Washington Visit - Day 1

Today, we started our trip from our new home in Indio, CA to our old home in Yakima, WA. I am going to have a showing of my photographs at Thurston Wolfe Winery in Prosser, WA beginning October 1. We are heading to Yakima to set things up and see some of our friends (who we have been missing quite a bit since leaving town).

We were tired of traveling I 5, so I decided we would travel slowly up HWY 395, taking in Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes, Lake Tahoe, and Randsburg (pictured here), a self proclaimed living ghost town. It is located less than a mile off Hwy 395, yet we almost passed it by. Fortunately, we were taking it slow, so we drove up the road to this town that looked like it was still back in 1895 - the year when gold was discovered in the surrounding hills.

According to an interpretive sign by the jail more than $60 million in gold was eventually mined in the area around Randsburg. The town grew up almost overnight once gold was found over 100 years ago. It looks like some of the buildings scattered around the town's three streets were built soon after the town was founded.

The main street features a variety of stores, mostly selling antiques, a hotel and museum. All but the local bar were closed as we passed through, but I took some exterior photos of the buildings. The hillsides were littered with old mine remnants but the harsh lighting was not conducive to photos.