We drove the night away after our visit to LA in search of somewhere to camp in the vicinity of Mojave California. We had come across some news of campsites just north of Mojave in the Red Rock State Park. One was located within the boundaries of the park and another just outside of it. We tried the in bounds one first.
Immediately we were turned off by the $25 fee for a campground that had no running water and needless to say had only one set of toilets which obviously did not flush. Now $25 is not all that steep but our other option for camping was the much more enticing price of free. Red Rock State Park looked pretty and all but it was dark and we just needed a place to crash so we skipped out on it.
The site we had heard of was actually not really a site since it was more of a dry camp area that people used for four wheeling and such. The freeness of it sounded good to us so we drove up the highway a couple miles and then hit the Dove Springs OHV turnout. OHV stands for Off Highway Vehicles, basically dirt bikes and ATV’s. We drove down the dirt road about a half mile or so and found a nice pull out. We set up camp and then noticed a nice red ant hill about 15 feet away. They didn’t seem to mind us so we did the same. The area was actually not too bad and would have been perfect if it weren’t for some damn bug or other creature making an annoying sound most of the night. It was almost like a high pitched rattle like a cricket but more consistent and constant. The night was warm at first but cooled down over the course of the night and actually got a bit chilly.
The next day we took our adventure to the Mojave Airport and Spaceport. That’s correct I said Spaceport. It is host to Virgin Galactic’s test strip where they have the first privatized space orbiting aircraft. The public launches are set to take off sometime next summer or so depending on how the future test runs go. The airport gives tours for five bucks a person so it sounded interesting, hell airports in general are fun to explore so either way it should have been fun.
We drove through crappy middle of nowhere town known as Mojave, California. After navigating our way back to the airport we parked and found the receptionist who gave us clearance badges and proceeded to tell us that our tour guide was off fueling some airplanes and that when he came back he would take us out on our tour. She also reminded us that we could not take any pictures on the airport premises. After wrapping up her spiel, a skinny old Hispanic man came through the door and said “Okay, I am Javier. I’ll take you on the tour.”
I am not going to lie to you. At this point I thought we may have well just taken our ten dollars and started a fire in the parking lot. Our first stop was nothing other than the Virgin Galactic hangar. Unfortunately they had the doors closed and we were not able to see the aircraft and equipment that was inside. I was bummed since that was the reason for this whole stop in the first place. Luckily Javier had been working this airport for almost 25 years and knows his stuff. He took us all around that damn airport and we had some great conversations about the people that work there as well as the people that have hangars and sheds along the runway.
Javier told us of the old man who has been building a wooden frame single engine prop plane for the past 17 years. The man was even there to give us a wave hello while working on his wings. Scattered throughout the airport were all sorts of private planes new and old that people stored there to either work on or fly. The main use of the airport is for test pilots and Javier pointed out the different little planes used for that as well as the helicopters that were used.
Some of the more interesting scenery was of the airplane salvage yard. The salvage portion had parts of planes scattered amongst the fields. 747’s were placed up on huge wooden beams stacked like Lincoln logs. It was an incredible site. I wish I could see them stacking those beams and releasing the plane’s landing gear to allow it to sit on top of the wooden jacks.
Javier also noted that he wanted to buy a 727 fuselage that had been gutted, because it was the same model of 727 as the first plane he had ever fueled up. He spoke of trying to contact the owner to buy it but not being able to reach him. Curiosity peaked as I wondered what the hell anyone would do with a beat up and gutted fuselage. Javier said he wants to out it on his property and fix it up to make a shed out of it. This made me smile I asked what else he wanted in the yard. He pointed out the nose, cockpit, and a little more of another older plane that was stripped and silver in color. He said he wanted to make a trailer out of it much like an Airstream. He had it all worked out and he got lucky with it already being stripped and silver. Javier was a great guy and after taking us around the airport for over an hour it was now well worth the money. If you ever find yourself around Mojave California stop by and get a tour of the airport, it is well worth it. Hopefully the next time I find myself in Mojave it will be because I made a crap-load of money and am going to be a passenger on Virgin Galactic.
Random Facts
Nights Spent Camping = 2
Craps taken in the desert = 1
Minutes spent hanging out with Javier = Not Enough
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