Growing up in Los Angeles I had always heard about Calico Ghost Town and have wanted to visit it.  So this weekend, I made the journey. I didn’t want to drive all that way just for the ghost town so I turned it into a little weekend getaway including some site around Barstow…yes, Barstow.   Aside from the Ghost Town there are a few historic things in Barstow.  Also, I have a soft spot for anything Route 66. I guess partly because that is how my grandparents and dad came to California during the 1940’s…so when I drive along Route 66 I always think of them packing everything in their car driving from Peoria, Illinois out to the “promised land” of California.

Historically, more than 2,000 years ago, the Mojave Desert had been occupied by Indian tribes who lived beside the immense lakes that covered most of the Mojave.  In the late 1800s, the Barstow area became a mining center. Daggett, 5 miles down river, was founded in the 1860s. It was originally called Calico Junction but was renamed after California Lieutenant Governor John Daggett when silver was discovered 6 miles north in the Calico Mountains in 1882.

The finding of silver in Calico and the building of the Southern Pacific Railroad from Mohave to Daggett in 1882 made the area a mining center. The famous 20-mule teams came into being when 10 teams were hitched together with two wagons and a water wagon to haul ore from Daggett to the town of Calico.

The Calico Railroad (later called the Daggett-Calico Railroad) started hauling ore from Calico to the Oro Grande Milling Company, across the river from Daggett in 1888. That same year, the Santa Fe Railroad arrived in town. The town was later named after the president of the Santa Fe, William Barstow Strong. The mine shut down in 1896 when all the silver had played out.

But in 1883, the borax rush hit Calico, and by 1902, three borax mines employing 200 men supported Daggett. It is estimated that borax taken from the Calico Hills amounted to more than $9 million, while more than $90 million in silver was removed.  As the 20th century progressed, Calico and Daggett diminished while Barstow grew. It became a busy rail center and a jumping off place for immigrants entering the state on US Route 66, as made famous by John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath." Modern and historic facilities are still available along Barstow's Main Street, the original Route 66. Just off Main Street, at First Street, travelers can drive over an old iron bridge that leads to the railroad depot once the site of the historic Harvey House, originally opened in 1911.

 With the construction of the modern Interstate Highway system Barstow's future of growth was assured, as I-40 and I-15 converged at the city limits with State Highway 58, making it the transportation hub of the western Mojave Desert.

My first stop was Calico Ghost Town where I spent the day.  It was nice to see the historical ruins and the refurbished building.  In the evening I spent the night in Barstow. 

The next morning I went to the Mother Road, Route 66 Museum in Barstow which is housed in the famous Harvey House.

The Route 66 "Mother Road" Museum was dedicated on July 4, 2000 in the historic Casa del Desierto, Harvey House, in Barstow, California. The Museum displays a collection of historic photographs and artifacts related to Route 66 and the Mojave Desert Communities. Displays include development of the United States Route 66 from early pioneer trails, railroads, automotive history, businesses and sites.

Visitors making this roadside attraction a day destination or staying in the area longer can learn more about what to experience while on the Mojave Desert or on Route 66 from many handouts, books and knowledgeable docents.

During the heyday of rail passenger service in the Western United States, Barstow boasted a splendid rail depot/restaurant/hotel complex called the "Casa del Desierto", House of the Desert. Completed in 1911, the Casa del Desierto was the fourth "Harvey House" built by the Atchinson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe Railway Company along its right-of-way and operated by the Fred Harvey Company. These Harvey Houses established an unparalleled standard of food service to the traveler, and entered the lore of American railroading and the West.

After the Route 66 Museum I looked around the Harvey House and old Rail Station.  From there I headed to the Desert Discory Center which was free.  Very interesting material on environmental and ecological history and preservation of the Mojave Desert.   It also stores the Old Woman Meteorite which was found in 1976 in the desert.  The meteor was nearly 1,000 pounds and the 2nd Larges space rock found in the US.

After a quick look and tour through the museum, I drove the old Route 66 from Dagget to Victorville.   Along the way were old motels, motor coach inns, delapitated buildings, and ruins from an era gone.

While not one of the most spectacular trips of the week it was an interesting one.  Due to work and car problems I had to keep it very low key and local this week.   So again, I ventured to the neighboring Palos Verdes Peninsula to visit the Wayfarer's Chapel.

Wayfarers Chapel, a most unusual church made almost entirely of glass, is sponsored by the Swedenborgian Church and serves as a national memorial to Emanuel Swedenborg.

Wayfarers Chapel began as a dream in the mind of Elizabeth Schellenberg, a member of the Swedenborgian Church who lived on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the late 1920s.

The Peninsula was largely open farmland. A two-lane gravel road skirting the shoreline from San Pedro to Palos Verdes Estates.

Mrs. Schellenberg dreamed of a little chapel on a hillside above the Pacific Ocean where wayfarers could stop to rest, meditate and give thanks to God for the wonder and beauty of creation.

Narcissa Cox Vanderlip, also member of the Swedenborgian Church, responded to the dream and agreed to contribute land for the chapel site. She invited young architect Ralph Jester to draw up plans for the chapel. The depression of the 1930s and World War II forced a delay in developing the plans.

Following the war Mr. Jester urged his friend Lloyd Wright, son of the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, to apply his genius to the project.

Lloyd Wright found himself in complete accord with the positive outlook of the Swedenborgian Church and its emphasis on harmony between God's natural world and the inner world of mind and spirit.

The 3 1/2-acre site and the cornerstone were dedicated on July 16, 1949 by the Rev. Dr. Leonard I. Tafel of Philadelphia, then president of the national Swedenborgian denomination.

When the Chapel was built in 1951 it stood alone like a precious jewel on a deserted dusty knoll overlooking the blue Pacific. It was soon to be known as "the glass church" after its most prominent architectural feature.
 

The completed Chapel was dedicated as a memorial to Emanual Swedenborg, 17th century theologian and scientist. His spiritual illumination of the Bible is the basis for its sponsoring Christian denomination, the Swedenborgian Church.

Today, what you are looking at is not a glass church but a "tree chapel." Chapel architect Lloyd Wright, son of the renowned American architectural pioneer Frank Lloyd Wright, had been inspired by the cathedral-like majesty of the redwood trees in northern California. The redwood trees that surrounds the Chapel are forming living walls and roof. Since its dedication in May 1951, millions of visitors have toured the Wayfarers Chapel and its surrounding gardens.

Lake Elsinore was incorporated as a city in 1888 but was inhabited well before then. For the past century, life on the shores of Southern California’s only natural lake can best be described as wild, wet and wonderful. From earliest times, the 300 natural sulphur springs that fed Lake Elsinore were believed to have curative and magical properties by its Native American Indian inhabitants. These first inhabitants called the lake Entengvo Wumoma, which meant "Hot Springs by the Little Sea."

Joining the Native American Indian inhabitants, the Spanish missionaries and soldiers, Spanish ranchers and American trappers came to the valley, all stopping to camp and replenish their supplies. They too found the lake, with its hot mineral springs, clear, fresh water and abundance of game. The Spanish padres renamed the lake "Laguna Grande."

Amidst the seemingly endless tumble of mountains, early pioneers saw the lake shimmering some 50 miles in the distance from Mt. Baldy and set out by buggy to find this blue-green "jewel" that spread out leisurely across a valley floor that was virtually unspoiled. These early settlers established a town site around this lake, which they renamed Elsinore, representing the immortality given the town of Elsinore in Denmark by Shakespeare in "Hamlet."

In the early days of the American occupation of California, Elsinore gained national importance as a campsite for travelers over the Southern Butterfield Stage route, a stagecoach route connecting St. Louis and San Francisco. Kit Carson and other scouts camped among the cottonwoods on the shores of the lake. The largest army of Civil War volunteers to leave California also set up camp on the lake’s shores.

At the time of its incorporation as a city in 1888, Lake Elsinore had attracted its own "Gold Rush" as large quantities of gold were found in nearby hills. In the early 1900s, natural mineral waters and bathhouses brought visitors from around the world seeking cures for a variety of maladies. The Crescent Bathhouse, today designated as an historical landmark known as The Chimes, contained the first artesian well where hot mineral water, as hot as 126 degrees, flowed in abundance. Lake Elsinore’s therapeutic waters were promoted throughout the world, bottled and shipped to Europe as well as the Far East. In the 1920s and 1930s, the lake became a destination for world-record-setting boat races and Olympic swim team training. Sportsmen hunted duck on the lake and deer in the hills.

Lake Elsinore played host to many Hollywood moguls and popular personages, such as President Grover Cleveland, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Buffalo Bill, Andy Devine and Lillian Russell. The rich and famous came to play in Lake Elsinore, many of whom kept vacation homes and bungalows at the lake. Many of their homes still stand on the hills surrounding the lake, including Aimee's Castle (Aimee Semple McPherson), a uniquely shaped house perched on a hill above the water.

One popular hangout where diners and dancers could enjoy being on the water was the Showboat, a boat eatery that was mechanically rolled in and out of the water. Another favorite was the popular Aloha Pier, which stretched out into the lake and was the site of weekend dances for more than two decades. Golfers played at the Southern California Athletic Club, which was, according to the press, "The Greatest Country Club in America!"
During World War II, Lake Elsinore was used by amphibious planes as a training ground. In spite of the war, people regularly traveled to Lake Elsinore’s shores to get away for rest and relaxation. The lake offered solace to many in a time when it seemed the world was no longer safe.

Despite its relatively small African-American population, it has the distinction of electing the first black mayor in the state of California. Tom Yarborough was elected in 1966, three years before Douglas Dollarhide became the mayor of Compton.

Drawn by the waters of a lake that has a colorful history, people came in the past as they still come today. Whether they came to settle or came for recreation and relaxation, through the ages, they came to Lake Elsinore. The importance of the lake cannot be underestimated. In a land that is basically high desert, water is liquid gold. The lake is the biggest and brightest jewel we have. She is polished daily by boats of various shapes and kinds, by fishermen and birds wading in her waters and along the shoreline. No wonder it is known as "The Playground of the Inland Empire.”

Big Bear Lake was inhabited by the indigenous Serrano Indians for over 2000 years before it was explored by Benjamin Wilson and his party. Once populated by only the natives and the Grizzly Bears, from which the area received its name, Big Bear Valley grew rapidly during the Southern California Gold Rush from 1861 to 1912. Grizzly Bears were not found in the region after 1906.
A trip to Big Bear Lake from San Bernadino took two days on horse drawn coaches. Kirk Phillips was a local that took a trip to New York City and saw the world's first bus line. This inspired him to create the world's second bus line from San Bernadino to Big Bear Valley using white trucks with several rows of seats. This made it possible for the villages to grow and for Big Bear Lake to become the first mountain recreation area in Southern California.
Many people traveled to enjoy recreation on the lake, however another major draw was the natural hot spring. Emile Jesserun bought 40 acres of land that included the hot spring and built the first major resort in Big Bear, the Pan Hot Springs Hotel, in 1921. This resort was followed with others that strived to be the best by creating a Country Club atmosphere complete with the amenities required to lure the Hollywood celebrities of the time including Cecil B. DeMille, Shirley Temple and Ginger Rogers. It was also a popular place for shooting on location as they did for the filming of the 1920 version of Last of the Mohicans. 1924 saw Big Bear populated with 44 resorts and a constant stream of vacationers. The Pan Hot Springs Hotel, like many of the other resorts and hotels in Big Bear, was extensively damaged by fire in 1933

This weekend was my mom’s 71st Birthday.  As has become the custom the last few years, rather than having a birthday party with cake and gifts, we go on overnight trips.  My trip began with the ascend in to the San Bernadino Mountain with breath taking views of the basin.   After arriving in Big Bear we went shopping in “the Village” which has cafes, souvenir shops, and rental shops.  We then had  a picnic lunch on the Lake.  I had packed gloves, scarf, boots in hope of snow…but unfortunately most the snow had melted except on the north facing mountains and I should have packed Tshirst and shorts.   I hadn’t been in Snow since leaving Minneapolis and was in hopes of being in some.  But in spite of the lack of snow and cold, I had a great time.   Later in the afternoon I went for a hike at the Stanfield Marsh Wildlife and Waterfowl Preserve which had nearly a mile of bridges over the marsh.  The weather was warm yet not much wildlife was out due to being still Winter.  In the evening we drove into town and had dinner at Blondie’s a local little café.

The next day we drove up to the North Shore of Big Bear which was more secluded.  Our first stop was the Big Bear Discovery Center.  This is a museum and education center for the area and covered the history and habitat of Big Bear Lake.  After visiting the Discovery Center I went on a short hike on the Woodland Trail on the North Shore which had scenic overviews, numerous trees, birds, and wildlife.

After I finished my hike, mom and I had a lovely picnic on the lake and continued our drive along North Shore Drive.   I had always heard of Rim Of The World Bypass Scenic Highway but had never drove it.  It was a breathtaking views with stops in Lake Arrowhead and Crestline.  From Crestline we descended back down to San Bernardino and returned home. 

It has been quite a while since I’ve been out in nature…hiking, mountains, wildlife and truly felt rejuvenated from this short little outdoor adventure.