Back on the road to Zzyzx! Like all the other road trips, the best part is looking for the quirky and interesting sights along the way. We found a new addition at Roy's on Route 66- A gigantic hotdog! Don't ask why....It's Roy's and it's Route 66.
Road signs like this, however, remind you that you are entering a special place!
There are miles and miles of beautiful desert landscape.
When you finally reach the historic Kelso Train Depot, it is a welcome sight! You might even get stuck at a train crossing, indefinitely. If so, the depot is home to an excellent Mojave Desert museum, gift shop and there is information for hiking unique places like nearby Kelso Dunes.
This short video is for my little buddy who loves trains!
Along the open highway, you need to watch out for the endangered Mojave Desert Tortoise that might be crossing the road.
On this trip,we didn't see any tortoises but we stopped and saw this incredibly fast Zebra-tailed Lizard.
Also, we saw this lizard hunting bird, the Loggerhead Shrike, perched in a Joshua Tree.
When we arrived in Baker, the closest town to Zzyzx, and home to the tallest thermometer in the world, we saw that it was 99 degrees. What's new from last year is that the thermometer is now working. The highest possible reading on this thermometer is 134 degrees-the record for Death Valley.
Between 1944-1974, Curtis Springer owned Zzyzx. It was his resort creation. It was a place for "health tonics" and mineral baths. This is the sign you would have seen off the highway.
Zzyzx is now a place to take classes to learn about the incredible survivors found in the Mojave Desert Preserve. When we finally arrived at Zzyzx, the sun was beginning to set. It was absolutely beautiful! I began to get excited about what we would discover over the next 2 days.
