Can you think of anything better than enjoying the calm quiet outdoors with someone you love in the middle of no where?
Well we cant! So, we set out to enjoy a nice time away from the madness of the city and crazy drunk drivers and cruised out to Calico, CA instead of partying like rockstars this year. We figured we'd leave town and give the amatuers a shot at the title this year while we weren't around.
Day 1 arrival was going to be a good time (minus the traffic getting out of town. This was the first time to try out and setup the new roof top tent. We were both excited. The new addition to the cruiser was going to be a plus. No more fighting a ground tent in the wind or scratching my head figuring out how it goes together and packs back up. This puppie only takes seconds to open and the same to fold it back up. It really makes setting up camp a breeze.
The only part that was a bit of an inconvenience was getting up and down out of it. This was especially true in the middle of the night for when nature called. I had to get down one time the whole entire trip in my socks and it wasn't the best experience.All in all it was great and we got used to climbing up 7 feet each time for bed.
Day 2 started out with the first ever cup of coffee being brewed with my new stove and percolater. It was great having fresh brewed coffee in the middle of no where. Usually i just would have a high octane Coke or Pepsi with some boxed donuts. This trip i went all out with eggs and sausage too, i don't think we're ever going back to the old ways.
After a nice breakfast to get us going, we folded up the tent, made sure all the light items were secure and off we went to our first stop on our high desert overland tour. We proceeded out onto historic route 66.
First stop - The AMBOY CRATER.
This 250-foot-high crater is approximately 6,000 years old and one of the best examples in the Mojave Desert of a volcanic cinder cone. A footpath leads to the top of the cone where you can get a good view of the surrounding area.
The hike to the Crater and back can take 2-3 hours. We had blast up at the top enjoying the view. Some of the sections get pretty skinny around the rim so you have to take your time not to trip. One mistake and you'll be tumbling down for quite some time, plus if there is an emergency the car is parked 1 mile from the base of the crater. The volcanic rock that you see in the picture is spread 29 square miles.After a good hike we were ready for a lunch break. We headed for the small town of Amboy located 2 miles east of the crater.
We stopped off at Roy's Diner. The town of Amboy itself is in the Mojave desert. The site of Roy's has become an icon for a lonely desert gas stop due to the multiple appearances of Roy's in movies. Amboy has it all: airport, garage, cafe, school, church, graveyard, even a volcanic crater. Yet all but the post office is not operating anymore. 
After visiting the town of Amboy, we headed off northbound to see the freshly restored historic Kelso train depot. Built in 1924 by the Union Pacific Railroad, the Kelso Depot has been transformed into Mojave National Preserve’s principal information center, with museum exhibits, historically furnished rooms, a theater, and bookstore.
The train depot is literally located in the middle of no where. 
After exploring the desert, we sat in nearly 2 hours of traffic getting back to camp. All this traffic was created by the folkes headed out to Las Vegas, NV for the New Years celebrations. This combined with a minor car accident it made for a long ride for commuters. If i was aware of a dirt road route, i would have driven the 58 miles via dirt in a heart beat.
Once we arrived back at camp for the night.. we were starving and excited to make a great dinner. Consisting of a marinated tri-tip and a box of mashed garlic potatos. Served with New Castle Brown Ale and Quervo Gold Margarita's. We do like to unwind after a long day out and after the hike and the high mileage we were set. The 1st night at camp we bbq'd chicken wings and kabob shrimp.Day 3 started off with us sleeping in. I guess we finally got used to the new "condo" tent. We had plenty of room to sprawl out and after the hike the day before it felt great. The only drawback was the sun woke us up. Guess that's natures way of telling us to get off our lazy butts.
Today was the day i was going to explore some backroads and do some light 4-wheeling. I wanted to show Yosh the trails i had ran in the past and see myself how they looked since i hadn't been there in at least 3 years. We couldn't do anything extreme due to the fact we were solo. We proceeded to travel over one canyon from our base camp area. This was Doran canyon and Odessa canyon. We traveled to a favorite rockcrawling section named "the gate keeper" at the bottom of lower Doran. This is a section i traveled many times with a group, but this time i would have to pass.
Above: One of the many cave type drive thru sections of the canyon. Left: The end of Odessa canyon (Southend) Below: Lower Doran canyon, the bypass for "the gatekeeper". After exploring Doran and Odessa canyon, we headed one canyon over to Mule canyon. This is a location where many people camp and bring buggies, 4x4's and dirt bikes to play. People also shoot guns in the very back area.
We found some very cool rock formations while we explored back 20 or so miles.
After the rough ride for a few hours we headed back onto the highway to get some lunch. We headed out to Slash X cafe in the middle of the Stoddard valley. This cafe is the only thing out on the 247 highway. All the area off roaders have been meeting here for years. Since my dad and I used to ride dirtbikes back when i was a kid.
Once inside we found out that the crowd was more than we wanted to deal with. Being that it was New Years eve and all. So we headed out to Peggie Sues local 50's diner. Here we fed our hardy appetites with fried chicken and chicken fried steak. Trucker food at it's best!
We were ready for a nap and calling it a day when we got back to camp after lunch.
So i proceeded to setup the tent early in the day, relax and prepare for New Years Eve. We brought a bottle of champagne and picked up tons of fire wood out for the cold night ahead.
After heading to bed around 8-9pm every night.. it was a challenge to stay up till midnight on New Years. It wasn't like a whole lot was going to happen when New Years hit anyways in the middle of the desert, but we wanted to share it together and be able to remember the moment. It was probably close to 19 degrees when this pic was taken. It was a tad on the cold side for us warm weather wussies.
Day 4, hurting from the champagne headache.. we proceeded to get up 'very slowly'. Got packed and ready to shoot home with the rest of the Vegas hungovers on the freeway. But before we left we visited one last destination on our overland trip.
The Calico Ghost Town.
1881 marked the beginning of one of the largest silver strikes in California history and the birth of Calico. This authentic silver mining town lives on as one of the few original mining camps of the Old West. Located at the side of towering King Mountain, where silver was king and the hills are "as purty as a gal's calico skirt."
