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Los Angeles, CA → Las Vegas, NV → Beaver, UT 497.0 mi (799.8 km) |
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I’m outta here, everyone!
Los Angeles County is up to 662 cases of COVID-19 (256 in the last two days)! I know this isn’t a danger to beavers, but boy, is this stay-at-home order wearing on me. I don’t always listen to the advice I get from Woodchuck, but I think he has a good point. It’s better for me to go stay with him in the country where there’s plenty of wild food than to be around all the people and their grocery lines. So, I’m hitting the road!
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More specifically, I decided to go all the way down Zzyzx Road. Traffic out of LA was nonexistent—it was spooky how little traffic there was!—which meant I had some time to take breaks along the way. I’ve passed Zzyzx Road many times, most recently in March 2018, but I’ve never been the four miles to the end of the last road in the alphabet! No time like the present!
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Right off the bat, I spotted a plaque placed by the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus talking about how the spring here had been a military outpost in 1860, a stopping point for miners plundering the adjacent dry lake bed, and a health resort set up by Dr. Curtis Springer, who technically built the resort illegally and got shut down by the BLM. Nevertheless, it’s his name, Zzyzx, that has stuck to the complex at the end of this desert road!
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Today, the facility here is part of Cal State University’s Desert Studies Center, and the man-made oasis, called Lake Tuendae, is now a place to study waterfowl, amphibians, and two super rare fish: the Mojave Tui chub and the Saratoga Springs pupfish!
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The center sits between the Soda Dry Lake and the southern Soda Mountains, which, for all its soda references had none to be found, at least not the kind that would quench my thirst! While ancient shells can still be found here, most of the remaining water is found in Lake Tuendae!
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This was just the right place to practice social distancing; there were a couple of maintenance folks and a single photographer when I arrived, but with all the facilities closed, there wasn’t much else to do after circling the pond. So, it was time to resume my journey to Beaver!
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I stopped for lunch in Primm, only to find the outlet parking lot, normally so full of cars, completely empty! This is a major last stop for folks about to cross into California gas prices, but today, with the pandemic in full swing, it was just me and the wind!
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A sign on the outlet door reminded me that here in Nevada, where there are 278 coronavirus cases, the governor has ordered all non-essential businesses to close for 30 days! It sure is eerie seeing this place closed, but not as eerie as I imagine the next stop will be!
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Welcome to Las Vegas! Now this was about as locked down as it gets! Barricades controlled the flow of traffic down Las Vegas Boulevard, and the police stood guard at the entrance to the few casinos whose parking lots were not totally blocked off! There were very few folks out on the street, and I was lucky to find a place to get out and take a look around!
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Imagine every casino in Las Vegas closed! All of the flashy billboards, rather than advertising their upcoming shows, wished everyone well and looked forward to welcoming them back at a later time!
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I mean, can you believe how empty Las Vegas Boulevard is? It must be super scary to see everything so deserted at night, but let me tell you, I did not want to wait around long enough for that experience. Also, I might have parked in a lot that said “Customers Only,” so I had to get back pretty quick!
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There was nowhere to park and photograph the shuttered casinos of Mesquite, so I barreled on through, more than ready to be off the road where fewer people made more sense. Let me tell you, I sure was happy pulling into Beaver at 7:00 and finding Woodchuck waiting for me at the city sign!
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Even here in Beaver, though, there was no escape from COVID-19! There are 257 cases in the whole state of Utah right now, but Beaver is still taking precautions. City Hall has reduced hours, and all the seniors who used to dine here will now get meals dropped off at their homes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until it’s safe again!
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But it’s been a long day on the road, and I was glad to arrive at Woodchuck’s home at last. I couldn’t believe it had been nine years since I visited last, and I sure was impressed with all the work he had done!
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The good thing about having a foodie brother like Woodchuck is he keeps a full pantry, and I’d gotten so used to eating human-prepared food that I’d almost forgotten how refreshing spring-awakened willow can be! I think I’ll stay here for a while, at least until things get back to normal.
Happy quarantine!
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Total Ground Covered: 497.0 mi (799.8 km) |
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