Palmdale, CA -- A short, 90-minute drive north from Downtown Los Angeles will land you in a most rural part of LA County. This high desert area is affectionately call Antelope Valley.I listened to Blue Grass while rolling down Pearblossom Highway through Littlerock (Littlerock, CA). The music acts as a movie soundtrack while passing quaint diners like Big Al's Burgers or Billy Boy's Cafe. Unfortunately, many of the small boutiques and cafes along this lonesome two-lane have recently been shut down. Most likely victims of our troubled economy.
Pictured above is a mini truck stop, Desert Lodge Market. The only trucks I saw were passing by at 55 miles per hour. A lone Honda Civic, parked on the dirt was holding down the fort.
15 comments:
This is a great shot! Reading your post I can almost feel the atmosphere of the 'wild west'! :-)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
What a gorgeous photo to accompany such sad but thought-provoking commentary. I truly hope that 2009 won't be as bad as many people predict.
Wishing you and your family a peaceful and prosperous new year, JT.
Really great photo JT! Wish it could be enlarged a bit more on your blog. Maybe you can set it in blogger. To us here in Holland it's always "funny" to hear Americans say: "it's only a 90 minute drive away". In our small country that's quite a distance and from Amsterdam, that will even take you across the border to Belgium or Gemany (outside of rush hours). Have a great NYE!
Have a safe and fun-filled New Year's Eve!
Also....I love today's post and photo! For a moment I felt like I was there too...on that long highway journey listening to bluegrass and passing all those cafe's and old gas stations along the way.
Love your blog as always!
I have heard many stories about the high desert. It looks interesting.
I don't have a lot to say about last year or this new year but here are some thoughts...
I hope 2009 will be better than 2008, 2007, and 2006. I do think our
government will be inspired by our new President Obama -- at least I
hope so.
I would like to see the War in Irag end and I would like to see the
killing stop everywhere.
It is my hope that Japan will stop slaughtering whales and raping
virgin forests.
And I hope the people will lose their clubs and no longer club baby
seals to death.
What a world we have and live in. 2009 could be so much better than it will be.
I lived in the High Desert from 85-89, 29 Palms, when my husband was in the Marine Corps. It could get brutally cold and windy! I'm trying to picture Antelope Valley.
The location sounds and looks like it could be taken anywhere around 29 though. Those long, vacant highways!
Happy New Year!
Afroman is an excellent soundtrack for driving anywhere near Palmdale.
"No more ducking from shotgun shells, bought a two-story house in East Palmdale. No more rats, no more roaches, now we livin' next door to football coaches ..."
Nice picture.
Happy New Years Eve, Everyone! Wow, what a response, and so early--it must be a holiday today... :)
I enlarged the photo to give you a little more detail.
Thank you, All for your comments and support. I look forward to many more and hopefully a good year for everyone.
JM, The high desert, as you may know, is Hollywood's outdoor movie set for thousands of westerns. Yesterday, while on my drive, I past through what was "Walnut Creek" in the Little House on the Prairie TV series. Not much farther up the road is Vasquez Rocks where hundreds of movie, TV and a few music videos were shot.
Unfortunately, the unprotected wide open spaces of our deserts are closing in with development. The good news is we have state parks and reserves which help maintain the natural beauty of our deserts.
Thanks always for visiting and all your comments.
Looks great enlarged. Does justice to this excellent shot!
Beautiful image. One can almost hear that big truck and the high desert wind. I first visited your area in 1976 and we drove in from the east on back roads like this one. I was astounded at how large LA County is.
And did you visit Lake Los Angeles?
Lake Los Angeles was refreshingly dusty. Funny we don't call Lacy Park "Wilson Lake" anymore.
The lake was drained when locals were told they would have to pay a "Lake Tax" to keep it filled. Now they're reconsidering it.
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