Southwest Refresh
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Day 15: June 27, 2019 Southwest Refresh Comment via blog |
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Once again I hit the road without breakfast, but this time I got lucky and
found a good spot in Alpine. What would you order at a place called
Franco's Flapjacks? Me too.
The place I left was a Motel 6 where I've stayed on every visit to La Mesa. I don't often say or show anything about chain motels and that may even be extra so with Motel 6s. But I want to include one picture from this stay. Never before have I seen hangers evenly spaced and aligned. I doubt it's a new corporate policy so kudos to the underappreciated employee who came up with something new. |
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I wanted to drive through Jacumba on Old US-80 but had not sorted out
exactly how to do that. I ended up passing the town before exiting I-8
and entering it from the east. Part of the shell of the old Jacumba Hotel
remains standing and the big rattler still stands by the playground. Today
I drove a little farther into the park towards some bleachers and a
basketball court. The dark wall beyond guards the Mexican border. I don't
know exactly how close it is. It's far enough away that an errant pass
isn't likely to bounce into the other country, but too close to be
ignored. It's not a new wall. It's been there for years. A long slash of
it can be seen in the last picture, taken as I drive east out of town.
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I stayed with the old road, passed under the expressway, and headed up to
Desert View Tower. Political-science-fiction art work continues to line
the road.
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The views of the tower, from the tower, and inside the tower are all
interesting.
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On the way back to the interstate, I paused at the "used car
lot" next to the flying saucer parking area. Yeah, it's got a hemi.
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The descent east of the tower can be kind of exciting particularly in a
big rig. Keeping the speed down helps keep the danger down. Of course,
when it levels out, it's a real nice area to catch some sun.
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Farther east, I slipped onto Grays Wells Road to check on the plank road
display. All appeared well with the examples of both the first and second
versions inside the protective barrier.
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I returned to I-8 but got off at the next exit to approach the
Center of the
World on a very rough frontage road. I merely did a drive-by today,
but I once stood at the very
center of the world.
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I was off the expressway briefly in Yuma but otherwise stayed with it all
the way to Gila Bend.
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Early in the day it looked like Gila Bend might be my overnight stop and I
started thinking about staying at the
Space Age Lodge again. I first stayed here
in 2003. That may
have been before I started doing room collages on a regular basis. In any
case, there isn't one to compare with my
room for this stay. Elsewhere there doesn't appear to be any
significant changes although things have certainly been touched up and
otherwise maintained.
The price of my room included breakfast in the Space Age Restaurant. |
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