California SR 127 – A Tour Through Mojave History

Categories: Tales of Long Ago

Of the nearly 400,000 miles of road in California, the lightly traveled State Route 127 between Baker and the Nevada State Line is mostly an afterthought, yet it holds within its modest 90 miles of length the entire history of California’s Mojave Desert. It’s a story of rapacious plunder, Robber Barons, and those who followed in their wake after the mines played out.

Polishing the Leading Edge

Categories: Tales of Long Ago

On a clear night long ago, I was a Crew Chief tasked with a mundane yet important task: polishing the leading edge of a Gulfstream IV aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base, MD. It was one of many such tasks we regularly performed, setting us apart from our comrades elsewhere in the world. You see,…