A Day for Touring Old Western Movie Town!

Entrance to our Sands RV & Golf Resort

I was up very early yesterday morning.  With a coffee in hand, I headed for the pro shop here at the Sands RV & Golf  Resort. The pro shop attendant had me out as a single before the rush of golfers were showing up for a shotgun start tournament.  There was a foursome ahead of me...and because of the slow pace, I played two balls.  At the third hole, the group ahead waited for me to putt then to tee off ahead of them.  Yeah!  I was now in the lead and could speed up my pace of play.  I played three balls on every shot.  It was a very nice start to a beautiful morning.

The nine hole golf course here is very lush and well maintained.  To play nine holes very early in the morning does not cut in to the day.  Jeanette was just getting ready for the day when I returned to the 5th wheel @ 8:30 am.

It was a beautiful morning for an outdoor breakfast.

RV neighbour across from us.

After breakfast we talked about our daytime activity for the day.  After checking emails, we left for the Yucca Valley - just north of Desert Hot Springs and our RV home.

Heading for the High Desert.

Starting our climb upwards.

The desert offers stunning views and is ever changing.  What amazes us is how the flora changes so quickly.

This was the start of one long driving climb to the small city of Yucca Valley and the start of Joshua Tree National Park.

Very long climb ahead.

As we approached Yucca Valley we saw our first Joshua tree.  What an impressive sight.

Hummm, how to get one these to grow back home?

High Desert photo.

Great variety of shrubs, cacti, trees and scrub brush.

The High Desert offers so many views.  Hiking trails are numerous.  The temperatures are often 5-10 degrees cooler during the winter months...but hot, very hot in the summer months.

So we left this area and headed for even higher ground.  We were told about a really intersting pioneer town - called PIONEERTOWN (correctly spelled, I might add) - that became a practical Western movie town and location studio.

Heading to higher ground and PIONEERTOWN.

So many different looking boulders - created by from molten liquid born more than 100 million years ago.

Once again, the topography changes dramatically as we continued driving to higher ground.

Around another curve in the road and we saw the first of what appeared to be the start of an old western movie set.

A closer view.

Conjured images of John Wayne riding into town on horseback.

Just walking around this old movie town brought back so many images of our youth; watching great John Wayne western movies.  This is a really nice place to visit.

The original singing cowboy, Gene Autry, was the first who put PIONEERTOWN on the map.

Construction of this movie town began in the mid-'40s.

Some of the early business partners included the King of Cowboys, Roy Rogers; Russel Hayden, "Lucky" in the Hopalong Cassidy films, and more.

We spent a fair bit of time walking around here.  We enjoyed seeing the intricacies and placement of the movie props.

"Cisco Kid" TV shows were filmed here.

"Cowboy G-Men", "26 Men" and "Judge Roy Bean" were filmed here too.

These buildings stand almost as they did decades ago.  They are genuine buildings, instead of facades or false fronts.

We enjoyed our time here.  Jeanette had to emulate activities of the 40's and early 50's but she ended up in trouble and needed a 'get out of jail free' card.  Anyone with a Monopoly Game?

An imagined heist at the local bank!!!

The result of her actions!!!

Oh well, too bad for her actions!   Not much I could  do...... so I headed for the saloon and a nice cool one.!

One's imagination can run wild here - kind of like the territory and the movie stories of yesteryear.  What a great place to tour.

We left the dead to lie in peace!

Our second to last shot as we walked out of town.....on a dusty trail back to our reality.

Special Note to our very good friend, Rick C. from White Rock, BC!

Should you make it into Palm Springs for a much needed golf break, Jeanette and I found the accommodations you requested.  

Nice RV.

Thanks for stopping buy.  Another day....and, perhaps, another story.  Stay tuned!