Winter is almost here — and it’s already pretty chilly out here on the edge of Death Valley.
The Amargosa River flowing through ancient Lake Tecopa, on its way to Badwater Basin
Many of you will laugh at what I consider “chilly” — it’s been in the 60s during the day, and down into the upper 30s at night. But in my world, that’s poncho season! Puffer coat season! Hot cocoa season (Land O’ Lakes only — or Mike and Jen’s. I have tested them all, and those are the only two worth a damn)!
Wearing my puffer in a sneak peek from a future video
Anyway, I’m taking advantage of the cooler temps to explore as many desert locations as I can! The other day I headed out on an expedition to a couple of abandoned sites in the mountains to shoot new videos, which will be coming soon. And of course last week, I posted my “calendar location scouting” trip into the Kingston Range.
Exploring the Kingston Range
I put quotes around “calendar location scouting” because yes, I do need to figure out spots to shoot the photos for my upcoming calendar — but really, I was kind of using that as an excuse to just get out and poke around! I was just curious about some of the stuff up there, and it was great weather for going out and investigating.
I ended up climbing on a giant piece of construction equipment, poking my nose into a cave, and even stopped at a boulder someone had painted like a whale, with the word “dork” underneath — presumably a gag related to the “official” term for a certain part of a whale’s anatomy. But my favorite find was this old Plymouth Fury!
Old Car Time Machine
For someone who knows nothing about cars…I sure do enjoy poking around these busted old wrecks I find rusting away in the desert. I like to try and figure out the year, make and model… and when I can’t, viewers usually step in and fill me in, in the comments.
I guessed this one to be a Plymouth Fury III (it said so on the back!) from the early 1970s — and I made up this fun new game (fun to me, anyway) called Old Car Time Machine, where I got in the car and pretended I was actually back in 1973, cruising the drag with my girlfriend Barb, trying to find good tunes on the radio. First I tuned into Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky,” then George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” … before finally settling on Sugarloaf’s “Green-Eyed Lady.”
It was easy to figure this one out!
When I got home, I actually looked everything up to see how accurate I was. I wasn’t able to find an image online that looked exactly like the car — a 1970 Fury III looked close, but the front grille and headlights were different. So I was basically in the right ballpark — and also with the music! “Spirit in the Sky” was a hit in 1969, and “Green-eyed Lady” and “My Sweet Lord” were both from 1970. It’s conceivable that Barb and I could have been driving a 1970 car around in 1973, and those songs would have still been on the radio. (Right? I don’t know if radio stations used to play songs from a few years ago, like they do now.)
Pretending to be in the 1970s
Anyway, it was a lot of fun for me to imagine myself back in the 1970s… because that seems like one of the most fun eras to be alive. Yeah, sure, the furniture, appliances and clothes were hideous — but the music was awesome, you could camp wherever you wanted, you could afford to live in California… and you didn’t need a reservation to visit Yosemite!!!
I guess maybe it’s just nostalgia for my childhood — all those cool old photos of my young parents taking me camping and hiking in a very different California. I know there’ve been medical and technological advancements that have greatly benefited me since then, so I’m trying not to be too rosy about “the good old days.” I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing without cell phones and the Internet — if I wanted a travel show back in the day, I would have had to move to Hollywood and sleep with some d-bag producer to worm my way into the industry. Nowadays, anyone with a cellphone can start their own YouTube channel, and do it themselves!
Pretending to live in the 1970s, part 2. Photo by Jim Smith
So, yeah…. I realize things probably weren’t really all that much better in the 1970s, but I’m still kinda jealous that I didn’t get to experience them myself, as an adult.
But that’s what these old car time machines are good for — at least they let me pretend! And I can’t wait to go out and find the next one.
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