I ran into a friend the other day who asked me, “Did you take your road trip to Titus Canyon in Death Valley last weekend?”
Road trip. For some of us those are the most romantic of words. They conjure up all sorts of wonderful images. Motel living. Dining out. Seeing new sights. Meeting new people.
My answer to her was “You betcha!” And oh my, what a wonderful trip it was.
First stop, Beatty, Nev., population 1,100, there-abouts. Perfectly situated a few miles from the beginning of Titus Canyon Road, Beatty is an excellent place to meet a few characters, hang out in bars and get a good night’s sleep before tackling the jarring washboard road through Nevada’s part of Death Valley.
I am not much of a bar person but as I was walking along the town’s main drag taking pictures people kept stopping me, asking what I was doing. They plied me with Diet Pepsi and stories and insisted on showing me an interesting men’s bathroom. Seriously.
I was talking with one man, standing on the front porch of the Happy Burro Chili and Beer, who had a T-shirt on that said “Crazy Cow Chili.”
Wow, that was interesting. I told him I had photographed a woman several years before at a chili cook-off in Barstow and described her pink trailer with cow spots on it that said “Crazy Cow Chili.”
He gave a holler into the interior of the bar and out came the same woman — his wife! She was tinier and a little more wrinkled than I remembered, but still the same face — they were the owners of the establishment. And he had won the chili cook-off the year I photographed the pink cow!
A small-world moment. Then I was dragged off to check out the men’s room. There it was: motorcyle posters, tacky chick photos and a urinal complete with a toilet flusher made to look like Harley handlebars. A quick twist of the hand grip and “swoosh.”
Beatty bars were proving to be pretty interesting but it was time to get a motel for the night and a meal.
If you stop in at the Happy Burro tell the folks there Lara sent you.
Read DUSA in July for the rest of the Titus Canyon story.
that’s too funny dan, darn, i missed that sign.
So beautiful,so quaint,so real,so America!!….Bravo!…Let’s be thankful “Hope and Change” never finds a way to screw it up!!
hey you forgot one of the funnier things about beatty is when you pull into town from the south there a sign that says trucks carrying explosives please park outside of town limits.
I could have kept reading and reading and reading. Ebsorbed? Engrosed? You bet I was. Enjoyed this very much. I doubt the rest of the day would be boring to us.
Thanks once again.
**Oh, what’s this? No more commenting after September 25? forever? darn!!!
thanks for the info! i actually went back and found the house, but the rest of the day was kinda boring so i didn’t write part two. my bad. i suppose i should write an epilogue or something. 🙂
i can’t say where i stayed because even thought i had really cool decor with furniture from the mandalay bay, i think there was a flea problem. there were cats about and i came home with flea bites – which make me really sick.
so, no, it was not as nice as ray’s den motel in independence calif. nothing can compare to that actually. i want to live there! LOL!
Next time I drive through Beatty I’m stopping at that bar. What does the ladies room look like? Probably not as interesting as the mens.
What motel did you end up in. Was it as nice as Ray’s Den?
Lara, wanted to share with you my visit to Vidal today. If you had turned 180 degrees from the abandoned gas station, you would just about be facing the Earps old cottage. You go across the railroad tracks, turn left on “Old Parker Road” and there is a historical marker on the right side after about 400 ft. The cottage is right there and although it appears to be privately owned now, you can still get a good picture of it!
Another fine story here Lara. “Road Trips” are so much fun! I need to get into this town and explore next time I’m close enough. I have only seen it at night. It’s going on the list!