Chasing the Sun Run Part 2 - Quest to see the Transit of Venus

[wayoflife]

Tuesday, June 5th was the 2nd of two Transit's of Venus for the century and the next viewing would be until 2117. Needless to say, this was something we had to see but unfortunately, cloudy skies over our neck of the woods would have prevented us from doing just that. Being that this was a once in a lifetime event, we dropped what we were doing, packed up and head out to the Mojave Desert where clear skies abound. Of course, to make things a bit more interesting, we decided to do some exploring along the way. Here are some pics from our trip, I hope you enjoy.

Just as the weather report said, clouds filled the skies overhead where we live...


Dropping what we were doing, we packed up, gassed up and headed out in search of clear skies...


Our first stop along the way was at an old mobile home that a guy by the name of Joe Whitcavitch built up to look like a big blue dinosaur back in 1985. Unfortuantely, he was killed in a car accident and the home soon fell victim to vandals and disrepair...


Years later, Boy Scouts Troop 247 of Lucerne and 62 of Barstow restored the home to its original glory. Here's a shot of Bill Mann with what I believe are relatives of Joe Whitcavitch standing in front of the restored Dino Home...


Unfortunately, thanks to the help of assholes, it is now shot up and burned to the ground - I didn't know it no longer existed but, when we got out there, this is what we found...








Our next stop along the way was an impromptu one. There's an old farm that we've driven past many times before and had always said that we should stop and check out. After seeing the old Whitcavitch Dinosaur House burnt to the ground, we decided we needed to do this now as there may not be a next time...




By the look of things, this building was part of an old chicken coup...




View from the inside looking out...


Shot of a small cabin and main ranch house in the distance...


The ranch house was really cool and the inner walls were made of adobe...






Newer parts of the home were made out of poured concrete block which was popular back in the 1920's...




Some inside shots - this place has seen better days...




Our next stop for the day was to see King Clone, a Creosote bush ring in the Mojave Desert which is believe to be the oldest with an estimated age of being 11,700 years old - Truly amazing...




What it looks like on Google Earth...


For our viewing of Venus' transit of the sun, we stopped over at an old ranch that's recently become active again, but its main attraction isn't what it grows but rather, what it has on its property - the hull of a large concrete boat in the middle of the desert...










A shot from underneath...


Another cool relic on the property is this old ICE box...


Tessa getting ready to watch the Transit of Venus...


Yeah, yeah, it's totally Micky Moused together and far from a professional setup but, it's all we had to work with...


And with it, we were still able to capture this...


Being that the Transit of Venus would take 7 hours to complete, we watched it for about an hour and then decided to do a little more exploring in between shots. Here's Rubicat posing on a dry lake bed..






After taking a few more shots, we decided to get some play time on the rocks...








And that was pretty much how our fun filled day went. I hope you enjoyed following us along on our adventures and, if you'd like to see all the pics we took along the way, simply click on the link below:

Chasing the Sun Run Part 2 - Quest to see the Transit of Venus Photo Gallery

[DA RUNT]

That's really cool. Shame about the damn vandals, some people have no respect for the land or landmarks. Looks like it was a fun trip. Thanks for sharing, always enjoy your pics and vids

[MTG]

Even your day trips look like a blast.

[JKRay]

Looks like a lot of fun, I so want to get out on a trail and explore. Thanks for sharing!

[Serg5000]

It's people like Eddie and Cindy that have inspired my wife and I to continue to enjoy the out doors. Simple day trips can be so much fun. Especially now that our kids don't really need us we can just up and go. Heck our two older kids have purchased jeeps. My daughter bought a 2004 TJ. And my son just bought a JKU Sahara. Heck we have our own little jeep club going. Lol. So day trip and over night trips will become the norm for our family.

[MTG]

It's people like Eddie and Cindy that have inspired my wife and I to continue to enjoy the out doors. Simple day trips can be so much fun. Especially now that our kids don't really need us we can just up and go. Heck our two older kids have purchased jeeps. My daughter bought a 2004 TJ. And my son just bought a JKU Sahara. Heck we have our own little jeep club going. Lol. So day trip and over night trips will become the norm for our family.

Funny. We are at the other end of the spectrum with two little ones, yet feel equally inspired to begin to enjoy the outdoors with them. Just more proof to the fact that it's more than just a jeep...

[Serg5000]

Funny. We are at the other end of the spectrum with two little ones, yet feel equally inspired to begin to enjoy the outdoors with them. Just more proof to the fact that it's more than just a jeep...

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Mechengineer2]

Nice shots Eddie. Indeed a shame about the dinosaur house. Impressive that you were able to capture the Venus transit!

[TrailBear]

Looks like a fun day day trip.

[Franck]

awesome