(cheerful traveling music) ♪ I'm riding ♪ Riding riding ♪ Riding in my RV ♪ My RV ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free ♪ In my RV yeah (happy country music) Well here I am leaving the Florida State Fairgrounds here in Tampa where the Florida RV Super
Show just took place. Actually, it is
still taking place. But today we begin the
long journey to the west. It is actually my
intention to see both of the major RV
shows that happen in January, in the same wake. Crazy huh? And so I'm going to
drive all the way to Quartzsite Arizona
over the course of the next few days here. And let's see what we can
explore along the way. Well driving to the West, well to the North first
and then to the West. We're passing by Paynes Prairie, Gainesville here
along boring I-75, and I'm getting sleepy. How about some coffee? Well you know I usually
consume Cuban coffee which is a variation
of an Espresso. But today, I'm making me an Americano. Let's make it strong. A little more. There. Yes, I really need to be awake. I have a long way ahead of me. I-75 here in Florida and soon I-10 looks more
or less all the same. Not the most scenic of roads. Well now I am truly, ♪ Driving to the West Driving to the west. ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West
And if it wasn't cloudy, I would have been
driving into the sunset. ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the West Oh, greeting everybody
from the rest area. Uh, I'm hungry. Let's make some dinner. You know I'm all about
eating healthy, you know. At least as natural as possible. But, I'm not gonna
make a gourmet dinner here at the rest area right now. So what I'm going to do, so I don't know
if this qualifies as an RV cooking show. I'm gonna make one
of these frozen meals from Bluebird. And they're fairly decent. This one is probably
the least healthy one of the ones that I bought. This is a, it's like a sausage and peppers. It does have a
bunch of ingredients and some stuff I
can't pronounce, but, it's still better
than opening a can or heating up a TV dinner, so. This going to be what I do. One thing to remember
when cooking in the RV. You know, disable your
fire alarm because, it usually beeps when you least expect it. Check it out. Well, bon appetite. Well, I am one of
those strange people who actually like
to drive at night. So, off we go. And I hope I'm not
forgetting anything. Did I close the door? Yes I did. We continue towards
Tallahassee Florida. - [GPS System] Slight left
onto the ramp to I-10 West then merge onto I-10 West. (happy country music) - [Robert] I continue
driving into the dark night. Well I arrived at
this rest area. I'm tired. I don't see any no
overnight signs, so I guess it's okay
to overnight here and I see another RV there, and there was another
RV way over there and a bunch of trucks. So you know what? I'm gonna spend the night here. It's at mile marker 162 on I-10. Good morning. Making coffee. Yeah, all the RVs left
and now it's all trucks. So I'm gonna leave
too just in case. Well it is mostly trucks, but there is at least
one Winnebago Via here at the parking lot. I'm leaving soon though. (gentle techno music) Well, there is the bridge
over the Apalachicola River. And on the other side
it is one hour earlier. (gentle techno music) As the sun begins to rise, I continue on my journey West. Crossing the Apalachicola River
into the Central Time Zone. It is always more comfortable to drive with the sun
behind you, isn't it? This is Marianna Florida. For some reason it
looks so familiar. Maybe we've been here
before on one of our videos. - [GPS System] Turn
left on Maloy Plaza, then turn left. - Maybe when we went to um, to Destin? We passed by here, I don't know. I'm gonna stop at the
Walmart and buy some stuff. (gentle techno music) (Robert hums) (spritzing) Clean that solar panel. Get lots of energy. For boondocking. But this I-10 going West has like a rest area, every 30 to 40 miles. So that's very nice. I'm starting to like this road. Oh and by the way
I'm going to cheat, because I want to
put that Alabama map, you know, Alabama
sticker on my map Back in Minitini We're gonna do
something Alabama today. ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West Hm, Stretch Your Legs Trail. That's a pretty good idea. Where did we stay? There we are. Less than an hour
away from Alabama. ♪ Driving to the West Mental note, gotta
clean that window. Yes, we are still
Florida but not for long. We are crossing
the Pensacola Bay. And the Alabama State
Line is very, very close. ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset Do I see a goodbye Florida
sign in the distance? Well, no more
Florida for a while. - [GPS System]
Welcome to Alabama. - [Robert] Thank you. We are now in
Sweet Home Alabama. Let's stop at the
welcome center. Alabama Welcome Center. Alabama Welcome Center, I got my maps. Very nice lady in there gave
me all kinds of information. She says that next time, I have to camp
somewhere in Alabama. Perhaps I will. Let me see if it is safe to take a picture with the Alabama sign. I don't think, It looks like it is kind of far, but actually I'm just
gonna take a selfie with this sign. It's smaller than that
one over there but, it's safer. Well we're not gonna stay
in Alabama this time, but at least I'm going to
do something in Alabama so I can put that
sticker on my map. There's another rig coming this way. (energetic electronic
country music) Well it turns out that
there's this truck stop called Oasis travel center Here in Alabama, right off I-10. So we're going to check it out. Well there I am. Minitini. Here we are. Outside they have
this railroad car and all this railroad motif, and the diner. It's called the Derailed Diner. Pretty cool. You enter through what
looks like a VW bus. Yeah, Make Love, Not War. And then here inside,
it is pretty cool. It looks like a pirate ship, you know, where you pay. And it is a nice twist. You know, instead of just
making it like an old plain rest stop. You know, they try
to be creative. Let's look for the
aforementioned Derailed Diner. Which is actually
where I want to eat. Yeah, this place is huge. Well here we are. Here in the Derailed Diner. The kitchen is behind
this school bus. The have a saddle there. I have the roast turkey special. Not great, but it was okay. I like all the eclectic
decorations in here, you know, everywhere. Well now I've had
lunch in Alabama at a somewhat quirky place. So I think that qualifies me to have a sticker in my
map, don't you think? If I can ever find the sticker, it's been so long, I
forgot where I put 'em. There's Minitini looking
more mini than ever. (happy country music) Let's continue towards Mobile. I remember
this long bridge here as we approach Mobile. You know from that time way back in 1996 when I drove with some friends all the way from
Miami to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Yeah, it's been a while. (energetic electronic
country music) Well we're gonna cross
into Mississippi very soon so keep your eyes peeled. Well here we are at the
Mississippi Welcome Center. I think they have coffee. This is a very cool
looking building here to this visitor center. And she says that
they just built it. You know, to reassemble something. They have a cardboard
cutout of Elvis here, he talks to you. Well to follow, Mississippi was the
birthplace of Elvis. He doesn't want to talk now, he doesn't want to
talk now, anyways. (laughs) I guess it is made out to look like an Antebellum Plantation. Hm, Mardi Gras. It's coming soon. Yeah, he doesn't
talk loud enough. Oh and they have
coffee, free coffee. Well I would love
to check out Biloxi and all the beaches. But I guess that will have
to be on the way back, because we are in Louisiana. (laughs) Yeah. I know it is kind of risky, but I have to take to take a picture with the
big sign, you know. To add it to the intro. (bigband-like saxophone music) Hmm, they have a dump station. And here we are at the
Louisiana Welcome Center. This almost seems to have a, like a theme. Let's walk inside. See if they have any maps. Cool. Good coffee here at the
Louisiana Welcome Center. Or tourist information
center like they call it. Around here I'm going
to divert to I-12 Which bypasses New Orleans. North of Lake Pontchartrain. It is for the most part, an uneventful drive. Which in this case, is a
nice way to say boring. As I am here on 1-12 on
the way to Baton Rouge, about three hours
behind schedule. But I'm gonna fix that tomorrow. I realize this is
the furthest West Minitini the trailer
has ever gone. We are further West
than Memphis Tennessee. (bigband-like trumpet music) Driving clear across the
great state of Louisiana. Here we are, Baton Rouge. Lousiana's capital city. Let's try to find parking. You know, stretch our
legs, explore a little bit. Meanwhile, enjoy
my friend Chuchi performing my New Orleans Theme. (bigband-like music) Yes, this is just perfect. Not a bad parking spot
if I may say so myself. I wonder if they would
let me boondock here. We are right next to
the state capital. Well here we are, Baton Rouge. And this is the
Louisiana state capital. I was really hoping to
arrive here earlier, maybe take the tour but, that probably won't be possible. I mean, the downtown is pretty deserted on this
Sunday afternoon. Just gonna walk to the building. (clock gongs) Okay, let me know if
you see Mini-Tini. Okay, I'll give you a hint. There it is. It is Huey Pierce Long. Also known as the KingFish. He was Louisiana's
40th governor. Assassinated in 1935. This is a small downtown, but it seems to be
a very clean city. Well yeah, as I suspected
it is already closed. So um, let's just walk
around this nice park. (electronic music) This is our other
government buildings. They look like
government buildings. The downtown area
is pretty deserted. Or at least around
here on a Sunday, but it doesn't feel
scary you know, like other down towns
late in the day. It is extremely clean
and no homelessness, just a few locals taking
pictures or exercising. Here we have the Saint
Joseph Cathedral, a Roman Catholic Church. I'm sure there's a lot more
to see here in Baton Rouge, but guys, I'm tired. The sun is setting,
and I'm just gonna find a Walmart or somewhere
to spend the night and tomorrow, Texas. For the first time in Texas. Ya'll. Well as night falls
here in Baton Rouge, it's time to hit the road again. I do wonder if they would
let me overnight here. I mean, I don't see any signs saying yes or no
for that matter. Well, I'll leave just in case. Before I go, I am
going to drive around to this other area by
the Mississippi River. I really should have
walked all the way, but it is getting dark. (bigband-like music) Here at the courthouse, we turn right onto
North Boulevard. There's the old state capital, which actually
looks like a castle. And nowadays it is a museum. This national
historical landmark was the state capital
since the Mid-1800s until the new building
was finished around 1932. And it was even a prison
during the Civil War. And the architecture is
pretty unique as you can see. Often called the
Gray Old Castle. So next time I come
to Baton Rouge, with more time of course, I am definitely
visiting the museum. Right now however,
we are going to cross the mighty Mississippi River. Continuing our
relentless trek West. (bigband-like music) As darkness falls, I cross
the Atchafalaya Basin. The largest wetland and
swamp in the United States. Maybe we'll get to see
it in a couple of days on the way back. Exhausted, I arrive
by Breaux Bridge. Just East of Lafayette. And there is a casino
at the Pilot Truck Stop. (sighs) I park at the Walmart, my luxury accommodation
for the night. Let's cook something,
I am starving. Well today we're
going to make a very popular Cuban dish. It is called Picadillo. Well I'm not going to go
into the whole process in detail right now. Suffice to say, garlic and
onions and bell peppers are involved. And I will at some point
make a more detailed RV cooking show video about this. Gotta peel some potatoes. And the potato peeler that
I've got here in the RV really sucks, I
gotta get a new one. Saute the onions and the garlic. Add the bell pepper and might as well cut and
add the potatoes too, because I am making
this Picadillo for the first time
here as a one pot meal. I've had to modify the
recipe a little bit. You know, to cook it in the RV. We're gonna add some Vino
Seco Golden Cooking Wine from Publix, and
our ground beef. And you know, move it around. Paprika, oregano, cumin, a little bit of tomato sauce. Let's take out some Molisana
Olives and some raisins. And some sweet peas. Ah what the heck, let's use
the rest of the tomato sauce. You see, look at that. It's like a chili
without beans right? But with potatoes. Since the potatoes are
normally cooked separately, I'm going to cover it and let
it simmer for a few minutes until he potatoes get soft. Okay, so that's more or less what it's supposed to look like. But I kind of underestimated
the amounted the time that it was going to
take for the potatoes to fully cook so, they still could use a
couple of more minutes. Well, we're going to
pair this with some California Cabernet Sauvignon. And Mmm, bon appetite. Well we woke up to some
thunderstorms here in Lafayette. So, I'm gonna wait a little bit. I'm already so behind
schedule anyways. Well good morning. I'm here at the Walmart just
East of Lafayette Indiana. Indiana, Louisiana. And uh, two more RVs there. And um, there's a big
thunderstorm coming. So I think I'm gonna wait
it out here and then leave. Okay, so while I ride
out the storm here, I'm doing some power
management down here. And uh, I divided my power
strips into essentials and non essentials. This is the external hard drive, I don't want that to
go off at any time. Then my audio interface and the computer. And here are all the chargers. Chargers are non-essentials, so I could just turn
this off if my battery is low, which it actually is. (thunder and heavy rainfall) (cheerful country music) Well yeah, why not? We are in Louisiana and
the Pilot has a casino. ♪ Driving to the West Well, let's depart
towards better weather. ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West (electronic acoustic music) ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving through
New Mexico Arizona ♪ ♪ Even California I'm gonna ♪ I'm gonna get my kicks on 66 ♪ The mountains and
the desert are my fix ♪ ♪ Driving to the West in my RV ♪ Is where I wanna be (cheerful electronic music) ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Driving to the West ♪ Into the Sunset ♪ Driving to the West Well, made it to Texas Ya'll for the first time. This looks kind of
desolate out here. Oh, by the way, these
here are the swampy lands of the Sabine River, which
happens to be the boundary between Louisiana and Texas
and this boardwalk right here is outside the Texas
Welcome Center. By the front, they
have this big Lone Star and the six flags of
Texas representing Spain, France, Mexico,
the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States and
the United States of America. I thought it would be
appropriate to have some bacon and eggs for breakfast. Where's the big star? Right there, check it out. ("The Road to El Paso"
by Robert Morales) Okay, let's hit the
road, but let me tell you right off the bat, we
are not going to stop to see a whole lot along
the way here in Texas, at least not here at the
beginning, because the goal is to reach Quartzsite, Arizona
before the end of the week. You see, I'm setting your
expectations kind of low here, so we are not going to stop
at Houston or San Antonio, for example, although
I would love to. That would be another time. We'll just see
them from the road. As a matter of fact, here
we are, approaching Houston and let me tell you,
this city is huge. There is the Budweiser
plant, and luckily, traffic is not too crazy
here in the early afternoon, as we approach downtown. The city seems to go on forever. It is a huge metropolitan area, actually ending here by Katy. At some point,
the alarm goes off in my tire pressure
monitoring system, particularly on the
one tire that wears out unevenly faster than the
rest, so I stopped promptly, but it turned out
to be a false alarm. The tire was fine. Apparently, the sensor just
lost the wireless connectivity. Almost four hours later, we
are arriving at San Antonio. See the sign for the Alamo? Yeah, everything takes
longer with the RV. Here we are, cruising along
during rush hour traffic. So close to the city,
but don't despair. I will visit San Antonio
on the way back to Florida. As the sun begins
to set, exhausted, I continue pushing through
and check out all the birds. Well, the idea is to find
a rest area or a truck stop where I can spend
the night, but first, I want to get out of the city. It would have been really nice to make this part of the
drive actually during the day because it seems to
be pretty picturesque. We are entering
Texas Hill Country, also considered the beginning
of the American Southwest, where we are going, actually. Hill Country will have to wait
until the next trip this way. (mellow classic rock music) I find this rest area,
but it is so dark and kind of crowded
and off level. I don't know, I feel
kind of intimidated, so I decide to continue. There is a Love's
Truck Stop nearby. Here we are, arriving by
the Love's Truck Stop. Hm, doesn't look very promising. I mean, there are
trucks parked outside. Yep, this place is
completely full. (upbeat country music) Yeah, I think I'm
going to continue. Well, to make a long,
nocturnal story short, eventually I find this rest
area here, nicely illuminated and perfectly level
and this is where I'm going to spend the night. Well, good morning
from Kerrville, Texas. It is 27 degrees outside. My battery is kind of low,
so I'm gonna have to buy a buddy heater at some point. Yeah, I kind of killed
off my battery last night with the computer and the
chargers and the forced air onboard furnace. So here we are. As I usually say good morning. It's freezing cold. It was a very good
choice to stay here and pretty picturesque
at sunrise. I stayed at this
rest area last night. It's full of truckers,
but no one bothered me. Now, I'm seeing this
landscape for the first time since I arrived in the
middle of the night. Look what I found. RV dump station
and potable water. We can continue boondocking. I go to the nearby
Lowe's in Kerrville to try and use the WiFi and
buy this heater for tonight. I got a new propane tank. Yeah, might as well
get some propane too. Also, one of the tanks ran
out last night and oh well. Off we go. Let's continue on our trek west through the great
state of Texas. Pretty steep grades here as
we drive through Hill Country. ("The Road to El Paso"
by Robert Morales) Let's take in the
view here real quick. In Texas, besides full
service rest areas with bathrooms and
WiFi and all that, there are also a bunch of
these smaller picnic areas and parking areas where you
can take breaks as well. They are not very large, but
there are plenty of them. On I-10, in Texas, the speed
limit is 80 miles per hour. Well, I can only do
65, so that's that. Okay, here we are,
approaching Junction, Texas. This is the park here
at Junction, Texas. Very nice. Oh yes, you're actually
allowed to camp here for free for up to three
nights, right here at the Junction City Park,
also called Schreiner Park. Here's the dam on the Llano
River that forms Lake Junction. It is pretty
picturesque out here. I was going to fly the drone, but we are actually
in a no fly zone because there is
an airport nearby. It is so peaceful out here. It would be nice to
linger, you know, stay for at least a day. Oh, that's pretty cool. Some tree art. Let's continue. I was thinking of
having lunch here, but couldn't find any
restaurants within
walking distance of the park, so let's continue. Hmm, all of a sudden, isn't
it starting to look more and more desertic? It goes back and forth,
but little by little, the trees are becoming
smaller and sparser. Well, took a shower,
feeling refreshed. Yeah, I'm taking a
break every hour or so. ("The Road to El Paso"
by Robert Morales) This is a pretty
cool rest area here. Well, it is really starting
to look like the west. There, mesas and a butte. This is an old pump. Well, the good news is
I didn't run out of gas. And here I am with some
oil wells, I guess, and also, there's
some renewable energy. Wind turbines, so,
as you can see, Texas has all kinds
of natural resources. (mellow pop music) Wind turbines everywhere. And also oil wells. And the desolate
beauty of the desert. We've got some cows here
on the side of the road, so I guess it's not the
full blown desert yet. By the way, we detoured
from I-10 a while back and now we are by this
town called Alpine, probably because of all
the mountains around it. It is my intention
to spend the night at the Marfa Lights Viewing
Area, not far from here. It is so beautiful around here. Well, these are my
accommodations for the night, here at the Marfa
Lights Viewing Area. Let's go check it
out real quick. The sunset will
be happening soon. Okay, this is pretty cool. Yes, in this structure
here, they have bathrooms and some telescopes to
view the lights, I guess. The Chihuahuan Desert. This is the weird plant
I've been looking at. This is where I'll be
spending the night. (calming music) Well, this is where
I'm going to sit, until I freeze, that is, to
watch the supposed Marfa lights that happen here at night. The sunset is just
a few minutes away. The desert turns into such
beautiful colors at sunset. (camera shutter clicking) Well, there's quite a few of
us now, here to see the lights. Even if we don't see the
mysterious lights tonight, the sunset alone was
probably worth it. Well, it seems to work well. That we won't be
wasting battery tonight. (calming electronic music) well, needless to say, I didn't
see any lights last night and I left the camera
on all night long. I even woke up in the
middle of the night because the Mister Buddy
ran out of propane, came out after the moon
set and hmm, nothing. You can't see anything, but
there's a train going by. Jesus, another train! Yeah, there were trains
running right next to us all night long. There goes another train. Good morning. It's a brand new day
here in western Texas. (calming electronic music) Well, good morning. Well, it is incredibly
cold out there, by the way, at least for me. It's 20 degrees Fahrenheit,
but what I want to do right now and you might ask,
can you see it? No, you can't see it because
I have all this crap here. You might think why hasn't
he put a sticker yet for Alabama or Texas. Well, simple reason. I have misplaced my stickers. So today, we're gonna
put Alabama and Texas, but tomorrow, very likely,
we're also gonna put New Mexico and then we're gonna
have the whole south of the United States covered. Okay, here's our
little Alabama sticker. And now, we're gonna put
the big Texas sticker. Okay, Texas it is. Map's filling up. (upbeat electronic music) Well, we continue
on our journey west through the Chihuahuan desert, now approaching
the town of Marfa. The town is actually
mostly famous for its numerous art galleries. We continue and take a
look at the tethered blimp. We are really close to
Mexico here, so I wonder if the blimp is part of a
border patrol operation. That's the station the
blimp is tethered to. Quick stop here on
the side of the road. It is so windy out here. There's a blimp there
and there's the station. (upbeat jazz music) Here it is, the Prada here
in the middle of the desert, although it is not as
desolate as you would think. We're just one mile outside
the town of Valentine and here you have it, Prada
Marfa, ballroom Marfa. Here they have some explanation. It's an art production fund. Someone should come with some
Windex and clean the glass. Hey, there's me. There's a mirror in the back. Well, there you have it,
Prada in the middle of nada and say hello to the camera. We continue pushing west. Next up, El Paso, Texas! Here's a pecan farm. Lots of them here in Texas. We are approaching Van Horn. Here, we rejoin I-10 West and
enter the mountain time zone. (electronic music) Check out that train down there. Pretty picturesque picnic
area here, pretty cool. Well, that valley down
there, that's Mexico. We are finally approaching
the border city of El Paso. (radio announcer speaking
in foreign language) (upbeat techno music) (mellow country music) What I find fascinating
about these border towns is that what you
see right there, those houses, that's
a different country. Amazing that you can
see Ciudad Juarez so close from the expressway. Well, I decided to
stay at a campground. Get a nice shower,
replenish and here I am at the El Paso K.O.A. Very nice view of these
mountains back here. As you can see, it's
almost empty, nearly empty. Maybe that's another
campground next door and then there's a camping
world right behind us. So, yeah, this is
my site, right here, right next to the office. Hopefully, I'll get
some decent WiFi from that antenna up there, although the WiFi
seems to have died. Maybe they realized I
started uploading a video. Well, let's explore a
little bit of El Paso with the little bit of sunshine
we have left, three hours. Well, I actually passed by
the tourist welcome center and the guy recommended
that I take this road, the Woodrow Bean
Transmountain Drive, but aside from this view here, there is not much to do or see. Well, okay, there is this trail
on the Franklin Mountains. Cable car. And there's a cable car,
but that is closed today. I told the guy clearly
that I wanted to see Mexico and that's not it. Luckily, I also
did my own research and there is this scenic drive with a couple of
scenic overlooks that the GPS is having
a hard time finding, but I am bent on locating
it and here we are. There is Ciudad Juarez,
Mexico in the distance. And here's downtown. There's the river and the wall and the Monument
a la Mexicanidad and the rest of Juarez,
south of the border. Seems to be a popular
place with young couples who come to enjoy the scenery. (mellow Latin music) Directly behind
downtown, that's Mexico. (train whistle blaring) - [GPS] Take the next
left onto Rim Road. - [Robert] Okay, let's continue. ("The Road to El Paso"
by Robert Morales) Pretty fancy neighborhood. This other park here. Let's check it out. This is Tom Lea Park. This seems here to be a
pretty ritzy neighborhood. You've got this obelisk. The southern tip of
the Franklin range of the Rocky
Mountains, pretty cool. Here we've got a better
view of downtown El Paso. Of course, behind
downtown, Feliz Mexico, right there over the hill. Okay, let's go downtown. It's first in Spanish,
and then in English, you know, like in Miami. I parked by this square
called San Jacinto Plaza. Fun fact, back in the day
there were real alligators in this pond here. Also, the plaza was
renovated recently, after many years of
abandonment and disrepair. Nowadays, instead of
beggars and pickpockets, we have street
musicians, at least one. (jazzy saxophone music) ("The Road to El Paso"
by Robert Morales) Let's explore
downtown a little bit. There's this interesting
looking street here called, most appropriately,
El Paso Street. The Mexican influence is very, very palpable all
over this area. Even though my common
sense is telling me to go back to the car... Let's walk around a little more. Actually, I decided
to continue exploring a little more by car. Many of the shops
were closing down and downtown was getting
a little more solitary. Union Plaza. But before calling it a night, I want to see a historic house, the Pancho Villa Stash House and also this area right by
the border called Chihuahuita. It is a historic site,
Casa Clandestina. The Pancho Villa. There you go. Terminal de autobuses. El Tiradero Market. You wanted to see the wall. That's the wall. Yep, on the other side,
there's a railroad track and then the Rio Grande. (upbeat country music) As night falls, I return
to the campground. Goodbye Texas, we'll be back. That was El Paso in three
or four hours, actually. See you tomorrow. Our KOA here in Anthony, Texas is barely a mile away from
the New Mexico state line. In fact, the town
straddles both states. So, soon after I depart, I encounter this
huge New Mexico sign and since my old
New Mexico picture wasn't all that great, I am going to make a
brand new one right here, with this humongous sign. I also decided to stop
at the visitor's center. Let's check out
the welcome center. I guess this one is
not open anymore. I have to visit the
one at Las Cruces. Oh, well. I like the fact that they
make these welcome centers kind of folkloric. Alright, let's continue. New Mexico awaits. Oh, check it out, flying saucer. Yeah, we might pass by
Roswell at some point. There's minitini in New Mexico. (bright music) It doesn't look like
I'm gonna be able to put that New Mexico sticker
this time around either because I think I'm just
gonna drive through, but I'll put it on the
way back, for sure. And I'm getting worried
about my battery. I'll tell you more
about it later. (bright music) We are approaching Las
Cruces, New Mexico, and I'm going to stop here at
the Walmart for a few minutes, get my bearings and come up
with a brand new travel plan. Here is what I'm going to do. Let's pass by historic
Mesilla here nearby, and we'll save the rest of
Las Cruces for another time. The GPS keeps
pronouncing it Mess-ila, but I wonder if the
correct way would be as you would in Spanish,
Mesilla, as in small mesa, since this was part
of Mexico until 1853. Apparently, during
the Wild West era, this used to be a
pretty happening place, which attracted the
likes of Billy The Kid, and even Mexican
revolutionary Pancho Villa. Here to the left, we have the
historic Plaza de Mesilla. The gazebo at the center
had to be rebuilt, in 2014, due to
structural problems. Here, by the end, we have
the Basilica San Albino, a catholic church, the current
building dating back to 1906, although the original first
church was built in 1852. And here we see some
of these typical New Mexican adobe constructions. Let's continue, although
I've made a mental note to return to Mesilla
and Las Cruces someday. Well, we've been going up a
pretty long steep grade here. Almost at the top and pretty
nice view, looking back. Every time you travel
near the Mexican border, you will encounter one of these border patrol checkpoints
shortly after. Isn't it starting to look like
the desert in Breaking Bad? (bright music) They have all these
billboards here advertising this trading post coming
up called Akela Flats. It has tourist trap
written all over it, but it has good
reviews on Google, so I might visit next time
I'm in southern New Mexico. ♪ Driving to the west ♪ I'm driving through
New Mexico, Arizona ♪ ♪ Even California I'm gonna ♪ Gonna get my kicks on 66 ♪ The mountains and
the desert are my fix ♪ I think we're gonna
skip The Thing. I've got something much,
much better in mind. We are crossing the
continental divide here, which, to be honest, it
is a little anticlimactic in this flat desert. The Loveland Pass in Colorado
was way more dramatic. 11,990 feet above sea level. It's kind of cold, and
as you can see this- ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the west So many trains. ♪ I'm getting into
Utah, Colorado ♪ ♪ High above sea
level is my motto ♪ ♪ Into the thin air
I might see a bear ♪ ♪ Nothing like the
west, doesn't compare ♪ ♪ Driving through
the west in my RV ♪ ♪ Is where I wanna be (train horn blaring) As we continue towards Arizona, it becomes increasingly
picturesque. (bright country music) Okay, I'm gonna tell you what
the plan is here in a second. We're going to take a detour. Oh, it's getting
too hot in here. All right. It's supposedly about 20
more minutes down this road, but since, on this road, I
might be able to actually go at the speed limit, it
might even be the same time. So, besides, you know, some
times it is better to take some of these secondary roads
and this could be interesting. The only problems
with these roads is that sometimes, as you see, is not as well maintained
as the interstate. We'll see, maybe it's just
this little part here. This is New Mexico
Highway 80, going south. Very picturesque. Look at that. (upbeat rock music) This small town here is
called Rodeo, New Mexico. And here we are. We have made it to Arizona! Okay, let me tell
you what the plan is. As you saw, we left El
Paso, Anthony, actually, passed by Las Cruces and
continue west on I-10. Then we took a detour
on this very picturesque state route 80 and
crossed into Arizona. Now we're going to continue
hugging the Mexican border, and then back north
through Bisbee. We're going to
stop at Tombstone, and then by Benson, we
rejoin I-10 towards Tucson. That's the plan, anyways. After a short recess here
by the Arizona state line, I continue due southwest
on this beautiful road. (upbeat blues music) There's a historical
marker coming up. Let's see what it is. Quick stop here on
the side of the road. This is the Geronimo
Surrenders Monument. The last Apache chief. Arizona is a state
of incredible beauty. Really, really in awe at
the beauty of this state. Look, everywhere you look. It's magnificent. So lucky to be here. Okay, let's continue
towards Tombstone. At this rate, we'll
never make it. As soon as we hit
Arizona, no cell signal. (upbeat blues music) We are almost by the
border town of Douglas, Agua Prieta on the other side. Okay, let me make sure
I turn right here, otherwise we'll
end up in Mexico. Yeah, that's pretty
much the border. Mexico is actually about
a mile away to the south. (upbeat blues music) Bisbee, Arizona, coming up. (upbeat country music) And here we are,
entering Bisbee. This was founded as a
mining town back in 1880, and it's considered, nowadays, one of the quirkiest
towns in America. It certainly is picturesque. As we enter the
historic district, here to the right we have the Bisbee Mining and
Historical Museum. I would love to
explore, but I'm afraid that won't be possible today. There won't be a
way to park here, at least not with
the trailer in tow. Today, we're probably just going
to be able to drive through and return in the future,
with better planning or a camper van. It is such a cute,
picturesque town. Well, I took a wrong turn
and had to turn around, but might as well take advantage and stop here for this view. Here's another quick view
of the town from up here, and we continue
towards Tombstone. Hopefully, I'll find parking. (upbeat country music) Here we are, Tombstone. Parking might be a challenge since they don't allow
RVs, as you can see. Luckily, there is parking on
the side of the main highway. I parked here. It's a couple of blocks away. I hope there is no problem. All the parkings
were for cars only. This is interesting. So the high school is for sale. Interesting. You see if we had something
like that, we could have parked. Anyways, here's the
famous Tombstone, Arizona. Not very busy today. Here is the Bird Cage Theatre, which used to be a saloon and
a theater and the poker room. Across the street, they
have this touristy shop. Let's venture inside
the Bird Cage. - [Guide] That is a 45 Ricochet and back over in this
corner, in the green paint, just to the right of Fatima,
that's a 44 rollerball. Great in the 1881, and you can
spend all the time you want. There's a lot to see,
take a lot of pictures. The admission is $12 for adults. - [Robert] Well, here
is the original bar. As you probably overheard,
admission is $12 for adults if you wanna see the rest. Might do that later, but I
don't know if it is worth it. Meanwhile, let's just
walk around a little bit, check out the town. Here is Doc Holidays Saloon. I feel like Marty McFly in
Back to the Future Part Three. Very touristy. It is a very picturesque town,
with mountains all around. Oh, the O.K. Corral. That's where they
have the reenactment. Here is Big Nose Kate's Saloon, and they've got
food, so let's go in. I'm kind of hungry. (country music) Cool, they even have live music. I have, of course, an
IPA, as I usually do. ♪ Yippee ki-yay - Pretty cool place. (people chattering) It's the cowboy cheesesteak. That's interesting. This is the area
where you can dress up and take a picture
with the old piano. (woman laughing) It's time to go. Let's continue. (country music) Now that I've quenched
my thirst and hunger, we can continue. There's the O.K. Corral, where they do the gun
fight reenactment. And that's where I
parked, way out there. Oh, that's where the
gun fight takes place, but you have to
pay for that one. It's free in the weekend on
the street, so I'll come back. Let's continue walking around,
see what else there is. There's another
saloon theater here. Saloon theatre. Here's the courthouse from 1882. I overheard someone say that the Courthouse
Museum was outstanding, and it's only seven dollars,
so let's check it out. (female tour guide
speaking faintly) Here we have what looks
like some torture devices. Oh, wait, I think
he was a doctor. (light rock music) Yep, lots of old pictures and all these old
artifacts at this place. Old mining equipment, like
this dry panning apparatus. Here's an old piano. Actually, the first
piano here in Tombstone. And the talking machine. Hmm, the post office. Well, let's go upstairs
into the attorney's office. Well, your honor. As you may have guessed,
this is the courtroom. Well, there are a lot
of interesting things to see here at the museum,
but we must continue. Let's go back to the main drag. - How are you doing today?
- Hey, how are you? - [Man] So far so good, man. (people speaking
in the background) - [Robert] As you can see,
not all the attractions are on the main drag,
which is actually a segment of East Allen Street. I'll be honest, I did expect
it to be livelier here, but it is a Thursday afternoon. Most of the town is stores. Oh, they have a winery. The Silver Strike Winery. Yeah, it is too bad I
have to continue driving all the way to Tucson. - We learn as we get older. Well, it was nice
talking to you. - [Robert] By the way,
I anticipated this and went to the local RV park, but it was fully
booked, so I gotta go. Also, the dirt road is kind
of fake, you know, for show. There's actually
pavement underneath. If you don't believe me,
look on Google Street View. Hmm, street musician. Oh, this is where I ate, at
the Big Nose Kate's Saloon. (people chattering) It is much, much,
much emptier now. Anyways, that wine place
was really tempting. - [Man] On a eerie
tour by stagecoach! - Well, that's pretty
much the main drag. It's just like two city
blocks and very touristy. Let's check out the Bird Cage
Theatre one last time here. And I do believe at night
they have ghost tours here. (people chattering) - [Man] (laughing) Gotta
give the governor his. - Yeah, I know.
- Cool, let's go. - [Man] Ready to go ahead? - We'll do this next time
because right now I've gotta go. Actually, before we go, let's
check out one of these stores. Let's see what they have. (upbeat country music) Yeah, I've always
wanted a cowboy hat. No, my head is too big. My head is still too big. Well, Tombstone
was fun, wasn't it? In hindsight, I'm thinking
maybe I should have done the Bird Cage, you know, pay the 12 bucks to
see the whole thing, because it was a pretty famous
place here from 1881 to 1889. And, apparently, they
have 120 bullet holes throughout the
building to prove it. When it finally closed in 1892,
the building wasn't reopened until 1934, and it was
like a time capsule, so it would have
been neat to see it. Maybe next time. (upbeat country music) Well, we drove really
close to the Mexican border so it was only a matter of
time before we encountered another one of these
border patrol checkpoints. I guess they usually just
let you drive through. The one time that they stopped
me and asked me questions, I didn't have the camera on. Go figure. Well, we are approaching Benson. (upbeat country music) I'm kind of tired, so
the plan is to stop at a Walmart, just
before Tucson. Well, here I am,
and it's all great, except for all the no
overnight parking signs, which means I am going to
have to stay somewhere else. I saw an RV park
about a mile back, which, by the way, is not
listed in the Allstays app, so I call and they have one
vacant site, so off I go. It is called Cactus
Country, and here I am. (calm electronic music) I think I'm gonna stay here. This place seems pretty nice. It's called Cactus
something, but, check it out. I guess it is true what
they say about the desert, the sunsets. (relaxing music) Well, it is very nice to
have full hook-ups and wifi, since I'm going to
be boondocking for
the next few nights. Good morning. Well, this is where
I stayed last night, here at the Cactus
Country RV Park. It's pretty nice. I was actually really tired,
and desperate last night, so it was a welcome surprise. And here they have
a cactus garden. We've seen those
before on the road. Yes, it is a very
nice cactus garden. Of course we are in the
middle of the desert. (birds chirping) Oh, Arizona has to be the
most beautiful state ever. Well, one of the most
beautiful, for sure. Oh, that's a pretty big cactus,
here by the park office. It's a shame I have to
go, but I have to go. (light country music) Well, I'm leaving here. - [GPS Assistant]
Continue for half a mile. - Thank you, this
cactus campground. And, yeah, I guess
this is the exit. Okay, cool. And you might ask,
"What's the hurry, Robert? "You have skipped so many
places along the way." And, yeah, I sure have. By the way, hear that sound? I think my power steering is... It's on its last leg,
but I have a mission, and the mission is to
make it to Quartzsite before they take down
the tent, the big tent, and that would be
today or tomorrow. So, today's Friday, by the way. They take down the
tent on Sunday. But I wanted to make
it to Quartzsite before the RV Show finished. Now, after tomorrow, the
real adventure begins because I can-- - [GPS Assistant] In a
quarter mile, turn left onto South Houghton Road. - Because I can take
it slower from there. It's a beautiful area. ♪ Driving through
New Mexico, Arizona ♪ ♪ Even California I'm gonna ♪ I'm gonna get my kicks on 66 ♪ The mountains and
the desert are my fix ♪ ♪ Driving to the west in my RV ♪ Is where I wanna be (bright country music) There's Picacho Peak coming
up ahead, on the left. ♪ Driving to the west,
into the sunset ♪ ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Driving to the west,
into the sunset ♪ ♪ Driving to the west All of a sudden, saguaro
cacti everywhere. When people go to
Florida or California they're all excited
about the palm trees. Well, you have no
idea how excited I am to see the saguaro cacti. It is so typical and emblematic
of the Arizona desert. I'm gonna see lots of
those in the next few days. We're going to take
a quick detour here, and I have to make a U turn. Let's check out the abandoned
domes of Casa Grande. I was tempted to
say Casa Grand-ay, but I've learned recently
you're not supposed to pronounce the E at the end,
so Casa Grande. These are pretty cool. Interesting. And I also heard that
the acoustics in here- Look at that, listen to that. This is amazing. Echo. One, two, yes. Wow. Ooh, there is someone
there in that U-Haul truck. Anyways, I don't think
I'm supposed to be here, so I'm going to leave. But, there you go, those are
the famous abandoned domes. Well, let's check
them off the list. I've always wanted to come here at the abandoned
domes of Casa Grande. Their origin is
somewhat mysterious. Apparently, they
are an unfinished computer manufacturing
facility from back in the '80s, but I haven't been able to find any definitive
information about them. I didn't see the no
trespassing sign. Oh, well. But there's someone in
there with a U-Haul truck. I don't want to intrude
if there's someone there. Maybe the new owner
of the property? It would have been
cool to explore. Okay, off to Quartzsite we go. Well, I am pretty much
going to drive non-stop all the way to Quartzsite. (calm music) Hmm, it's a Unity. ♪ Riding ♪ Riding in my RV Yeah, so here we are
approaching Phoenix. Right now, we're
just driving through, but I'm going to spend
a couple of days here on the way back. It is so cool to see
the Los Angeles sign. Anyway, at least symbolically, it means that I've almost
driven cross country, since that is actually
the next major city, L.A. ♪ I'm free in my RV, yeah Deep in the Arizona
desert at the crossroads of Interstate 10 and US
95, there is a small sleepy town of just 3,000
people, which during the winter months swells
to almost a million. Most of them nomads on wheels. (upbeat music) Ladies and gentlemen, welcome
to Quartzsite, Arizona. (upbeat music) Arriving in Quartzsite
for the first time can be a little intimidating. There are literally
thousands of RVs everywhere. At several RV parks
and BLM land areas. But finding the entrance
to register at the BLM, at least for me, has proven
to be a bit of a challenge. Google Maps is not great
at finding these places so I suggest you know where
you're going beforehand. So I wander around a little bit and eventually I find the
entrance to the Scaddan Wash. Here I have to register
to get my 14 day permit to camp on BLM, which stands
for Bureau Of Land Management. In other words, public land. After scouting a little
bit, I find this nice spot right here next to this
huge saguaro cactus. (upbeat music) Well hello everybody
and greetings. I'm here, finally made
it to Quartzsite, Arizona and I'm staying here
at this BLM land, which means free
camping for 14 days. They call this Scaddan Wash. It's right off I-10 and
I'm parked right next to this humongous
saguaro cactus. So it's pretty nice
and I'm gonna head into town now before it gets dark to get a little bit
of the lay of the land and then tomorrow I
can go to the Big Tent and do some read ups
and all that good stuff. (upbeat music) This might sound strange
but I find it really hard to get my bearings
inside the BLM. Other words, there
aren't any real roads and I usually have
a pretty good sense of orientation but not here. (upbeat music) There is La Mesa
RV, the very large RV dealer here and the Big Tent. (upbeat music) let's get our first
look here at the show here at the, well this area here is basically a large
flea market or swap meet. But it's late, they're
already closing down for the day,
so I'll be brief. Well I almost got
lost on my way back. And just like that another
day comes to an end. Who would have thunk,
I'm in Quartzsite. Well the desert is so
beautiful, this time of the day. (relaxing music) I am about to
experience my first desert sunset here
in Quartzsite. (relaxing music) Yeah, desert sunsets. (relaxing music) (car beeping) I decide to leave
at night to hang out with some fellow YouTubers. But I get lost in
the dark desert. Thankfully I am able to
find my way back, epic fail. Well good morning
from the Cascada Wash or Scaddan Wash here
in Quartzsite, Arizona. It's almost sunrise,
it is 33 degrees Fahrenheit and here we are. I really like all
these mountains
surrounding Quartzsite. Such a beautiful site. Some people are leaving early. Well this Buddy of mine worked
great most of the night. I ran out of propane. Can you see me well? Well right away this is my
first coffee from the desert. (upbeat music) The first Quartzsite coffee. Check out the view outside. The sun is just rising. What I'm going to do
today, when I actually find my way out of
here, I want to put little pins on the
road like bread crumbs. So if I have to get
out of here at night. Well you saw it when
we got in here, it's just paths made by
vehicles driving around. There's no roads so on
the GPS there's nothing. Well this is going to be
an omelet with bacon bits. Or scrambled eggs, it
depends how it comes out. Mmm, yummy. (upbeat music) Well, let me show
you where I am. There's my saguaro cactus,
and this area right here called the Scaddan
Wash, east of town. In fact you can see
Quartzsite in the distance. The Rubber Tramp
Rendezvous, or RTR took place just a little further away from town in
this same area. (upbeat music) Let's fly closer to
Quartzsite proper. (upbeat music) Okay, that's far
enough, let's return. (upbeat music) Hmm, where am I? (upbeat music) That's not it. (upbeat music) Here I am. (upbeat music) Well I have been invited
by Paul and Lorena of the Motorhome
Experiment YouTube channel to hang to this morning and
participate in their live video. So that's where I'm going. They are staying at La Posa
West, long term visitors area. And I believe this
is their campsite. (upbeat music) - Welcome to last Saturday
Live Adventure Nation. We are here in
Quartzsite, Arizona. We got a couple of
little surprises for you while we're here. It's going to be
really, really cool. Joining us today, all the
way from Miami, Florida is Robert, come on
pull up a chair Robert. We've got Traveling
Robert with us. - Hello there. - We've got Don and
Kevin in the back. We got a couple of viewers
who are hanging out with us and I'm sure we're gonna see
Lori and Brian out here soon. - They're shy. I'm always cold, plus I just
showered so I'm really cold. And it's chilly in here. - It's not super warm, but
we're in the direct sun and you know I haven't showered
in a week, so I'm not cold. - It's a little bit
breezy, I think it's in the 50s, so for me it's cold. - All right we've got Robert
shooting while we're shooting. - I'm doing a behind the scenes. - Behind the scenes, we'll
sneak it in, awesome. (everyone laughing) - I video right now. - Robert is doing a behind
the scenes shoot right now so when he gets back
we'll find that out. But I think it's the action
cam that you guys use right? - [Viewer] The Sony. - So here comes Robert
to answer the question. - Someone was asking
about the camera. - Yeah. - It's a Sony FDRX3000,
it's 4K, very nice. - Yeah, nice and small.
- Yeah. You and George have
the same camera. - It has a very good
lens, decent audio. - Yeah cool, cool, cool. It has an external audio as well so you can hook up a mic? - Yeah you can hook up a mic. - Nice, very perfect. Oh yeah see, I guess all
the cool kids have those. See Jean's got one too. All the cool kids have those. I have a phone. - [Robert] And there's another
camcorder style shooter, just like mine, as I keep
snaking behind the scenes. - [Paul] I'm curios,
how's the stream anyways? Is the stream pretty decent? - [Lady] Yeah. - Yeah, so here's the other
myth about Quartzsite. You cannot get cell signal here. - The nice fiberglass
rig belongs to G&J Roaming & Rolling,
also on YouTube. Now Paul and I, we're
going to the Big Tent. Now we're going to go finally
see the tent, the Big Tent and then we have a meetup
with other YouTubers. I'm just gonna walk to the
tent because it's real close. I got a great spot
here but the long term, no this is, what's it called. - Long term visitors area, LTA. - [Paul] Robert and I
are arriving at the show. - This is the Big Tent. (upbeat music) And it has almost like a
fair kind of atmosphere here. They have food by the entrance. (customers talking) Yep, it's like a
carnival out there. (upbeat music) Here in Quartzsite, being
in the middle of the desert, there's a lot more solar stuff. More than other
RV shows for sure. (upbeat music) Energy lights. (upbeat music) Yep, all kinds of stuff in here. (upbeat music) (customers talking) Yeah by the way, I
don't have back pain. Inflatable jacuzzis. - [Paul] Yeah we're gonna
take the dinette out, put one of those in there. - Yeah, why not. (customers talking) - [Paul] North to
Alaska, this is where you pick up a bunch of this stuff. - [Robert] Yeah. - [Paul] The other day
so that we can do this. - [Robert] We got
to get the milepost. - That's what everybody
told me about, the milepost. We had a long, long honeymoon. They did a lot. - [Robert] More solar. - [Paul] We bought the
panels and the extra panels we bought were these Newpowa. - [Robert] Newpowa. - [Paul] I'm going to
be doing a little bit of work with them on the
install video and some stuff. - Oh cool. - [Paul] Oh yeah. - Okay, Paul is getting a
brand new starter for his. - Generator. The generator is not
playing nice. (laughs) (toy squeaking) (customers talking) - We finally made
it to the Big Tent. Well yeah, this is
kind of the reason I drove almost straight through all the way from Tampa, Florida. (customers talking) - [Paul] The feet,
legs, and back open up. (customers talking)
(upbeat music) - [Robert] So much stuff
here at the Big Tent at the Quartzsite, yeah this
is kind of what we're wanting. We look at the mattresses,
if MCA has a booth. (customers talking)
(upbeat music) Very cool. (customers talking) Yeah we can replace the
dinette for one of these. (customers talking) Like Paul said. (customers talking) - [Salesman] I tell you
this is stainless steel. They do not rust. Hash browned potatoes, you can shred coconut, cheddar cheese. - Over here they have that. (customers talking) Check it out. Well you are using your
voice command, how fancy. (men laughing) - [Paul] I don't
have any hands left. - [Robert] I see, Paul
has been shopping. - How are you. - [Paul] Oh paint,
metallic paints. - [Robert] Oh for when I go to Amarillo to the Cadillac Ranch. - [Paul] Yeah exactly. They have all kind
of stuff yeah. - [Robert] They've got all
kinds of stuff here Paul. - [Paul] Yes sir. Very much like a carnival. - [Robert] Yep, definitely,
it's like the county fair. More solar stuff, everywhere. That's Quartzsite. (motor rattling) Interesting, look
beer, wine, and food. Well yeah, of course
you have to have a bar but in here they call it Adult
Day Care, how appropriate. (upbeat music) Yes, very lively. (customers talking)
(upbeat music) Okay, I'm going to
some of these rigs but I think you've
seen enough RVs from my time at RV shows videos. So if I find something
extremely interesting, I will walk inside but
otherwise, you seen all this. All these Solitudes. The Integra, yeah. (country music) That was a lot of fun hanging
out with Paul at the show. Next, I'm going to the
Quartzsite town park because fellow YouTubers
Nathan, Marissa, and little Hensley of Less
Junk, More Journey fame are having a meet
and greet in town. (upbeat music) Okay, here we have the
famous Airstream of course. (dogs barking) And there's a bunch
of people over there already, so
I think I'm late. (upbeat music) We're out here with
Nathan and Marissa, but they are of
course overwhelmed with the numerous fans
that came to see them. So I only get a chance
to say hello briefly. (upbeat music) On the other hand
there's a bunch of other fellow YouTubers here, like for example Nomadic Native. Like me, he made a beeline
from Tampa to Quartzsite. Hey YouTubers meet up here. (everyone laughing) We're crashing Nathan
and Marissa's party. This is also Mike
from RandomBitsRV. - We've got RandomBitsRV
here with us as well. - Nomadic Native.
- Traveling Robert. - And also here Patrick,
the Paddy Wagon. I'm telling you, we're
having our own little meetup right here, you
know like the kids in the back of the classroom. All of us YouTubers and some
viewers in common as well. (upbeat music)
(people laughing) All right, that was a selfie. Well here's some
extra video courtesy of Mike, RandomBitsRV. (upbeat music) - [Man] Yeah you wanna,
wanna face the sun? (upbeat music) - All right I think we are
going to take a picture, a picture here with
Less Junk, More Journey and that's the famous
Airstream back there. (upbeat music)
(people talking) - [Man] I got a
fancy full frame. After the picture we are going to get an Airstream
tour as well. Mike, RandomBits get
the Karma up in the air to take some group
shots as well. (upbeat music) There are also some professional photographers with
very nice cameras. (upbeat music) We get in line to
take a peek inside. Here we are, inside the Less
Junk, More Journey home. (upbeat music) I have to get me one of this. - Yes well we haven't
grocery shopped in a week. So we're down to a
potato and two apples. - Hey great job, I remember all the work that went into this. - [Nathan] Yes, yes. - [Robert] It came out great. - [Nathan] It was a
long couple of months. (upbeat music) - Of course, monkey
see monkey do. So I decided to get my
drone up in the air as well. (upbeat music) Well while we are up here,
I might as well give you a 360 degree view of Quartzsite
and its surroundings. (upbeat music) Going back home, palm
trees and cacti and RVs should get us in
most of Quartzsite. (upbeat music) I think I discovered
a new better entrance to my campsite here
at the Scaddan Wash. (upbeat music) ♪ Riding ♪ Riding in my RV ♪ Wherever I want (generator humming) Well yeah, I'm really
excited that I might have to run the generator here
for a couple of hours. (generator humming) Solar is not cutting it. Okay this is my view as I am editing videos here in the middle of the desert. (upbeat music) It is now that magic hour
at the end of the day right before sunset
when the desert turns into this surreal colors. (relaxing music) (into upbeat music) The camera doesn't
really do it justice but (generator humming) it's amazing. (relaxing music) Well I'm having battery issues but I'm healthy,
I'm free in my RV, I'm making a fried garbanzo,
fried garbanzo beans. And I'm gonna edit
with battery power. By the way, the
problem is my battery is down to 11.7 volts so yeah. I've been kind of reluctant
to run the generator at night but at some point I'm
gonna have to do it. There are more UFOs,
Chinese lanterns they are a thing
here in Quartzsite. Well good morning from
Quartzsite, Arizona. As you can see I had to run the generator again,
my batteries are dead. And that's the one
thing about this trip. By the way, how do
you like my cactus? This solo trip, besides
fulfilling my dream of driving cross country while
I'm still relatively young, it was also about, you know
testing the feasibility of traveling long term
with Minitini the trailer. And we are learning,
learning lessons that you can only learn by
staying long term on the road. And the first lesson
I've learned is like my power systems are
totally inadequate. At least for
something like this, like boondocking
long term at a place. You know if I'm going to
be at an RV park it's fine. But yeah my solar is
definitely not enough. Especially at this
latitude, because in Miami the sun is right up there,
you know high up in the sky. But here the sun never
goes up that high, so my solar panel doesn't charge as efficiently as it
does at lower latitudes. I'm in the south, imagine
if I ever go north. And the second, my
battery is not enough. Like if I want to
have the inverter, the computers, and everything
happening at the same time. The battery won't last overnight so I definitely have to get
a better battery system. I'm gonna go into town
now and see if I can find some kind of fast
charger or something to revive my battery because
it went down to 11.5 volts last night and that's no
good, even for an AGM. But isn't this beautiful? I'm in the middle of the
desert, this is fantastic. The sunsets are
amazing, oh my God. So guess what, I found
a shortcut out of here. (upbeat music) Well this is the
new exit I found. I'm telling you
in a few more days I'll know this town like
the back of my hand. Meanwhile, let's
go to the Big Tent. (upbeat music) It is early so there is hardly anybody here and
plenty of parking. (upbeat music) It's right at opening time so. (upbeat music) Hmm, no one in
here seems to have a stand alone charger for sale. The Adult Day Care
bar is a little less crowded today,
though it is much earlier. We'll come back here later. Adult Day Care. (laughs) What time do they open? It doesn't say. (upbeat music) People here are not open yet. (upbeat music) Well I found my battery charger,
let's see how this works. Here at the Tool
Depot, very nice folks. So I got one thing
out of the way. Since I'm here, might as
well you know look around, see what else they have here. This is like the
flea market area. See me risk my life
here crossing the street because yesterday I saw this, not yesterday it was
the day before yesterday I arrived, I saw this
cinnamon rolls and hmm, $9 for a coffee and cinnamon
rolls, better be good. They got all kinds
of stuff here. In this booth,
they have all kinds of artistic stuff
made out of junk. Oh by the way that cinnamon
roll was really good. I don't know if it
was worth five bucks, I mean it was nine
bucks with coffee. I know, here in
Quartzsite so, everything is a little more expensive here. Yeah a lot of the
stuff is still closed. (upbeat music) Yeah, lots of cool stuff here. I'm gonna back to the
RV see if this works. (upbeat music) Cool car. Ooh they have a
Phoenix Cruiser here. (customers talking) (upbeat music) Let's see what a preowned
Phoenix Cruiser looks like. (upbeat music) Actually, it probably
needs a little TLC but it's only 40
grand, that's not bad. Lots of fifth wheels out here. Heading back to my
boondocking spot, I may or may not go back here. So let's just walk through
that Big Tent one last time. (customers talking) Yeah, the Big Tent
is really big. (customers talking) Well if this doesn't
solve my problems, I might have to buy a new
battery at some point. (customers talking) There's some of my folks. (customers talking) Okay, saying goodbye
to the Big Tent here at the Quartzsite RV show. (toys squeaking) Oh by the way, I don't
know if I told you, this is a free show here
in Quartzsite, Arizona. I still can't believe I'm here. (upbeat music) Well here I am
using my new charger in an attempt to
revive the battery. (generator humming) Actually when you are
out here, the generator is not that loud at
all, it's pretty cool. There you see it. Yeah I decided to explore
on foot a little bit. (upbeat music) We are taking the 95 North
towards Parker, Arizona, another small town of
barely 3,000 inhabitants. Passing by all the BLM
land north of Quartzsite. (upbeat music) Now that I'm thinking, I
should have brought the drone. But you know what, I
wasn't able to charge it. This battery problems that
I've been having tonight. I'm gonna make sure
everything is fully charged. 'Cause tomorrow I think
we're going to California. (upbeat music) This guy is really
in a hurry, isn't he. (upbeat music) In the past I would have
been more inpatient but, oh my God did you see that? Now I understand
why the RVs going slightly below the speed limit. 'Cause that's an
accident waiting to happen right there, oh God. Everybody seems to
be in such a hurry. Well I'm not. (upbeat music) Well anyways, tomorrow we
are going to California, but today, today we are going to the Nellie E Saloon, also
known as the Desert Bar. (upbeat music) Here we are. Can you tell we are
right next to California? (upbeat music) Here's the very RV friendly
Walmart Super Center. It says 24 minutes for eight
and a half miles, 8.9 miles. So, you know it's
gonna be a rough road. (upbeat music) Well we're about to take
the Billy Mack Mine Road. We'll see how it goes. - [GPS] In half a mile turn
right onto Billy Mack Mine Road. (blinker ticking) - Let's see how it
goes, how this goes. (blinker ticking) Primitive road, caution,
use at your own risk. This surface is not
regularly maintained. Actually you know
what I'm gonna do. I'm going to change batteries. (upbeat music) Well as the warning
said, this road is not for the faint of heart. For the next five
miles, we'll be going at an excruciating slow
10 to 15 miles per hour. Which makes the painful
drive almost half an hour. I mean you really
have to be in the mood for a drink to make
this trek right? Some people advised
against doing this and some even said
that a four wheel drive vehicle was required. It is certainly the
worst road conditions I've ever put old Kia
on but I am confident we will be successful
in the end. (dramatic music) Hmm, it looks like the
black sedan gave up. (dramatic music) Hmm, traffic jam, also
lots of people on ATVs. (dramatic music) Another one that gave up. (dramatic music) And another one. (dramatic music) My only worry actually
is that my tires are a little old and
worn out and they don't have as much traction
as they used to. (dramatic music) Well that is by far
the roughest road I've ever taken in the old
Kia, in her 14 years of life. You really got to be
desperate for a drink to come here but I
hope it's worth it. There it is, the
famous Desert Bar. So let's go see what
all the fuss is about. At least from far away, it looks like the place is happening. (upbeat music) Well they've got live music. So back in 1975, this guy
Ken acquired this land that used to be a mining camp. And in 1983 the
Deseret Bar was born in a very small
three wall structure. Check out the church, made of solid steel, completed in 1996. (upbeat music) Okay let's do what
we came here to do. Although I wouldn't
drink too much if we got to tackle that
road after. (laughs) Apparently the bar is run
entirely using solar power, with batteries and
inverters and the water comes from the well,
also solar powered. This covered bridge here we're walking on, was
completed in 1991. Ken has been this
empire little by little throughout the 80s and the 90s. And the band rocks. ♪ You've got a song,
I won't back down ♪ (bar patrons talking) - They recycle, good. Let's get a drink. (upbeat music) ♪ All you want to do
is ride around Sally ♪ ♪ Ride, Sally ride ♪ I said all you want to
do is ride around Sally ♪ ♪ Ride, Sally ride ♪ All you want to do (audience clapping) (bar patrons talking) - Looks like the bar in here. (bar patrons talking) Oh well I was tempted. (bar patrons talking)
(upbeat music) - [Man] His house
is right over here, there's a whole
back to his house. (bar patrons talking)
(upbeat music) - The beer selection is
not that great, but hey we're in the middle
of the desert here. (upbeat music)
(bar patrons talking) ♪ When I call ♪ Just why, when I call - [Robert] This is
super multi level. There's an upper level up here. (bar patrons talking) So what do you guys think? Yeah, right, keep going up. Let's see what's up here. (upbeat music) (bar patrons talking)
(upbeat music) Well up here all
there is, is the view. A commanding view. As I used to say when I
channeled Rick Steves. - [Lady] And three. Two.
(wind blowing) And say cheese. (wind blowing) I don't know how to reverse. One, two, three. - [Robert] Oh, what goes
up must go back down. I'm going back down
and enjoying my beer. Maybe I should have brought
my hiking shoes too. (lady yelling) (wind blowing) (upbeat music)
(bar patrons talking) The tall structures are
apparently cooling towers. Yeah, it can get
pretty hot out here. In fact the bar only opens
October through March. (upbeat music) There's old Kia by
the parking lot. (upbeat music) And here's an
antique car, probably just a prop, and the
view from backstage. ♪ I'll think of a song ♪ If you wanna ball ♪ Show you want to (upbeat music) - [Robert] Here's
the menu by the bar. Basically burgers and hot dogs. (upbeat music) ♪ What I like about you ♪ You hold me tight - I do wonder why they say
absolutely no cheese, ever. I actually happen to
like cheese in my burger. (upbeat music) And when was the last time you
got to pee with a view, huh? There's also a Nico's Grill, apparently another restaurant. (upbeat music) Well, there is time to go. (bar patrons talking) I thought this was a cool
place, very interesting. The Desert Bar,
oh there's Nico's, they have a food
truck down there. I didn't realize
that, okay cool. (bar patrons talking) Now we have to tackle
that road again. Good let's check this out. At the beginning
I didn't realize this was actually a church. It kind of looks the
part but it is so small. By the way, there
are no services but all religions are welcome. Also apparently these are
the names of the people who donated money
to build the church. (bar patrons talking) All right, there are
lots of ATVs here but as you saw, that
rode is made for ATVs. Yeah one of these would be
great to tackle that road. Although Kia
performed admirably. Knock on wood, we
still have to go back. (upbeat music) Oh don't worry, I will not make you watch the whole trip back. Although I might make a
separate video just for that. I suffice to say we've
made it back in one piece. (upbeat music) There's a lake down there. (upbeat music) Well that's the Colorado River, California on the other side. And there's the Blue Water
Casino as we approach Parker. Oh by the way at The
Desert Bar, there's no cell phone signal and they
do not take credit cards so be prepared for a voyage
back in time in that sense. The prices however
are very much 2018, which is expected given
the remote location. Fellow YouTubers and new
friends, Mike and Patrick are having a camp
fire so I'm on my way to their campsite at the
BLM just north of town. It's gotta be around here. Yep that's them on the
left on the golf cart. I'm gonna have to
make a u-turn, great. (laughs) I was going to fast. - [Man] What's that? - [Robert] I was going
to fast. (laughs) - [Man] You're good,
good to see you partner. - [Robert] Good to see you too. - [Man] We're waiting, RVFreeDa is gonna be over here with us. - [Robert] All right. - [Man] And we're recording it. - [Robert] Great. - [Man] Good to see you man,
thanks for coming out tonight. - [Man] She's out here close so we're gonna take you both back. - [Robert] All right
perfect, let me just pull over here to the side. Here we are caravaning
towards Mike's site here. It's going to be another
great desert sunset. One of the greatest things
about coming to Quartzsite, it's all the like minded
people you get to meet. (friends laughing and talking) - [Lady] You get a fire log
that's got fire starter. - [Robert] Well
who we got there? We have RandomBitsRV,
the Paddy Wagon, and RVFreeDa. - RVFreeDa.
- RVFreeDa. - Yeah, it's the kind of
torch that I use, a big torch. - [Lady] It started. - [RVFreeDa] I was
gonna do all that and I just bought fire starters. - [Lady] Yes. - [Robert] But those mountains
right there, that's perfect. - [Lady] Exactly. - [Man] Why don't I film,
that's an awesome look. - [Lady] Yeah look on here. - [Man] That's a raging fire. - That's not juniper wood is it? I got juniper wood last night. Because that's a nasty. - [Robert] We're getting
burgers and hot dogs. - [Man] Once it gets
dark it's dark Mike. - [Mike] Hold on. (jazz music) - [Robert] Well good
morning one last time from Quartzsite, Arizona. I just can't get over
it, this sunrise. It's so, so magical. But it is time to
move on, if I ever want to make it back to
Florida, check it out. The sun's about to come out. Well I've got some trash
I need to get rid of. It is morning in Quartzsite. And that's what I'm looking for. The refuse transfer station. This is where you dump the
trash here at Quartzsite. (machines whirring) Let's continue. (upbeat music) Well, let's put the
GoPro up on the roof. (upbeat music) Make sure we are all
buttoned up and off we go. ♪ Riding, riding in my RV ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free
in my RV yeah ♪ ♪ I'm riding Yep, this is the shortcut
I found the other day. ♪ I'm riding in my RV, my RV ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free in my RV
Well you know at some point I had to fly the
drone back right. - [GPS] In 1,000 feet
turn right onto-- - [Robert] There's
one last thing I want to do here in Quartzsite. Well this is the
Hi Jolly Cemetery. This is what as referred
to as The Shrine. Well as the story goes,
Hi Jolly came from Syria along with 70
camels that they brought to transport troops
during the Civil War. And when he died, the locals
built him this pyramid out of petrified wood and
quartz, his final resting place. Now we go south, Yuma awaits. The Pilot gas station
here in Quartzsite is always packed, so I'm
going to the next one to top off and now
we go, for real. ♪ Riding, riding in my RV ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free
in my RV yeah ♪ ♪ I'm riding, riding, riding ♪ I'm riding in my RV, my RV ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free
in my RV yeah ♪ Check out the
entrance to the Yuma Proving Ground
here to the right. (upbeat music) And the famous
Bridge To Nowhere. And did anybody notice we are
not in the desert anymore. All of a sudden we've
got once again that California feel with
all the tall palm trees. (upbeat music) Well, we've made it to Yuma, and one of the reasons
I wanted to come here is this gas station that
has a free dump station. (upbeat music) Here's how it works. You leave your ID at the office and they give you the
key to the dump station. You do your business, return
the key, and off you go. And next, the idea is to
go to the Paradise Casino, which is right next to
the California border and supposedly has this
huge RV parking lot. (upbeat music) Here we are, crossing
the Colorado River, straddling the state
line, the Mission Purísima Concepción, the Church
On The Hill, right there. (upbeat music) ♪ I'm (recording scratching) RV lot closed. ♪ Riding in my RV I guess we'll have
to go somewhere else. ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free in my RV By the way, according
the the GPS, I am now in California,
although I never saw the sign. And apparently I am because
there is an inspection station. ♪ Wherever I want to be Well they took my lemons
at the inspection station. Apparently no citrus can
come into California. Amazing, it's the only
state with a border. Yeah I was under the
obviously wrong impression that we all the same
country here, but no, God forbid my Florida lemons
come with me to California. I hope at least they
make some lemonade for the border patrol,
otherwise it will be a waste of a
perfectly good fruit. Anyways, rant over. Here to the right,
we have this place called the Center Of The World. And they want $3,
sorry California
already took my lemons. Another time perhaps. (upbeat music) Casual recreational lands. It says permit required,
it must be this place. I wonder if it's too
late to get a permit. We'll see. ♪ I'm riding, riding in my RV ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ Because I'm free in my RV Well this is where I'm going
to stay in this BLM land, right off Ogilby Road
here in California. This looks like a nice place. Well this is where we are
going to stay tonight. It is very nice, very level
boondocking area here. Very dispersed. As you can see, Rvers give
each other plenty of space, which is very nice, actually. ("Graylin Lake"
by Robert Morales) I can tell it is going
to be a beautiful sunset. And check out the
almost full moon. Not great for stargazing but it illuminates the
desert very nicely at night. As I said it is a bit windy so it may not be
wise to fly the drone but I'm gonna do it anyways. I mean, take a
look at this place. ("Crossing the Rockies"
by Robert Morales) Perfect place actually to
try the spotlight feature on the Mavic drone. There it is, struggling a bit
against the wind. (chuckling) I told you it was
going to be a great sunset. Well good morning. It's amazing, the sunrise. (footsteps on desert rocks) Here at the BLM land. ("Desert Song, Part
2" by Robert Morales) Well, let's put the GoPro on
the roof and hit the road. Got a busy day ahead of us. ("California Road Trip"
by Robert Morales) Okay here's the plan for today. We're gonna go to the
Imperial Sand Dunes first, then we're gonna go
to famous Slab City, and we're gonna drive
around the Salton lake, see that abandoned
town of Bombay Beach, and then I have a
reservation at a county park somewhere near Palm
Desert, around that area. We are arriving at Glamis, which is pretty much the
gateway to the sand dunes, and it is pretty
much all RVs here. This whole area is actually
called the Algodones Dunes, Imperial refers more to the area managed by the Bureau
of Land Management, And sometimes they are called
the Glamis Dunes as well. Let's go to this
observation area called the Osborne Overlook. Wow. I have never actually
been to the Sahara Desert but I imagine this is
what it might look like. So beautiful. Part of the Chocolate Mountains
can be seen in the distance. Yes, in my mind, this is what a true desert
should look like right? Imagine a convoy of camels
coming over the next sand dune. Yes this is a place
of incredible beauty. Too bad it is a
little cloudy today. Okay, here we are. By the way this is BLM land, 14 day camping limit. I don't know if it's stands
camping or what have you. This is... very, very surreal here. And the Sun's coming out. (footsteps on asphalt) I decided to put
on my hiking shoes and go for a little
walk on the sand dunes. It is kind of hard
walking on the ridge. It is almost like
quicksand I guess, or what I imagine
quicksand would be like. Yeah, very surreal to be here. Maybe it's time to continue. Photoshoot, perhaps? Actually before we go, a
little flyin' is a must here. (chill electronic music) I continue on to
the Imperial Valley. Our next destination:
The infamous Slab City. We are below sea level here. Interesting. So many cows. Before we continue,
let's put some expensive California gasoline
here at the town of Brawley. It is almost a dollar more
per gallon than in Arizona. ("London Pride"
by Robert Morales) Going north on the
California 111. Very large agricultural
area around here. This to the right
used to be a rest area with dump stations
and potable water, but it is now closed. I guess they didn't want
the Slabbers coming down to do their business
here anymore. We passed by Calipatria. Here we are, coming
up on Niland, the closest "real
town" to the Slabs. And I think nowadays
it basically exists because of Slab City. Let's explore a little bit, and so far this Niland
looks very much abandoned, you know, adorned with graffiti, in what otherwise would seem
like a pretty picturesque town, perhaps in a different era,
or an alternate reality. Some people actually
find these places quirky and interesting. To me, it's kind of sad that
some parts of the country have decayed to so badly. The building here
with the dark columns used to be a bank and
a commercial center, built in the 1920s when
this was a wealthy town. Nowadays, it seems to
be used for recycling. (dog barking once) This is the road, a not very
well maintained Beal Road that will take us to the
Slabs That used to be the
Almost There sign which has been painted
over with graffiti. There is Salvation
Mountain on the right which I think I am
going to save for last. Let's check out the
information booth here. "Welcome to Slab City,
where the only rule is "respect one another, and dogs,
and earth, and all that is." That's a good rule to
live by, if you ask me. Let's check out
this other booth. Hmm, it doesn't smell very good. Interesting. Let's continue exploring. We'll leave Salvation
Mountain for last. We are in... We are in Slab City. Here to the right is The Range, but I want to go to this
area called East Jesus first, which is this art installation
with all these sculptures made from recycled material,
or junk, basically. (upbeat electronic music) According to the book of
knowledge, aka the Wikipedia, East Jesus is an
experimental, sustainable, and habitable art installation. And here we are. Let me figure out how to
park with the rig in tow, and let's explore. Hmm, that was pretty good, huh? Even one of the
guys who lives here congratulated me on
my RV parking skills, but I think it was just luck. This ever-changing
art installation here was founded by one
Charlie Russell, who worked in the tech industry and one day he packed
all his belongings and came here back in 2007. He had two art cars that he
had built for Burning Man, and slowly but surely
started surrounding them with sculptures built with
whatever he found laying around. After his death in 2011
the curation and expansion of this place has been
supervised by a foundation. ("San Francisco Suite"
by Robert Morales) ("New York Groove"
by Robert Morales) Let's enter the
sculpture garden here. And check out the sign. I bet you someone tried
to sue them at some point. - [Artist] The Volkswagen. - Well he was telling me, the artist is right here, that this used to
be his Volkswagen for many years and then
he made it into this piece of art here. Okay this goes all the
way to the end here. (train whistle blowing) Well, there seems to be
a train passing nearby. Let's check out
this structure here. Hmm, there is someone up there. (birds singing) (whispering) Joshua Tree. Well I just realized this
was actually someone's home so I apologized to the
resident for trespassing and he was actually
very nice about it. So far the people of Slab City, at least the ones that
live here in East Jesus, they've all been very nice
and welcoming and well spoken and there is a kind of
peacefulness, you know, very relaxed, very Zen. And while some of the stuff
here is really far out original some others are still a
work in progress, I guess. Some of it I just don't get or maybe I'm just really
bad at art appreciation. Who knows. (hammering on metal) (footsteps on the ground) Okay, I must admit the
Cadillac is pretty neat but, see, some of this
stuff is really out there. (hammering on metal) And here it is, the iconic and
constantly growing TV wall. Built by photographer
Flip Cassidy. I'm uncertain whether
the newer additions are still Cassidy's work
or a collaborative effort. That's pretty interesting. I believe this VW bus is
one of Charlie Russell's original art cars, parked right here next
to the bottle wall. Well this is very neat
but we must continue. Very cool, this East Jesus. Actually to me, the
most shocking aspect
of Slab City so far is the amount of
trash everywhere. How can people live that way? Anyways, here we
are at The Range. Hello there. (drilling sounds) Hello everybody. This is the famous Range, where every Saturday
they have concerts here. Well more than a concert, I think it is supposed
to be like a talent show, and everybody's
invited to participate. It is supposed to
be a lot of fun. (gas generator running) Share your talent. We have a donation box. ("London Pride"
by Robert Morales) Let me tell you a little
bit about the history here, the short version. This used to be a military
installation during World War II and when they dismantled
it in the sixties the foundations remained,
hence, The Slabs. Then some workers
from a chemical plant moved here shortly after
and the rest is history. Now all kinds of
people live here because it is basically free. The last free place in America. Some seasonally, some
more permanently. Hey, check it out,
Minitini's twin is here. I can't believe there
is another micro mini exactly like mine parked here. So here we are. This is the entrance
to Slab City. Got a tee shirt from
these guys here. There's the-- - [GPS] In 600 feet you
will each your destination. - The Welcome Sign. Well, before we
leave here Slab City we're going to visit
this work of art called (footsteps on the ground) Salvation Mountain. Let's check it out. Good thing I parked outside. Sunrise to sunset. Well, here we are, Salvation Mountain. (jazzy electronic music) I'll wait until they finish
and maybe I can take a selfie here.
(camera shutter sound) Well here we are,
Salvation Mountain. Let's walk to the top. By the way we're
supposed to stay on the yellow painted path. This was built, created,
by one Leonard Knight, a resident of Slab City, he started building the
mountain back in the eighties but actually the first
mountain collapsed, so this is the second mountain. Built out of adobe and
straw and then paint, lots of latex paint. Leonard Knight died in
2014 at 82 years old. But his work continues here as they keep repainting
and expanding his creation. The famous Salvation Mountain. (wind blowing) Of course there is... Minitini. And I am up here on the top... of Salvation Mountain. Let's continue exploring. (dogs barking in the distance) Let's get back down. Hmm, maybe I should tell them
about these broken steps. Let's go into this other area
here that has all these rooms. Some areas are off limits here probably due to
construction or repainting. So intricate in here. Mmm, fascinating. That's Salvation Mountain,
this place is incredible. And I think it is time... we continue our journey. There it is, Slab City, like you've never seen
it before, from up high. Yep having some fun
here flying around. There's the plaque, you
know, to make it official. Let's go. Children cover your eyes. And we are back in Niland. And now we are going
to turn north here and the eastern shore
of the Salton Sea, towards Bombay Beach which according to the
sign is 17 miles away. Of course we were pretty
close to the Mexican border so we encounter
another one of these border patrol checkpoints. Well this is the
town of Bombay Beach. (people talking
in the background) One of the first things you
notice as you arrive here (sniffing) is that it smells
a little fishy. Yeah I was really
hungry coming here and I've kind of
lost my appetite. At least for a little while. (putting down camera) Check that out. Check that out. Is that some kind of rocket? Definitely some kind
of fighter planes flying in formation out there. But let me tell you a little
bit about the Salton Sea which was created
pretty much by mistake, a big screw up at the beginning
of the twentieth century when one of the canals that controlled the flow
of the Colorado River was overwhelmed and water
spilled into the Salton Basin for two years. Two years it took
them to plug the hole and by then what was
previously a dry lake was now wet again. Nowadays it is once again kind of an environmental
disaster here. The high salinity from
agricultural runoff and the toxicity has caused
many of the fish to die. (footsteps in crusty ground) It's crunchy under your feet. The crunchiness under my
feet is apparently salt left behind by the
receding water. It is actually kind of sad. This was probably very pretty
at one point in history and still kind of
is in a weird way. By the way, it's not all bad. A lot of bird species thrive
here under these conditions. It is not like a disgusting
horrible smell but it is not pleasant for sure. In some other time this must
have been like a nice beach, with umbrellas, lawn
chairs, and help. Now it's just barren land. Definitely there's some animal
by products in the sand. For sure. This may have been
like a marina, or something like that at some point when the water level
was much higher. And somehow these ruins
have a touristy feel to it. Like the rest the town
is in shambles but they left this
here for us to see. Basically. I mean because people
live here obviously. (footsteps in gravel) Is this? Check this one out real quick. Oh boy. (walking through debris
on a concrete floor) (pigeons flying) Ha ha ha. That scared the crap out of me. Yeah. ("London Pride"
by Robert Morales) The Salton Sea was a booming
touristy area during the 60s but flooding during
the seventies and the salty irrigation
run-off from the nearby farms contaminated the water
and by the late 90s pretty much had
killed the inland sea. I came here expecting
to find a deserted town but the sad part is that people
actually still live here. Like Slab City and the rest this whole area is
apparently a place that California would like
you to forget that it exists. Very few people
actually have heard of this forgotten corner
of the Golden State. ("California Road Trip"
by Robert Morales) Well according to this we
are 300 feet below sea level. By the way there are
a bunch of state parks here on the eastern
shore of the lake where you can camp if you
don't mind the foul stench. Actually maybe in this area
it's not that bad, huh? As I enter the Coachella Valley I feel I just came out
of a dystopian movie. A strange alternate reality. And if it wasn't for copyright I would play you some of my
favorite California tunes. You know, Tupac and The Mamas
& the Papas come to mind but instead you're
stuck with my own California Road Trip tune
which is not that bad huh? Here we are, our home
for the next two nights. Lake Cahuilla County Park. I forgot to turn off the GoPro. Oh well. Enjoy the time lapse. Well this is very nice. Very nice indeed. I didn't bring my good camera because I was just
looking for a place to eat but this is real nice
and yeah, that's an IPA. This is called Old Town. Here in La Quinta, California. Also having some sliders
here at the Wine Emporium. - [Woman] When is your podcast? - [Robert] Okay,
pretty cool place. My kind of sign. Of course, I don't
realize it is only like 5 p.m. because it
gets dark here really early but apparently this
place is happening. Yeah, the owners said
that it gets real busy late at night and they have jazz so I'm very tempted
to come back. It all seems to be
pretty quiet now and it also seems to be
a pretty wealthy area judging by the prices of things and the people, the cars. I cannot believe I didn't
bring my good camera tonight but it's fine, my phone works. I had no idea this Old Town
area was going to be so nice. Very nice, the people
at the wine place and you don't realize
but it is only 5:12 and it's almost night time and maybe I'll come
back later tonight. Everybody, check out the moon. It is moments like this
when I miss my good camera at the most. This is the brewing company, the first place that I
came in when I arrived and then back there on the left that's the wine bar. It is almost night
time at Lake Cahuilla and it is a beautiful
full moon tonight. So peaceful out here. Are those fireworks I hear? I just woke up in the
middle of the night when I realized that tonight
there is a lunar eclipse. Let me switch cameras here. Actually, even better. Let's make it a time lapse. (gentle music) Well good morning. This is the campground here
at Lake Cahuilla County Park, here in the Coachella Valley. It is very nice here. That's the camera
doing the time lapse and my favorite palm
tree across the lake. It is daybreak and today, the plan is to explore
this area of California and just make it to
the Pacific Ocean mainly for the symbolic
aspect of completing the coast to coast road trip. I was hoping to make it
to L.A. but I don't think we're gonna have the time. Besides, I've been there before. Let's explore something new. I have a bunch of stuff
here that I brought all the way from Miami
so I am trying to cook it all up. Some mushrooms. Little bit of cubed ham. Gas is just a little more
expensive here in California. ♪ Driving to the West. I decided to give old
KIA a quick car wash for our Pacific Ocean encounter and yes, that's my
neighbor's music. Well I'm going to play this song of Driving to the
West one last time since after tomorrow, we're
going to be driving to the east. And maybe I should
write a new song. ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Driving through
New Mexico, Arizona ♪ ♪ Even California I'm gonna ♪ Gonna get my kicks on 66 ♪ The mountains and the desert ♪ Are my fix ♪ Driving to the west in my RV ♪ Is where I want to be We are taking the 111 West and this ritzy area
we are approaching now is Palm Desert. Palm Springs is just
a little further down but we are not going to
make it all the way there. ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Driving to the west ♪ Into the sunset ♪ Driving to the west Beautiful landscaping
everywhere. I am going to
cross the mountains right here on California
State Route 74 the Pines to Palms Scenic Byway which is a pretty
long, steep climb. Lots of switchbacks and there are a bunch
of pullouts where if you're going
slower than the rest you're supposed to
pull over and stop and let everyone pass. Here's one of them. There's a pretty nice view of the Coachella Valley down there. We are, of course, on our
way to Palomar Mountain which is going to be
quite a bit of driving. We have a long way to go. (upbeat music) Quick stop here along the way. That looks like the valley
where we just were at. Of course we have
the snow capped peaks of the Sierra and the huge
residential valley underneath. There in the distance, that's the Salton Sea. And some golf courses perhaps. I guess we should continue. (upbeat music) Well this is called
the Anza Valley. Ooo gliders. (upbeat music) We begin the ascent
to Palomar Mountain. Well it is called Lake Henshaw. Oh, check out all
the birds down there. Up the mountain we go. (upbeat music) Let's check out
the view shall we? Not bad, let's continue. We continue gaining altitude and there is another
vista point coming up. Well, they have this
scenic vista point here. Let's check it out. We might see an eagle. This is called the
Lake Henshaw Overlook and we got this, shall I say, commanding view. Well, I think this place
is perfect to fly the drone and the biker next to
me approves as well. (upbeat music) Well that was a nice break
but the show must go on. But not for long because
you know I'm going to stop at every single
vista point right? And that's quite
a view we've got. Hmm, there's some
kind of overlook here and a memorial as well
right here to the left. Let's check it out. This is called the
Gregory Pacheco Memorial. But check out that view. Is that the Pacific Ocean
I see in the distance? Could it be? I think so. It's beautiful out here. Finally. Old KIA, made it to California. Hey! Check it out! Another vista point. This one has some info
here about the local plants and a great view as well. And also some info about
the Palomar Observatory. Which is where we're going next. Here's the legend of
what we are seeing here including the Pacific
Ocean somewhere out there. Hm, nice house. (upbeat music) Here we are. Well let's go see the
visitor's center first. Here inside they have
all these displays and infographics with
all kinds of information about the observatory
and its history, particularly the Hale Telescope, built in the 1930's. At the time, it was
the largest scientific instrument in the world. Back in the 40's and
50's, most of the pictures we saw from outer space were
taken with the Hale Telescope, including this one of
the Andromeda Galaxy. Here's the now retired
18 inch Schmid Telescope which was able to image a
larger portion of the sky like a wide angle lens I suppose and they were able to look
at supernova stars with it. Well, let's go see
the big boy, shall we? The 200 inch Hale Telescope. As we enter, there is
a bust of astronomer, George Ellery Hale, who built, what at the time, was the
world's largest telescope and this is it. (upbeat music) The 200 inch mirror
was built in the 1930's of this breakthrough
material called Pyrex, invented by Corning
Glassworks, which was less susceptible to
temperature changes. This was the world's
largest telescope from 1949 until
1975 when the BTA 6, built by the Soviet
Union surpassed it. Although that one never
quite worked as advertised so in reality, until
1993, this was it. Amazing at many of the
astronomical discoveries, breakthroughs of the 20th
century were made right here and to this day, it is
still used every night to gaze at the firmament. Thank you Mr. Hale. When I was a child,
back in Cuba, I had this astronomy
book from the 1950's with pictures of all
the galaxies and planets and all that stuff and the caption
of every picture, it said that the
picture was from Observatorio Mount Palomar which is Palomar
Mountain, right here. So I always wanted to see
what this Mount Palomar was, the observatory,
and finally made it here. Well, let's see
what's back here. It looks like the back
entrance which I believe is also the handicap access. And I saw a sign about some
controlled fire going on so that must be it. Let's go. There's a pretty
old Nissan truck. I wonder if it would be
capable of towing Mini Tini. Maybe not. There we go. Snow again. Well, the same way we came up, now we must go down. Okay, one more vista point. Just one. (upbeat music) My luck. They are painting the road. Now I'm never going to
make it to the Pacific. Okay good, he's
gonna let me pass. Thank you. We are once again
by Lake Henshaw and before going to the Pacific, I wanted to pass by the
US Forest Service office to get my America the
Beautiful annual pass. (upbeat music) Well I got my Americ
the Beautiful pass, you know, to be able
to come to the BLM and Sedona and for
the national parks and look what we have here. Maybe I should get
my two lemons back. (upbeat music) Let's stop here real quick
on the side of the road. Sprakley. (upbeat music) We are on the freeway
as they call them here on the West Coast. Arriving at
Oceanside, California. Okay, first thing's first,
I'm starving so let's eat. Whenever I come to California, I always try to come
to one of these. In-N-Out Burger. (bell ringing) (employees talking) All right let's eat. Well that was pretty good. I recall the fries
being better before but anyways, I'm going to
run next door real quick to the California Welcome
Center's right there. Here we are, the California
Welcome Center, Oceanside. (people talking in the distance) We're going to
have a whole lot of pamphlets, all the attractions. I'm gonna drive around. Can't wait to see
the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean. - [GPS] Take the next left
onto North Pacific Street. - [Robert] Well, this is
actually a very special moment. A momentous occasion. I have officially driven
old KIA cross country. - [GPS] Take the next
right onto the Strand North then turn left onto
Surf Rider Way. - [Robert] Let me
park here real quick and take a video of the ocean. Well, here we are. Pretty drastic change
from Slab City huh? (slow upbeat music) Well yes everybody, old KIA
made it to the Pacific Ocean. Let's record. Well, here we are. Oceanside, California. It is so nice. (helicopter blades whirring) Here's the house from
the movie Top Gun. Top Gun, of course, one of my
favorite movies of the 80's. Starring a young Tom
Cruise as Maverick. And this is the house
featured in the movie. Let's go down to the ocean. These beaches are, of course,
very popular with surfers. Made it all the way here,
might as well touch the water. Oh. Actually, I think the
Atlantic is saltier. Well I got my feet
wet in the Pacific. I think we can call
that a success. It is very picturesque out here. And very interesting. The fact that this is
elevated like this. We should go up to the pier. (train whistle blowing) Check it out, a
Pleasure Way plateau. One of our favorites. And it is going to
park right there in the regular parking lot. See what he did? He just parked right there. Here we are, Oceanside Pier. Let's check it out. That's pretty cool. Pretty cool, there's
another drawing on the sand on this side too. (slow music) Well, the original plan, I was going to end the day
at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, but it doesn't look like
that's gonna happen. I'm not gonna make it
there before sunset. So, I'm just going to enjoy
here, the Oceanside Pier and maybe we'll look for a
place to fly the drone after. We gonna call it
a day after that. (slow music) (waves crashing) (slow music) This right here is
so quintessentially
Southern California. I still wish I would
have made the time to go to Venice or Santa
Monica for the sunsets but hey, this is not bad at all and on the plus side, I
had never been here before. Don't go. (waves crashing) (guitar strumming) (slow music) (train whistling) - [GPS] In 800 feet, turn
right onto Surf Rider Way. (upbeat music) Well I was searching
on the Air Map app for a suitable place
to fly the drone nearby at sunset and it seems
there is this narrow area in Del Mar where there
are no flying restrictions and that is the closest one
so that's where I'm going and it looks like I'm going to
make it in the nick of time. (upbeat music) As I said, we are
almost out of time. (train whistling) (slow music) Cool trick you can
do with the drone, you can fly back up and
make the sun come out again. How cool is that? (slow music) Well we've made it
to the West Coast.
