Calico

Every time we pass the Calico exit, I think it looks like a good idea. To be honest, any exit on the stretch between Vegas and L.A. looks like a good idea. It's a boring drive. And, since I was banned from outlet mall shopping, including the Prim Outlets, Calico seemed like as good a place to stop and stretch our legs as any.

I've never been to a ghost town. Apparently, they aren't haunted, but instead are abandoned mining towns that are rebuilt as tourist attractions. I think I may have known that on some level, but chose to think there'd be a spook around there somewhere.

Calico was hot. Damn hot. But, it was pretty fun. Collin thought it was the neatest place on earth. You would've thought it was better than Disneyland to see him run from spot to spot. Running wasn't the most advised mode of transport considering the heat, but don't let a little profuse sweating deter you, my boy.

Eddie thought it was the hottest place on earth. Thankfully, they allowed dogs, so long as they were on a leash. If they hadn't, we couldn't have gotten out of the car. Poor puppy would've roasted and died within a matter of minutes. I don't think I've ever seen him drink so much water.

Nothing says good ol' family fun like putting your kid in a coffin.

...and a jail cell.

We went to a rock store where they had all kinds of polished stone pendants, (among other crap) in the shapes of peace signs and crosses and my dear boy shouted with pure glee and ignorance: "Mommy! Look at all these peace signs and letter T's!!" The funny thing is that I've explained crosses to him before. Apparently, out of context, they are letter T's. Ahhh, young atheism.

And, we had a little pretend mining fun, of course. Well, not exactly. There was precisely one mine car and it was full of spray painted foam. Nonetheless, it was cool to stand in front of and Collin had to poke it copiously.

Donna, Bryon said the shot below is especially for you and that you will enjoy it. He kept repeating that we had to go to the bottle house. I had no idea what he was talking about until we got there.

Ahhh, bottle house. Now, I get it. Don't worry, Granny, we have multiple attempts at this shot and you can have them :) Does knowing that we were taking this picture, probably at the same moment that your car exploded, make you feel any better about the whole thing?

Finally, what is frontier fun without randomly placed wagon wheels?

See. There's one.