I’m not much of a bookworm. But for some reason, I expect others to read books. And so I have written yet another book for you to worm your way through. Or to worm your way out of reading, if you’re so inclined.
It’s actually more like a booklet, at around 10,000 words. But it will be illustrated, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So that makes it a much longer book, in my opinion.
This booklet is about the Amargosa Valley. The Amargosa Valley teeter-totters across the diagonal Nevada/California border. It’s a long notch in the Earth just to the east of one of the deepest notches on our planet, called Death Valley. It stretches about 75 miles of lonesome, from Beatty, Nevada in the north, to Tecopa, California, in the south.
My wife and I have visited this ghostly area several times over the years, and we’ve always had a good time, even though there’s not much there for human beans. In the Amargosa Valley you’ll find a few gas stations and hotels; a few convenience stores; a casino, just over the Nevada border; one or two restaurants, a whorehouse, an opera house, and a souvenir shop or two.
There’s not much else, although it does sport a beautiful national wildlife refuge, called Ash Meadows. And it sports a rich history. I’ve researched some of this valley’s history, and plumbed a few of its deep, historic depths. And from that, I’ve scratched out this book.
I’ll be posting it as a 17-part series, including this installment, over the next few months. I hope your reading enjoyment comes at least a fraction close to the delight my wife and I have derived, from visiting the amazing Amargosa Valley.
Click to the next installation, to read Chapter 1: Bitter Water Below.
Categories: History, Series (Travel): The Amazing Amargosa
Chasing Unicorns 
Looking forward to learning the history of the Amargosa which I know you will put an interesting spin on. Plus pictures make it all the better! I am sure Jason will appreciate the pictures. He told me he really likes picture audio books. 🙂
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Thanks, I hope to make all that desert dust interesting. If Jason has a good voice, he could make picture audio books.
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I hope there will be jack-asses in this story.
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I bet there will be, and the pictures make you happy, right? I recall you saying that you like picture books. 🙂
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Especially when the pictures pop up when you open the page.
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😂 Are pop up picture books on your Christmas list?
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There could be a few in hiding. I know that a jackass wrote the story.
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Oooo…a pop-up, jackass book. I’m in.
That photograph, above, is lovely.
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Thanks. You can burro yourself right into this book.
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Oh dear lord…I’m starting to smack myself like JoRo does. I’m afraid my eyes will roll straight out of the sockets…and spin on the floor.
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Those aren’t eyes. You may have lost your marbles.
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So, that’s what those are…
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No. No. Can’t be. I only have one marble in there…
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Surprise, surprise, surprise! You had two.
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I must have one stealth marble, then. I only hear one rolling around in my head. The quiet one must be wrapped up in cat hair.
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So you have a hairball in your head?
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Quite possibly…yes.
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Do you feel the urge to cough?
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Not at the moment…
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Looking forward to this “local” history. And this time, I can assure you that, despite past some work in a fenced-off portion Nye county, I have virtually nothing to contribute. Though, since I’m currently perusing your book on California, I’ll probably end up with a thoroughly conflated version of both.
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Nye County is a rather remote, desolate part of Nevada. And yet, that’s where my parents met, in Gabbs. It has an unusual shape, also. Kind of like a keyhole for skeleton keys, or a mushroom cloud, in reference to its nuclear proving grounds.
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Yep… “Mushroom County”. I still have an orientation videotape from my first trip out there, since we weren’t able to leave the facility while working. Guess it was considered a good place to test things with the potential to leave a mess.
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Isn’t it also the locale of Area 51? Or are you allowed to talk about that?
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As a side note, my paternal uncle has been to Area 51. It’s been many years ago but, at one time, he was connected with DHS via his LE training. I remember him talking about it saying “Yes. It really does exist…much of it underground.” Then, he followed that up with…”Twice day, everyone had to turn their cell phones off.” When I asked him why, he said “I’m guessing because of the satellites.” Then, he started talking about the long-eared desert hares and the desert tortoises. He would elaborate no further.
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He was probably studying the mating habits of long-eared desert hares and desert tortoises. At least, according to his job description.
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Yeah. That was his cover story.
He was fascinated by the tortoises. Said they knew exactly how much water they needed to store in their bodies to travel from one point to the other. If you came upon one, you were forbidden to interact with it. You could be arrested for even touching one. If you frightened it, it would release all of its water, potentially endangering its life. He said there were signs posted along the roads in the area. You were supposed to call a number for assistance if you came upon one. If the tortoise was on the road, you had to stop. They could back up traffic.
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Sounds like you learned a lot from your uncle about the tortoises. I didn’t know they released their water when frightened. I recently rescued one that was on a dirt road with a big truck heading its way, but I didn’t notice it releasing any water.
I would imagine that waiting for a tortoise to cross the road could create a long traffic jam.
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My uncle is one of those types that likes to be the smartest guy in the room.
That just makes me wonder what type of desert tortoise he was talking about. I’m quite sure there are many species. At least he didn’t babble any Latin to me.
LOL! Yeah. Canada geese are only slightly more speedy at crossing highways. I’ve seen 100s of them back up traffic on US70.
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I’ve heard about all the geese back east, and how they block traffic. That can be frustrating.
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Yeah, for the folks way in the back that can’t see the gooses.
They loved to land on my grandmother’s farm, walk all over the place, pooping and, then, finally make their way across the highway to the big pond they wanted to go to. sigh Those were the days back when her farm was still out in the county and the area was still rural. All gone now…
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Sad. I think you told me that you have very fond memories of your grandmother’s farm.
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Oh, yeah…
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Afraid “Area-51” was all outside of my limited domain. I can’t talk about specifics of what I was doing (pretty boring anyway), but there were facilities that tested things like plutonium-powered rocket engines (look up Tory II rocket engine). There was even a proposal once to test a methyl-mercury powered engine, though I think someone finally listened to the scientists and thought better of the idea. Curiously, the proving grounds for messy projects used to be known as “Jackass Flats”. Later, they gave it some technical-sounding name.
The nuclear test craters are interesting. You can get tours of them nowadays. You won’t get a tour of where a non-criticality accident took place (flooded tunnel = steam explosion = no more mountain top). And if you ever get a chance to visit Jackass Flats… don’t.
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I did not know you can tour the nuclear craters. I’d like to do that, but also you’ve said not to visit Jackass Flats. Why not? Forbidden places are enticing to jackasses like me, so that’s just the place where I’d like to go.
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You can look it up. It’s in “Area-25”. Come to think of it, I believe that’s the far north end of the Amargosa Valley? Anyway, it’s probably so contaminated with radiological (and possibly chemical) wastes that I sincerely doubt that it’s accessible.
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Here’s a link to the tours of the nuclear test site, although it looks like they’re on hold for now.
It’s a somewhat bureaucratic process to get an authorization, but anyone without government issues can do it. They visit both the atmospheric test site and the “Sedan” underground test crater, which is pretty impressive. It’s an “eyes-only” tour – no cameras, cell phones, Geiger-counters… http://www.nnss[DOT]gov/pages/PublicAffairsOutreach/NNSStours.html
(replace the “[DOT]”, as usual)
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Thanks for the link. That tour seems like a real unicorn. Wish I could bring a camera though. And it starts in Las Vegas. I hate Vegas. But I’m going to consider it.
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Jackass Flats is only about 10 miles from the town of Amargosa Valley, as the nuclear missile flies. But the access road from Highway 95 is listed as “Restricted Access.” The highly controversial Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository is also only about 10 miles from AV.
I didn’t realize, while we were there, that we were so close to these places to the north of us. And the northern horizon did not glow in the dark, either.
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Nevada’s first issued “nuclear test site” license plate featured a mushroom cloud (since pulled and replaced with something more mundane). I wanted one with “I GLOW”… but the state license plate censors apparently didn’t share my sense of humor.
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That would have been great. Damn those censors.
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LOL!
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Few government types have a sense of humor…just sticks up butts.
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OMG.
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I didn’t know that humans were beans.
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So you were never given the talk, where you were told you came from a little sprout?
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No. I was told it was from a stork.
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The Stork Bean?
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Um nope. The stork blanket
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What? No cabbage patch?
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Haha!
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Oh yeah! I forgot about that! Well maybe the storks got them out of the cabbage patch?
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Quite possibly. They gotta come from somewhere.
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Yes they do!
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I’m up for the challenge of reading it 🥰 sounds fun. This one is a good teaser. I’m looking forward to reading the rest. 😁
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Thanks. It will be trickling its way down over the next few months.
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Looking forward to learning about a part of the country I know nothing about!
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Then let me be your teacher, Mr. Professor.
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If it’s anything like your China series I’ll be learning a lot.
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I trust you will. But still, there may be a pop quiz.
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Hopefully you will extend professional courtesy…
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Okay, I’ll warn you five minutes in advance.
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Hopefully the warning comes with the answer key as well.
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How about if I provide a multiple-choice list of hints?
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That’ll work
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