Sunday, July 18, 2010

Memories of Past Desert Trips

Some of my best memories from my 20's was going out camping
in the desert with my old buddies. I don't really have to
go into a whole lot of detail about it in this post, since
when I first started blogging late last year I did a pretty
long post about going to the desert called Leon's Grave,
which can be seen if you click this link.

This was the Mojave Desert, California, just north of good
old Victorville. We went on many trips in the summers
between about 1976 and 1987. I am just posting a mish-mash
of pictures over the years...and I realize it may not mean
much to anyone reading this, but it means a lot to me, so I
am compelled to post them.

This is a map showing the approximate location of our
campground. Today, it is mostly built up and developed:

1977: Me with my guitar (I always brought my guitar)
and a shot of cloud shadows on the plain:

1978: Some buddies looking at a coming storm, and me
overlooking the plain:

1979: Hood surfing!! (using a hood from an old VW bug):

And me holding my friend Jack, observing as someone tries
to tune my guitar:

At night, I upgraded to Budweiser, and decided to annoy my
buddy Jeff:

Here is a bunch from 1985:
Any tent needing instructions is too complicated for me:

A series of zoom-ins of our campsite taken from a rocky
outcrop:


I am always impressed by females who can shoot:

Star trails taken by putting my camera on a tripod and
leaving it there for several hours. This was during the
days of film cameras, obviously, so I had to wait about a
week to see if it even came out. I was quite surprised that
it did!

1986: A classic teepee.

1987: My bud James on the left (who got me the job at ITT)
and me on the right. This was one of our last trips.

I will never forget those days.

Peace be with you.

15 comments:

  1. That looks a little too sandy for me, to not have a beach.

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  2. I think it must be a great memories, Joe.
    I realy enjoy the photos.
    Thanks for sharing

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  3. Oh...the joy of great memories from our youth. I have done a lot of camping too but I have to admit as an adult now it is not my favorite thing. I prefer hotels...I am a princess in that way. Your pictures looked like you had a lot of fun. I always wonder was it as fun as we remember it to be or does it become more fun when we think about it as a memory?

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  4. Sounds like great memories :) I am though, not yet old enough to write an epic post like this!

    Happy Monday..

    K xx

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  5. Ahh, some fine captured memories there! My own glory days feel like they happened only yesterday, not over couple of decades or more back. Time flies by in the blink of an eye..

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  6. I wish it had a beach too, Ms. A, we had to pour water on us to keep cool.

    They were and are great memories, nensa, shrinky and katherine.

    Dr. S...I prefer hotels if I am on a vacation, but camping is its own special thing...and I never have time to do it anymore.

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  7. Great memories and photos, Joe.
    These are a precious part of your entire life.

    Have a lovely Monday/week! :)
    B

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  8. Looks like a great time, Joe! I like the wig you are wearing in the pictures, too.

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  9. Aww, great pics. Looks like a wonderful time had by all.

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  10. Nice Pics Joe, Those are the times you look back on fondly the times where you had a blast with good friends, can't get any better than that, the star trails pic is awesome.

    We are just south of there by the map, but you already knew that :^)

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  11. wow, it is the great memories... You will never forget its trips.

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  12. I'm betting your fondness for bullfrogs has something to do with.... your guitar, the 70's and Jeremiah ????
    My husband was stationed at George AFB in Victorville during the 70's...I think I'm kinda glad I didn't know him then ;)

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  13. hello,

    passing through your blog and this is interesting.

    its always nice to look at old pictures and re-create the good feelings it was then, doesn't matter if other people don't get it, right?..hehe..

    enjoy the memories!

    :-)

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  14. We used to do something very similar to this, but we usualy went to Joshua Tree. Okay, I have 2 questions.

    1. what were you smoking in the pipe?
    2. It looks like a naturally protected spot, have you been back lately?

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  15. Hey, Pat. I was smoking tobaccy, but I can't say how wacky it might have been without getting in trouble...
    The last time I drove through that area was coming back from Vegas, the Boulder Road offramp we used to take off the I-15 didn't even exist anymore, although Bell Mountain was still there.
    I think it is mostly developed now, alas.

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