our way to Classic 1991 and stopped for a slushee, there was like one person in the entire "town" it was freaky quiet. Sign that welcomed us to downtown McKittrick said "population 18"
We stopped at the convenience store/mo-hotel/saloon.... next door was what looked like a gas station that exploded and was never cleaned up, pumps laying on their sides, broken window glass, faded Esso sign laying in the middle of the mess, coyotes sniffing throught he rubble and tumbleweeds. All we needed was the score from "good Bad and the Ugly"

Sheep asked the old lady that ran the store (and was probably the sherriff, judge, undertaker and lady of the night) if she had any "I Love McKittrick" t shirts or bumper stickers. She replied with a blank stare.

[Rennsurfer]

I was a Pipeline Operator for ARCO Pipeline Co. for 14 years... and that first pic is actually quite normal in the petroleum industry. A type of pipeline riser. However, the rest of this thread is great. My friend/roommate/and fellow D.K.K. member, Joe is an avid cyclist. He's literally ridden his bike across the Continental United States. I remember when he was on that ride, in 1988, that he mailed me a postcard from Amboy, CA. Never heard of it... the backside of the card said that the population was 3.

Located on old Route 66 in the Mojave Desert, it's literally considered an empty ghost town, these days.

[Jim Ratto]

hahahaha great stuff Mark, I love little freaky places like that. We stopped in Amboy AND Ludlow coming back from Phoenix in 1991

.....and then there is ZZYZZYX or whatever it is out there too.... on the way to Baker or Vegas

How about New Idria? Ever been there? We rolled through there in a Toy 4-Runner, on our way to go play in the mud in Clear Creek (not so clear after all, the water runs bright day glo green and day glo orange)...again nothing but ruins and little beady eyes peeking through window blinds...."lookeee here, we got us some city folk visitin'"
Probably would eat us alive if they could catch us.


One time we were on one of our (yeah me and sheep again) weird midnight drives in my Scab Bus, out in middle of nowhere, Sheep riding in back, downing a twelver, we end up stopping in what looked like a "field" somewhere about 60 miles west of Bakersfield, pass out for the night in the Bus, wake up next morning, look around in the sunlight, we had camped in a used battery dumping field or something! 

[Rick Meredith]

I've seen the sign for McKittrick but never followed them. 

[Rennsurfer]

One time we were on one of our (yeah me and sheep again) weird midnight drives in my Scab Bus, out in middle of nowhere, Sheep riding in back, downing a twelver, we end up stopping in what looked like a "field" somewhere about 60 miles west of Bakersfield, pass out for the night in the Bus, wake up next morning, look around in the sunlight, we had camped in a used battery dumping field or something! 

Whoa! Kinda funny and scary, all at the same time. [sarcasm]How caustic.[/sarcasm]

[Jim Ratto]

One time we were on one of our (yeah me and sheep again) weird midnight drives in my Scab Bus, out in middle of nowhere, Sheep riding in back, downing a twelver, we end up stopping in what looked like a "field" somewhere about 60 miles west of Bakersfield, pass out for the night in the Bus, wake up next morning, look around in the sunlight, we had camped in a used battery dumping field or something! 

Whoa! Kinda funny and scary, all at the same time. [sarcasm]How caustic.[/sarcasm]

kind of explains a few things huh?

[louisb]

We have a few towns like that in this area.

Phantalou - Pop 12. Its mostly an intersection between two dirt roads.
Two Egg - Actual town with a decent dinner no less
Not All Rise - Little town, pop 20 or so, down on the St. Marks River

--louis

[Jim Ratto]

We have a few towns like that in this area.

Phantalou - Pop 12. Its mostly an intersection between two dirt roads.
Two Egg - Actual town with a decent dinner no less
Not All Rise - Little town, pop 20 or so, down on the St. Marks River

--louis

pickin' and grinnin'

[Carlos De Alba]

Santa Ana, CA is the place for Aliens !!! 

[John Rayburn]

I was a Pipeline Operator for ARCO Pipeline Co. for 14 years... and that first pic is actually quite normal in the petroleum industry. A type of pipeline riser. However, the rest of this thread is great. My friend/roommate/and fellow D.K.K. member, Joe is an avid cyclist. He's literally ridden his bike across the Continental United States. I remember when he was on that ride, in 1988, that he mailed me a postcard from Amboy, CA. Never heard of it... the backside of the card said that the population was 3.

Located on old Route 66 in the Mojave Desert, it's literally considered an empty ghost town, these days.

                                   I've been to Amboy. There was a post office and a diner and that was it. I got something to eat at the diner. They kind of stood around and watched me eat. Every time I took a sip of my ice tea , the girl(?) would pour more in.... I could never get the sugar right because she wouldn't stop topping it off.

[Jim Ratto]

you gave her (?) a lifetime's worth of work in one afternoon.

[Sarge]

Santa Ana, CA is the place for Aliens !!! 

Hmmm....there's four of 'em at the counter now

[Carlos De Alba]

Santa Ana, CA is the place for Aliens !!! 

Hmmm....there's four of 'em at the counter now

   at Home Depot ??   

[Jim Ratto]

he said COUNTER not CORNER

[Carlos De Alba]

 
  at the Home Depot Counter buying new lawnmowers

[Sarge]

One of the trippiest places I ever visited is a place called The Geysers.  It's located in the Mayacamas Mountains near Healdsburg in Northern California.  To get there, requires a drive on a twisty one lane road for about 10 miles through forests and across streams.  The closer you get, the rougher the road becomes from all the siesmic activity...then you round a bend and there's this HUGE geothermal power plant with pipes like Jim's opening photo, all painted white, running all over the hills.  Reminded me of something out of a James Bond movie  ...then another long drive back to Hwy 101.

[Jim Ratto]

I've seen the sign for McKittrick but never followed them. 

it's a culture hotspot..... you're missing out.

[Rick Meredith]

LOL well it sounds like a road trip is in order! 

[stealth67vw]

Jim, remember the huge angle fanshroud?

[Jim Ratto]

Jim, remember the huge angle fanshroud?

mmmmm.....no? Was that our trip to McKittrick and Taft with 'the girls?'

[stealth67vw]

Yep, with Flaugher and April. It was some kind of belt cover or something on an oil derek that looked like one of those angle fan shrouds.

[Jim Ratto]

now I remember. Too bad you didn't get to come on the original Carrizo/Taft/Soda Lake trip, John. It was much "livelier"

[Harry/FDK]

One day i have to fly over to broaden my horizon.. But then what

[Jim Ratto]

well.... in this sinkhole, armpit area we are talking about here.... there are lots of fun and interesting things to do...

you can:

see where pure black tar seeps up from the dirt up in the hills
look for endangered San Joaquin Kit Fox and signs of its habitat (reason for our first trip in 10/94, a college project I was working on, well really it was a place we could get soggy drunk and powerslide my Vanagon)
watch oil pumps bob up and down
from the air you can actually "see" the San Andreas fault line 
hunt for Indian artifacts
get sunburned
get lost
get chased by rednecks
I have heard rumors that drug trafficers land planes in secret out on Soda Dry Lake bed in the middle of night 

So no worries. Lots to do.

[Rick Meredith]

I got 4X4! 

[Harry/FDK]

I need to get sunburned.
Hunt for Indian Artifacts.
Drink a lot of Cabernet.
And Get Lost.

No Worries.