In the early 80's that last cafe used to be open. A sketchy kind of PSTD Vietnam vet used to run it. He claimed to never sleep and it would be open at all odd hours of the night which was usually when I was passing through there either on my way out to Indiana or my way back on my motorcycle. I'd stop in for coffee and to use the bathroom to change over from my warm riding gear to cold weather gear since my trips to Indiana were usually in the fall and spring and as soon as I hit Needles the weather would change drastically. It was shutdown by the time I got out of the Marines in 86 and cruised by there again.
I remember driving from orange county California to Needles California i took me almost an entire day driving, it was so long i spent the night and left in the morning hours to leave for Wisconsin..
I just passed you the other day on my way to go work out on the tracks That is a tow yard owned by a guy named Slim in Needles. He actually put a wrecked produce truck out there one day and for weeks Essex was swarmed with millions of flies. You should go talk to the owner of the old tire shop in Essex. He actually met George Patton when they had troops out there training and got to hold his revolvers. Really interesting people are the Blair's who ranch out there on the Mohave preserve. You can drive thru the road closure to Ludlow. Next time u are out that way go look at the abandoned cemetery at Baghdad along our tracks. I work out of Needles doing track maintenance and always drive National trails hwy everyday. So as a former archaeologist I know every historic and prehistoric sites out there.
Did any of the trailer wrecks happen to come from train derailments? I remember when a train derailed one town east of ours. One car had cases of canisters of Koolaid. We had koolaid for almost a year. Dad worked for the railroad and he let us know to take pictures of it.
No all towed from the freeway. Train derailments are either cut up r hauled by contractors from a derailment site. Just hope wonderhussy doesn't break down out in that area ever.
I have to admit; I love Vienna Sausage! It lasts for years in the can, it spreads on bread like peanut-butter, and it comes packed in chicken broth or BBQ sauce. My survival kit is loaded with those little cans along with cans of mustard sardines. I probably won't be asked to share them,....
Grew up on remote ranch. Dad ate that also Limburger cheese and crackers. Artificially colored sugar wafers for desert and a package of Marlboros. Good times…
@@overdbus nope. Limburger cheese came packaged in little glass jars. No problem. Sugar wafers are so loaded with preservatives that those and cockroaches will survive nuclear war. Also big on canned sardines and kipper snacks. It gets over a 100 often in southwest South Dakota- and then next month it could blizzard.
@@sledawgpilot sorry but no , those little tins would not make it through one summer,let alone multiple hot summers in that area , where it easily gets 115f to 120f
19:25 _"But you gotta be careful, ya know? You gotta make sure your tires are sound, you gotta make sure you're keeping an eye on the person behind you, the people on the left and right of you, 'cuz no telling what the guy in the next lane is gonna do; or one of your tires blows out..."_ Former trucker here. You're right on about how sobering this vehicular boneyard is. One other practice I'll add to your list above, and which I've long employed in both big trucks and cars, is to keep both hands on the wheel at all times - but especially at speed on the highway. I was lucky that in 13 years of semi-truck driving, I only ever had a steer tire blow out once - but fortunately I didn't lose control, and there was no traffic to my immediate left or right (I did hit the guardrail before getting the truck to a stop on the shoulder). Another time the right upper ball joint in my car snapped on the highway, causing the right front wheel to collapse inward and the vehicle to immediately yank to the right. That time there was even someone passing me on the left. Again, though, I made it safely to the shoulder. What I think made the difference in both incidents is that I had both hands on the steering wheel and was paying attention. Thanks for the video and the callout to truckers!
Back in the late '70s, I was driving an Opel Cadette on I75 near Cincinnati. I had some ass in a Road Runner pass me, and whip in front of me with just inches between us. The vacuum that it created ripped the hood latch out of the body. The hood came up at 70 MPH. The left side hinge pulled out, and the hood slammed into the right side door frame. This cracked the Unibody. I had a gap in the floor that was al the way to the driver's side door, as it slammed back up. It then turned sideways. As it came towards the windshield, it bent the carburetor which kept it running at near full throttle. Then it ripped the brake fluid reservoir off the master cylinder. The inside of the hood caught on a windshield wiper post, and was blocking my view. I couldn't slow down, I couldn't see the road and the emergency brake would be useless at 70MPH. I had to watch the white line flashed by, while looking down out my window as I power downshifted until I was in low gear, and turned off the engine. I coasted off the right side of the road, hoping that nothing was already there. As I finally stopped some ass yelled, "It's about damned time you got that piece of crap off the road!" I got out, and ripped out the other hinge and put the damaged hood in the trunk. I limped that thing home by starting the engine, then turning it off to drive about 20 MPH with the emergency flashers. I made it to my house, and called the factory where I worked. My idiot boss demanded to know why I 'Didn't just tie the hood down and come on in to work!" I would have had to go into an area that was heavily patrolled by the state and the county, which would have likely ended up with me behind bars. If I could have got my hands on the ass that caused it, I would have strangled him. 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
I was on the freeway and my hood flew up I was looking out the passenger door window and managed to get off the freeway and thank goodness there was a gas station at the bottom of the off ramp. I have no idea what caused the hood to fly up.
That was a cafe. Nancy and I were married in Oklahoma in1967 and were taking Rt66 to Bakersfield on our honeymoon. We were driving our 1960 VW. It was midnight and I needed some coffee so we stopped at that very cafe. Nancy stayed in the car and I went in and was drinking my coffee. A drunk man was asking the waitress where his friend Harry was and she told him that he had went across the road to the truck stop. Trucks went through there at 80 mpg and one of them got in the middle of the road.When I went out there and there was nothing but a pair of shoes sitting in the road. There was nothing we could do, so we left. In 2000, we were out there in our class A so we turned on 66 to see if the cafe was still there and it still looked just the same.
As a little kid, on trips over Donner Pass before they rerouted it, I loved looking down from the road and seeing old cars and trucks that had gone off the road during the winter and must have not been worth towing out.......I was kind of a weird kid I guess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
About 30 years or so ago it was a wrecking yard. We use to drive from California to Arizona to visit family. Now I live in Arizona and you can't drive that way anymore, because they shut down the roads for one thing or another and it's been like that for 6 or 8 years. I believe when there are wrecks on I40 that is the boneyard for all vehicles. Stay safe.
The views of the campers really got to me. I had a nightmare last night about a tornado hitting our RV. Now this morning I see these. I'm awake and hearing you WonderHussy, LOUD AND CLEAR. Everyone PLEASE give the rv's a break and plenty of room. THANKS
As a current tanker trucker who got into a rollover 15 years ago, that wrecked sleeper brought back nightmares. Of course in my case, it was sleep deprivation and a bout of anorexia I was going through at the time. Plenty of rest is paramount. If you're feeling the slightest of groggy, pull over in the safest spot you could get to.
You know better! Keep a pair of shoes / boots in the car... Very good video, partly haunting. My daughter is a trucker, got to ride with her for a month. Just over 10,000 miles, including I-40... amazing trip.
The smaller building adjacent to and just east of the gas station is the Post Office. It's still in use for town residents and the region. Around 90 people live in Essex.
I remember rt. 66 when were kids., my dad had a 56 ford convertible with continental kit . Ohio to LA. , looked forward to the motels with pools. Looking back now seems unreal. Thanks for your videos.
Big rig driver here. I've stopped several times to check out Route 66 museums and attractions whenever I was traveling that way. Always had to pre-plan so I can find a place to park my semi. Keep up these fun interesting videos WH. Love them.
Mac McPheters was my neighbor when I was a kid in Woodland Hills Ca back in the 60's. He owned The Establishment Motorhome Company based in San Fernando Ca In the seventies and eighties and maybe after and earlier, I was away in college. My father did some engineering for him during the eighties, I think. Mac's wife's name was Margaret and they had two daughters one was named Patty she was the youngest and I am sorry I can't remember the older daughters name but her first car was a white '57 T-bird. They were good neighbors and thanks for reminding me of them. really enjoy your videos Wonderhussy.
Just WOW! So sad to think of the wrecks.... hope the people are or were all OK :( A boneyard, and lost field of dreams.... Thank you for sharing, BUT.. in flip flops and snake country??? NOT GOOD :( Take care and ALL THE BEST, and YES, thanks to all truckers for what they do for us! Cheers!!
Being such and old run down place you have some pretty new equipment in their as scrap. That Con-Way door that says T680 is from a Kenworth which only started making that Sleeper Unit Model in 2013 to date which is fairly new considering the age of those buildings. That car trailer is a Specialty High End Car mover as you can see it was enclosed with the framework around it, the Dealership Car Haulers are "usually" open. Very interesting place I must say, the property looks active with the newer equipment in their. Thanks for this interesting adventure. :) NC
Wow - flip flops while walking over all that debris! Have you ever stepped on a nail while so doing? Take it from someone who as a kid stepped on probably enough nails to put a fence together ... that s**t hurts, almost as much as stepping on a "goat head" (puncture vine) seed. You'll only need to do it once to understand the level of pain, I guarantee. Interesting old digs out there at Essex.
Last time I was down that way the old highway was closed due to a washout. As Craig Childs says, "there's two ways to die in the desert-- thirst and drowning".
Hey! We ran into you out in Death Valley! 3 guys also in forerunners. I recognized you right away. Wish I had asked to get a picture with you! So many things to see, we will be going back! Nice meeting you!!
The stretch of Route 66 you stopped on reminded me of a trip my wife and I made along parts of Route 66 heading west in 2002. We stopped in the road and positioned the truck, after a few times stepping away to adjust the composition of the truck and the highway logo, and took a few photos. Not sure how long we stopped, but finally a vehicle showed up way off in the east, so we got back in the truck and kept on our way. Thanks for the videos!
Surprisingly few slithering creatures in the desert. Lots of roadrunners, rabbits (hares) desert rats but few snakes. And 99% of the snakes are red racers or bull snakes. VERY few rattlers. Almost never see them. When I have, they saw me and slithered away as fast as they could. And I let them. Lots of rattlers in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico. I've seen one in the last 20 years near Alamo Nevada.
Dialog from the movie Cars. Sally and Lightning McQueen on top of a lookout looking down on Route 66 and I-40: Sally: Forty years ago, that interstate down there didn't exist. Lightning McQueen: Really? Sally: Yeah. Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way. Lightning McQueen: How do you mean? Sally: Well, the road didn't cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.
I loved that particular line from the movie. A movie which, BTW, was an underrated film I thought, especially for its dialogue, and which contained more than one very pertinent, thoughtful, and unexpectedly insightful look at life, although done through the eyes of anthropomorphic vehicles.
@@dougoverhoff7568 Cars is one of the best movies ever made! Yes, the dialog is fantastic! Also, so many stars have parts in it. I was reluctant to watch the movie but after so many people recommended it, I finally gave in. I can't recommend it enough.
@@bjorn2run That's so funny that you say that, that you were reluctant to watch it, because I was exactly the same way. I thought it was going to be much different than what it turned out to be. My daughter and my wife ridiculed me later on, after watching it, because it turned out that I ended up enjoying it so much, especially after first putting up a stink about my having to sit through a kiddie movie. Actually there was a lot in the movie that I could really relate to, because I used to travel a big portion of the old Hwy 66 when growing up, as we lived in St Louis and my father's Buick dealership was in Rolla, Mo. Both were right on a stretch of that road, and so we traveled on it many times in those years. Many memories were brought back watching that movie. Cheers!
On that bigrig trailer, the red striped cross beam is called a Mansfield bar. So named after Jayne Mansfield in 67 who was killed under the rear of a tractor trailer on the road to New Orleans one night. The Buick Electra she was riding in rear ended it and sliced off the top of the car. The bar was required by law afterwards.
My parents used to take us to Essex in the ‘80s, a family friend and family lived there while he was the supervisor of the CalTrans yard in Essex. I guess the CalTrans yard isn’t there anymore?
I actually bought gas there in late 80s early 90s if memory serves me. It was a gas station and small convenience store when I was there passing through.
I find it amazing that 18,619 folks have viewed this video before me and only 2.4K people have liked it. Really? This is content that we came here for. Sarah has spent her time and energy producing this wonderful content and people don't have the courtesy to give her upload a like? It takes NO effort. What is wrong with you people? I thank you Sarah and hope you continue taking us on your adventures.
I used to visit Schiavone Scrap Yard in Everett, part of the Boston Harbor, where they have mountains of scrap metal that they grind up into small chunks and load via conveyor belt into the holds of ships that take it to the Orient for recycling.
Reminds me of the Jim Crochet song about the banana truck that crashed on the hill outside Scranton, PA. Except in this case it was all about the empty calories of cheap Vienna Sausage and Gatorpaign in the desert on Route 66.
“Looks like someone was hauling cotton” 😂 I love your first thoughts on things you see 😄🤣 I think most of all the sausage cans has been eaten by rats and critters.. The area is problaby housing tons of animals😃🐁🐀🐈
About 10 miles east, just across the Interstate is the Desert Oasis truck stop. They had a great restaurant. Everything else was incredibly over priced. The one thing I saw, over 11 years ago, a 40oz Bud was $9.00.
Reminds me of the international enchanted car forest in Goldfield Nevada. I hadn't heard of Essex. I may check it out soon. And of course there is appliances, it's open range ;) Thanks :)
If you head west out of Winnemucca Nevada and drive 48.3 miles towards Reno in between in the medium of the highway there is a 48ft trailer buried there full of Miller high life beer. No joke. Driver fell to sleep, crashed they towed off the truck but buried the trailer right there. 1983 this happened. I was working at the Burns Brothers truck stop at the time. I did get 50 cases of beer myself.
The AT&SF built a string of little towns across the Mojave from Ludlow to Needles. Each one had a siding, a water tower and a telegraph office. They named them A..., B...,C..., etc. in the order they were built. The towns were Amboy, Bagdad, Chambless, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs and Homer. There's a Caltrans maintenance yard in Essex. I bet those wrecked trailers were from accidents on 66 years ago. Caltrans probably just dumped them there and nobody claimed them. Looks likes somebody flipped one and took the wheels, axles and brake parts.
@@Scott_works I agree with you. I've always been interested in old timers' fading knowledge. Once it's lost, it's lost for good. I might add that originally these were just sidings where the trains could pass on the single track main line and then grew into small communities. They faded back into the desert with the death of steam.
@@LuckyBaldwin777 I was in the Marines from 1981-1994. I bought a house in 29 Palms and couldn't sell it. I owned it until 2006 and my sister and her daughter both lived there. Over the years I have looked around the Mojave a lot and found it fascinating. My parents retired to Las Vegas in 1992 and so I went back and forth, through Amboy, up to Las Vegas many times. 185 miles. I finally sold the house and left the area. My niece and her family live there still. There is a lot of barren, open desert there. And there are quite a few dried up old towns. Amboy is just about done. Kelso tried to make a comeback with the Kelso Visitor Center, but it didn't work out well.
Hiya Sarah this video is great, greetings from the UK .It would be cool to see you driving from Chicago to L.A on route 66! I could picture you in a 1959 Cadillac convertible but the gas consumption wouldn't be great!!!! At the moment so many songs are going through my head!
Hey Sarah Jane I was gonna mention that Essex was the last town in Calif to get TV service. Just a piece of trivia that stuck in my brain from long ago. I came across this item in Wikipedia: Essex was notable along Route 66 for providing free water to travelers, thanks to a well installed by the Automobile Club of Southern California. Over a dozen homes also serviced the small community. The town of Essex had no television reception until 1977. The signal from Los Angeles, 150 miles west, was too weak, and the signal from Las Vegas, 110 miles north, was blocked by hills. A device called a translator, costing several thousand dollars, could have solved this problem, but the town voted against spending the money. Johnny Carson found the town's lack of television interesting, and invited the entire town's population (about 50 people at the time) to attend the taping of the March 25, 1977 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He talked to 5 different townspeople about what it was like and whether they missed having television. All but one said they preferred it that way. Shortly after the Tonight Show appearance, executives at Electronics, Missiles and Communications (Emcee), which makes television transmitters, provided the town with a translator at no cost.
You make the most mundane things interesting to us old guys. We look forward to your weekly videos. Very professional, glad you do well on TH-cam! P.S. hope you write off Adventure Costs as business expense. 4Runner, fuel, insurance, food, lodging, video equipment, clothing and makeup too! Ask CPA. Tax day postponed post weekend🙂
To me, the saddest part about this was the weather-faded, disheveled, Teddy Bear. Either a present someone was bringing home to their child, or the beloved companion of a child who was involved in one of the accidents leading their vehicle to this graveyard.
Very interesting, and spooky. I've just started running transfer trailers in my area and it's kind of terrifying to think what would happen if my 100,000 pound rig full of trash was involved in a big accident. Lotta idiots on the road that have no idea what they're messing with.
I just started checking out your videos kinda random like. No wonder you have so many subscribers! You are so funny and such a great tour guide! Your imagination and wondering about all of the places and people that could have possibly lived in these places is classic. Signed Kyle Lol not really
At about 16:20 or so...those were probably bales of "blow in" insulation lost the wrappers. And the "water tanks" are purpose built to transport bulk chemicals, like cleaners, disinfectants, sanitizers and such. I used to get hold of one now and then for friends when I worked at a food plant in town. People like them once rinsed out...one guy keeps it one full of water and a pump...just in case he has to douse a fire on his farm. As for problems people have handling a motorhome/RV type thing....wind isn't exactly your friend when you're trying to herd one of those things down the road. Hey, thanks a heap for the tour of the resting place for all those rigs, Sarah Jane. Helps remind me to keep my eyes on the road and my foot riding lightly on the "go switch".
With any luck maybe a artist might come along and make that trash into a great art project,to at least make it interesting instead of an eye sore, you know, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Love your videos stay safe and God bless you and your family, love Bones 🙂
When there's any kind of big rig fire or crash on 15, it gets towed off Cima road. They won't let you in due to insurance regulations but you can see it from the 15 as you drive past. Maybe you can get someone to let you in, it's interesting, Cima Shell has the keys!
Very interesting video, you just never know what you will find on the side of the road. Thank you for sharing this with us today from Henrico County Virginia
What an interesting little place you found Wonderhussy. Looks like a place for truck parts but I am surprised the EPA doesn’t say anything because they did about wrecking yards and closed them down.
The shocks on my pu wore out many miles ago . I can get some fairly cheep and i know how to replace them . I just live with the more bumpy ride . Its not like having an engion or tranny quite . Yeah I have had to fix stuff in a parking lot or on the side of the road .
Rusty was stocked with a load of Gatorade from the bottling plant heading East. Tex was hauling a load of Vienna Sausage from Barkersville heading West. It was a dark stormy night...
I used to pull that stuff on friends. I'd limp toward them and say, "Twas a dark an' soormy night when I furst seen th' great white. TORE ME LAIG OFF, 'E DID!"
Hey W. Hussy, we spoke with one of the owners of the OmegaMart in LV yesterday. He states you're approved for full access to the establishment to produce your content. In addition, if you would like to have your friend W. Jeepsy tag along feel free to do so. Hope This Helps Yo ! 🙈 🙉 🙊
This is cool reminds me of when I would roam into abandon houses after hurricane Andrew in homestead Florida. I would see all the old toys, furniture and homes. wondering what people did in them before the storm.
Sarah , I know that area so well where you at. I pass through there frequently with an rv in route to LA, Fresno, etc. ] I use that road ur on Goffs road to get backto I 40 ! God Bless You formally your videos😁] There was an old motorhome abandoned there up until 2020, then it disappeared. Well have a great day , RonMoore from rv World in Northern Indiana
The last time we were in Essex, 2000 or so, we stopped to take some pictures of that old sign above the cafe/gas station. Some guy came out and said we couldn’t take photos because “they” were testing a new car. My wife and I looked at each other and said “New car? Let’s go see!” And that’s how we became some of the very first of the public to get a look at the PT Cruiser convertible.
Looks like all the truck cabs had been in wrecks. Most of wine bottles are broken. Looks like some one brought them out there and used them for target practice.
your right by amboy--used to have a crank phone until about 1983--not sure if restaurant in amboy is still open--i drove that road everyday back in early 80ties--the rail road hiway is interesting
In the early 1970's our family of 6 rented an 18 foot Winnebago for a trip from the East Coast to Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. My Dad drove trucks in combat in Korea, and hauled up and down the east coast as a trucker before he got married. For us young teenage kids, the trip was a blast, but I think for Dad it was a nightmare. I remember it being loud and squeaky at highway speeds, and so underpowered that we could only go about 45 mph against the 30 mile an hour headwinds across Kansas. Things got real when we got to the mountains of Colorado. I recall stopping for lunch at a roadside pull off next to a creek where it was rumored that they used to pan for gold. There was a wrecked camper in the valley, and dad became very upset when I pointed it out. At 13 I kind of appreciated that driving in the mountains could be dangerous, but hadn't really internalized it yet. He later confided to us that he had never been more scared in his life than when driving that flimsy overloaded RV though the mountains. 50 years later I understand all too well how quickly things can go sideways out on the road.
In the early 80's that last cafe used to be open. A sketchy kind of PSTD Vietnam vet used to run it. He claimed to never sleep and it would be open at all odd hours of the night which was usually when I was passing through there either on my way out to Indiana or my way back on my motorcycle. I'd stop in for coffee and to use the bathroom to change over from my warm riding gear to cold weather gear since my trips to Indiana were usually in the fall and spring and as soon as I hit Needles the weather would change drastically. It was shutdown by the time I got out of the Marines in 86 and cruised by there again.
That’s interesting
I remember driving from orange county California to Needles California i took me almost an entire day driving, it was so long i spent the night and left in the morning hours to leave for Wisconsin..
Hyabusa
Thank you giving us some insight into the Cafe I was hoping someone in the comments section would have known about the area
Thank you for your service.
I just passed you the other day on my way to go work out on the tracks That is a tow yard owned by a guy named Slim in Needles. He actually put a wrecked produce truck out there one day and for weeks Essex was swarmed with millions of flies. You should go talk to the owner of the old tire shop in Essex. He actually met George Patton when they had troops out there training and got to hold his revolvers. Really interesting people are the Blair's who ranch out there on the Mohave preserve. You can drive thru the road closure to Ludlow. Next time u are out that way go look at the abandoned cemetery at Baghdad along our tracks. I work out of Needles doing track maintenance and always drive National trails hwy everyday. So as a former archaeologist I know every historic and prehistoric sites out there.
Awsome info.
Where is the cemetery in relation to the Bagdad train overpass north of 66? Thank you.
Did any of the trailer wrecks happen to come from train derailments? I remember when a train derailed one town east of ours. One car had cases of canisters of Koolaid. We had koolaid for almost a year. Dad worked for the railroad and he let us know to take pictures of it.
No all towed from the freeway. Train derailments are either cut up r hauled by contractors from a derailment site. Just hope wonderhussy doesn't break down out in that area ever.
Any gal who quotes a line from a Little Feat tune gets my total admiration.
You rock, Sarah 😊
Yes! Little feat!
'Six days on the road and I'm going to make it home tonight!'🚚
I have to admit; I love Vienna Sausage! It lasts for years in the can, it spreads on bread like peanut-butter, and it comes packed in chicken broth or BBQ sauce. My survival kit is loaded with those little cans along with cans of mustard sardines. I probably won't be asked to share them,....
Grew up on remote ranch. Dad ate that also Limburger cheese and crackers. Artificially colored sugar wafers for desert and a package of Marlboros. Good times…
They wouldn’t of lasted long in the 110f + degree desert sun …
@@overdbus nope. Limburger cheese came packaged in little glass jars. No problem. Sugar wafers are so loaded with preservatives that those and cockroaches will survive nuclear war. Also big on canned sardines and kipper snacks. It gets over a 100 often in southwest South Dakota- and then next month it could blizzard.
@@sledawgpilot sorry but no , those little tins would not make it through one summer,let alone multiple hot summers in that area , where it easily gets 115f to 120f
Eww
19:25 _"But you gotta be careful, ya know? You gotta make sure your tires are sound, you gotta make sure you're keeping an eye on the person behind you, the people on the left and right of you, 'cuz no telling what the guy in the next lane is gonna do; or one of your tires blows out..."_
Former trucker here. You're right on about how sobering this vehicular boneyard is. One other practice I'll add to your list above, and which I've long employed in both big trucks and cars, is to keep both hands on the wheel at all times - but especially at speed on the highway. I was lucky that in 13 years of semi-truck driving, I only ever had a steer tire blow out once - but fortunately I didn't lose control, and there was no traffic to my immediate left or right (I did hit the guardrail before getting the truck to a stop on the shoulder).
Another time the right upper ball joint in my car snapped on the highway, causing the right front wheel to collapse inward and the vehicle to immediately yank to the right. That time there was even someone passing me on the left. Again, though, I made it safely to the shoulder. What I think made the difference in both incidents is that I had both hands on the steering wheel and was paying attention.
Thanks for the video and the callout to truckers!
Back in the late '70s, I was driving an Opel Cadette on I75 near Cincinnati. I had some ass in a Road Runner pass me, and whip in front of me with just inches between us. The vacuum that it created ripped the hood latch out of the body. The hood came up at 70 MPH. The left side hinge pulled out, and the hood slammed into the right side door frame. This cracked the Unibody. I had a gap in the floor that was al the way to the driver's side door, as it slammed back up. It then turned sideways. As it came towards the windshield, it bent the carburetor which kept it running at near full throttle. Then it ripped the brake fluid reservoir off the master cylinder. The inside of the hood caught on a windshield wiper post, and was blocking my view.
I couldn't slow down, I couldn't see the road and the emergency brake would be useless at 70MPH. I had to watch the white line flashed by, while looking down out my window as I power downshifted until I was in low gear, and turned off the engine. I coasted off the right side of the road, hoping that nothing was already there. As I finally stopped some ass yelled, "It's about damned time you got that piece of crap off the road!"
I got out, and ripped out the other hinge and put the damaged hood in the trunk. I limped that thing home by starting the engine, then turning it off to drive about 20 MPH with the emergency flashers. I made it to my house, and called the factory where I worked. My idiot boss demanded to know why I 'Didn't just tie the hood down and come on in to work!" I would have had to go into an area that was heavily patrolled by the state and the county, which would have likely ended up with me behind bars. If I could have got my hands on the ass that caused it, I would have strangled him.
😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
Yep!
The truth
I was on the freeway and my hood flew up I was looking out the passenger door window and managed to get off the freeway and thank goodness there was a gas station at the bottom of the off ramp. I have no idea what caused the hood to fly up.
@@peggymccurdy1941 Probably metal fatigue, or lack of lubrication in the latch.
That was a cafe. Nancy and I were married in Oklahoma in1967 and were taking Rt66 to Bakersfield on our honeymoon. We were driving our 1960 VW. It was midnight and I needed some coffee so we stopped at that very cafe. Nancy stayed in the car and I went in and was drinking my coffee. A drunk man was asking the waitress where his friend Harry was and she told him that he had went across the road to the truck stop. Trucks went through there at 80 mpg and one of them got in the middle of the road.When I went out there and there was nothing but a pair of shoes sitting in the road. There was nothing we could do, so we left. In 2000, we were out there in our class A so we turned on 66 to see if the cafe was still there and it still looked just the same.
I meant to say one of the 80mph trucks got him
I turned my mom onto you, we laugh and have a fun time watching you! No Vienna’s for me 😂
At the 17:48 mark, that looks like the motor home the giant ants tore open in the beginning of the movie Them! (1956).
We love that movie!!!
@@laureneolsen8624 Me too, a favorite!!!!!!!!!!!
CHAMPAGNE AND WEINER PARTY…….you owe me a shot of makers mark as that is what shot out of my nose because of uncontrollable laughter!
As a little kid, on trips over Donner Pass before they rerouted it, I loved looking down from the road and seeing old cars and trucks that had gone off the road during the winter and must have not been worth towing out.......I was kind of a weird kid I guess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not weird just normal kid 👍👍
Yep I remember the same thing before I-80 went through in the 50's. The few wrecks are probably still there.
HWY 50 to South Lake used to be quite entertaing too! Long ways down from that route.....RIP.....
@@ejgrant5191 yeah by strawberry
About 30 years or so ago it was a wrecking yard. We use to drive from California to Arizona to visit family. Now I live in Arizona and you can't drive that way anymore, because they shut down the roads for one thing or another and it's been like that for 6 or 8 years. I believe when there are wrecks on I40 that is the boneyard for all vehicles. Stay safe.
The views of the campers really got to me. I had a nightmare last night about a tornado hitting our RV. Now this morning I see these. I'm awake and hearing you WonderHussy, LOUD AND CLEAR. Everyone PLEASE give the rv's a break and plenty of room. THANKS
Thank God you're OK. Been looking at homes in the mid south and quite a few on Oklahoma have tornado shelters.
As a current tanker trucker who got into a rollover 15 years ago, that wrecked sleeper brought back nightmares. Of course in my case, it was sleep deprivation and a bout of anorexia I was going through at the time. Plenty of rest is paramount. If you're feeling the slightest of groggy, pull over in the safest spot you could get to.
What was causing you to lose your appetite? Was it the sleep deprivation or something like energy drinks?
You know better! Keep a pair of shoes / boots in the car... Very good video, partly haunting. My daughter is a trucker, got to ride with her for a month. Just over 10,000 miles, including I-40... amazing trip.
And gloves !! Stay safe !!
Put some shoes on...don't make me mad😖😻💃😜
The smaller building adjacent to and just east of the gas station is the Post Office. It's still in use for town residents and the region. Around 90 people live in Essex.
I remember rt. 66 when were kids., my dad had a 56 ford convertible with continental kit . Ohio to LA. , looked forward to the motels with pools. Looking back now seems unreal. Thanks for your videos.
We stopped at campgrounds that advertised pool. They actually meant billiards!
This is my favorite Wonderhussy post ever. I would love to wander around this space, even more than than others.
13:43 That's a rat! Run for the hills Hussy, the place is infested with the hantavirus! 😁👍✌
Big rig driver here. I've stopped several times to check out Route 66 museums and attractions whenever I was traveling that way. Always had to pre-plan so I can find a place to park my semi. Keep up these fun interesting videos WH. Love them.
Mac McPheters was my neighbor when I was a kid in Woodland Hills Ca back in the 60's. He owned The Establishment Motorhome Company based in San Fernando Ca In the seventies and eighties and maybe after and earlier, I was away in college. My father did some engineering for him during the eighties, I think. Mac's wife's name was Margaret and they had two daughters one was named Patty she was the youngest and I am sorry I can't remember the older daughters name but her first car was a white '57 T-bird. They were good neighbors and thanks for reminding me of them. really enjoy your videos Wonderhussy.
Just WOW! So sad to think of the wrecks.... hope the people are or were all OK :( A boneyard, and lost field of dreams.... Thank you for sharing, BUT.. in flip flops and snake country??? NOT GOOD :( Take care and ALL THE BEST, and YES, thanks to all truckers for what they do for us! Cheers!!
Yeah😜
Being such and old run down place you have some pretty new equipment in their as scrap. That Con-Way door that says T680 is from a Kenworth which only started making that Sleeper Unit Model in 2013 to date which is fairly new considering the age of those buildings. That car trailer is a Specialty High End Car mover as you can see it was enclosed with the framework around it, the Dealership Car Haulers are "usually" open. Very interesting place I must say, the property looks active with the newer equipment in their. Thanks for this interesting adventure. :) NC
Wow - flip flops while walking over all that debris! Have you ever stepped on a nail while so doing? Take it from someone who as a kid stepped on probably enough nails to put a fence together ... that s**t hurts, almost as much as stepping on a "goat head" (puncture vine) seed. You'll only need to do it once to understand the level of pain, I guarantee. Interesting old digs out there at Essex.
Last time I was down that way the old highway was closed due to a washout. As Craig Childs says, "there's two ways to die in the desert-- thirst and drowning".
A recurring thought I had when watching this video was how temporary material things really are.
Looks as though somebody with a couple monster trucks was out there plowing through some semi trailers.
How fun
Hey! We ran into you out in Death Valley! 3 guys also in forerunners. I recognized you right away. Wish I had asked to get a picture with you! So many things to see, we will be going back! Nice meeting you!!
The stretch of Route 66 you stopped on reminded me of a trip my wife and I made along parts of Route 66 heading west in 2002. We stopped in the road and positioned the truck, after a few times stepping away to adjust the composition of the truck and the highway logo, and took a few photos. Not sure how long we stopped, but finally a vehicle showed up way off in the east, so we got back in the truck and kept on our way. Thanks for the videos!
It's incredible that you're able to walk through these places without some serious boots just in case you came cross some creepy crawlies
Surprisingly few slithering creatures in the desert.
Lots of roadrunners, rabbits (hares) desert rats but few snakes. And 99% of the snakes are red racers or bull snakes. VERY few rattlers. Almost never see them. When I have, they saw me and slithered away as fast as they could. And I let them. Lots of rattlers in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico.
I've seen one in the last 20 years near Alamo Nevada.
You are the best narrator and tour guide I have ever experienced. You take a "Junky" place and make it entertaining. I enjoy ALL your videos!
Dialog from the movie Cars. Sally and Lightning McQueen on top of a lookout looking down on Route 66 and I-40:
Sally: Forty years ago, that interstate down there didn't exist.
Lightning McQueen: Really?
Sally: Yeah. Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way.
Lightning McQueen: How do you mean?
Sally: Well, the road didn't cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.
I loved that particular line from the movie. A movie which, BTW, was an underrated film I thought, especially for its dialogue, and which contained more than one very pertinent, thoughtful, and unexpectedly insightful look at life, although done through the eyes of anthropomorphic vehicles.
@@dougoverhoff7568 Cars is one of the best movies ever made! Yes, the dialog is fantastic! Also, so many stars have parts in it. I was reluctant to watch the movie but after so many people recommended it, I finally gave in. I can't recommend it enough.
@@bjorn2run That's so funny that you say that, that you were reluctant to watch it, because I was exactly the same way. I thought it was going to be much different than what it turned out to be. My daughter and my wife ridiculed me later on, after watching it, because it turned out that I ended up enjoying it so much, especially after first putting up a stink about my having to sit through a kiddie movie. Actually there was a lot in the movie that I could really relate to, because I used to travel a big portion of the old Hwy 66 when growing up, as we lived in St Louis and my father's Buick dealership was in Rolla, Mo. Both were right on a stretch of that road, and so we traveled on it many times in those years. Many memories were brought back watching that movie. Cheers!
On that bigrig trailer, the red striped cross beam is called a Mansfield bar. So named after Jayne Mansfield in 67 who was killed under the rear of a tractor trailer on the road to New Orleans one night. The Buick Electra she was riding in rear ended it and sliced off the top of the car. The bar was required by law afterwards.
My parents used to take us to Essex in the ‘80s, a family friend and family lived there while he was the supervisor of the CalTrans yard in Essex. I guess the CalTrans yard isn’t there anymore?
I actually bought gas there in late 80s early 90s if memory serves me. It was a gas station and small convenience store when I was there passing through.
Hey kiddo keep your channel going we love y’all okay.Have a great life.
I find it amazing that 18,619 folks have viewed this video before me and only 2.4K people have liked it. Really? This is content that we came here for. Sarah has spent her time and energy producing this wonderful content and people don't have the courtesy to give her upload a like? It takes NO effort. What is wrong with you people? I thank you Sarah and hope you continue taking us on your adventures.
The only channel that NEVER runs out of content!
I used to visit Schiavone Scrap Yard in Everett, part of the Boston Harbor, where they have mountains of scrap metal that they grind up into small chunks and load via conveyor belt into the holds of ships that take it to the Orient for recycling.
Am I allowed to say I'm enthralled with your videos and thank you for making my week
Reminds me of the Jim Crochet song about the banana truck that crashed on the hill outside Scranton, PA. Except in this case it was all about the empty calories of cheap Vienna Sausage and Gatorpaign in the desert on Route 66.
I don't know why I'm so captivated by your rambling idle speculations, but keep up the rambling idle speculations, Sarah!
The desk clerk said he saw it all real clear
He never hit the brakes when he was shifting gears 🚛💨
Sara You have a fantastic imagination. That’s why I keep watching
“Looks like someone was hauling cotton” 😂 I love your first thoughts on things you see 😄🤣
I think most of all the sausage cans has been eaten by rats and critters.. The area is problaby housing tons of animals😃🐁🐀🐈
Watch at 13:44.
Wow Sarah, a graveyard for anything on four wheels! Certainly an eye opener at the vast amount of road carnage accumulated over the years. 👍✌😎
You have visited a burial ground of transportation detritus. Love your documentary skills. Trash is beautiful!
If there are license plates on the vehicles it would be interesting to find out how and why the vehicle was abandoned,
About 10 miles east, just across the Interstate is the Desert Oasis truck stop. They had a great restaurant. Everything else was incredibly over priced. The one thing I saw, over 11 years ago, a 40oz Bud was $9.00.
I wonder if Lowell George ever passed through there?
So sad! I love the reference to the Cars movie. Route 66 is on my bucket list WH ❤️
Reminds me of the international enchanted car forest in Goldfield Nevada. I hadn't heard of Essex. I may check it out soon. And of course there is appliances, it's open range ;) Thanks :)
I agree. Vienna sausage is yuk. I thought the graveyard was sad until I learned people live in Sussex 😳
Thanks WH. 💜
Fascinating place. Thanks for digging into it, including the can of weiners.
I like how WH imagines stories of what happened. I do that too.
If you head west out of Winnemucca Nevada and drive 48.3 miles towards Reno in between in the medium of the highway there is a 48ft trailer buried there full of Miller high life beer. No joke. Driver fell to sleep, crashed they towed off the truck but buried the trailer right there. 1983 this happened. I was working at the Burns Brothers truck stop at the time. I did get 50 cases of beer myself.
Thanks Sarah for the tour of Essexs local dump! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
The AT&SF built a string of little towns across the Mojave from Ludlow to Needles. Each one had a siding, a water tower and a telegraph office. They named them A..., B...,C..., etc. in the order they were built. The towns were Amboy, Bagdad, Chambless, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs and Homer.
There's a Caltrans maintenance yard in Essex. I bet those wrecked trailers were from accidents on 66 years ago. Caltrans probably just dumped them there and nobody claimed them. Looks likes somebody flipped one and took the wheels, axles and brake parts.
Bagdad is where they filmed "Bagdad Cafe"...love that movie! The Cafe is stiil in operation.
Amboy has been explored by the Explore With Us crew
Great information, long lost to history.
@@Scott_works I agree with you. I've always been interested in old timers' fading knowledge. Once it's lost, it's lost for good. I might add that originally these were just sidings where the trains could pass on the single track main line and then grew into small communities. They faded back into the desert with the death of steam.
@@LuckyBaldwin777 I was in the Marines from 1981-1994. I bought a house in 29 Palms and couldn't sell it. I owned it until 2006 and my sister and her daughter both lived there. Over the years I have looked around the Mojave a lot and found it fascinating. My parents retired to Las Vegas in 1992 and so I went back and forth, through Amboy, up to Las Vegas many times. 185 miles. I finally sold the house and left the area. My niece and her family live there still. There is a lot of barren, open desert there. And there are quite a few dried up old towns. Amboy is just about done. Kelso tried to make a comeback with the Kelso Visitor Center, but it didn't work out well.
This is what it was like before cable TV and the internet you make your own fun out of the nothing. God I miss those days.
Hiya Sarah this video is great, greetings from the UK .It would be cool to see you driving from Chicago to L.A on route 66! I could picture you in a 1959 Cadillac convertible but the gas consumption wouldn't be great!!!! At the moment so many songs are going through my head!
Hey Sarah Jane I was gonna mention that Essex was the last town in Calif to get TV service. Just a piece of trivia that stuck in my brain from long ago. I came across this item in Wikipedia:
Essex was notable along Route 66 for providing free water to travelers, thanks to a well installed by the Automobile Club of Southern California. Over a dozen homes also serviced the small community.
The town of Essex had no television reception until 1977. The signal from Los Angeles, 150 miles west, was too weak, and the signal from Las Vegas, 110 miles north, was blocked by hills. A device called a translator, costing several thousand dollars, could have solved this problem, but the town voted against spending the money. Johnny Carson found the town's lack of television interesting, and invited the entire town's population (about 50 people at the time) to attend the taping of the March 25, 1977 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He talked to 5 different townspeople about what it was like and whether they missed having television. All but one said they preferred it that way. Shortly after the Tonight Show appearance, executives at Electronics, Missiles and Communications (Emcee), which makes television transmitters, provided the town with a translator at no cost.
You make the most mundane things interesting to us old guys. We look forward to your weekly videos. Very professional, glad you do well on TH-cam!
P.S. hope you write off Adventure Costs as business expense. 4Runner, fuel, insurance, food, lodging, video equipment, clothing and makeup too! Ask CPA. Tax day postponed post weekend🙂
Great tax tips!
Awesome advice for myself.. thank you!
Everytime I see you looking into the camera while standing in the middle of the highway I can't help but get nervous😂
She is a Wonder😮😘😜💃
At the Old Home Filler Up and a Keep On A Trucking Cafe R.I.P. William Fried i.e. C.W, McCall
To me, the saddest part about this was the weather-faded, disheveled, Teddy Bear. Either a present someone was bringing home to their child, or the beloved companion of a child who was involved in one of the accidents leading their vehicle to this graveyard.
I love your back-story postulations, WH!
THANK YOU SARAH,,GOOD TO SEE SCENERY AND LESS SUN GLASSES..STAY WELL
Very interesting, and spooky. I've just started running transfer trailers in my area and it's kind of terrifying to think what would happen if my 100,000 pound rig full of trash was involved in a big accident. Lotta idiots on the road that have no idea what they're messing with.
😮 WoW! that was a fascinating find; like an unlawful collecting site for the RV's & Semi's ~ good catch!
I just started checking out your videos kinda random like. No wonder you have so many subscribers! You are so funny and such a great tour guide! Your imagination and wondering about all of the places and people that could have possibly lived in these places is classic.
Signed Kyle
Lol not really
At about 16:20 or so...those were probably bales of "blow in" insulation lost the wrappers. And the "water tanks" are purpose built to transport bulk chemicals, like cleaners, disinfectants,
sanitizers and such. I used to get hold of one now and then for friends when I worked at a food plant in town. People like them once rinsed out...one guy keeps it one full of water
and a pump...just in case he has to douse a fire on his farm. As for problems people have handling a motorhome/RV type thing....wind isn't exactly your friend when you're trying
to herd one of those things down the road.
Hey, thanks a heap for the tour of the resting place for all those rigs, Sarah Jane. Helps remind me to keep my eyes on the road and my foot riding lightly on the "go switch".
With any luck maybe a artist might come along and make that trash into a great art project,to at least make it interesting instead of an eye sore, you know, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Love your videos stay safe and God bless you and your family, love Bones 🙂
When we would make fires out of dead wood around the Phoenix area, scorpions would run out of the wood - they're there, they just hide in things.
It's amazing that most of those RVs have new tires on them .
Wow, you've got some cajones!! Getting inside that big rig that's possibly full of scorpions and rattlesnakes wearing flip flops!!😲😱😳
When there's any kind of big rig fire or crash on 15, it gets towed off Cima road. They won't let you in due to insurance regulations but you can see it from the 15 as you drive past. Maybe you can get someone to let you in, it's interesting, Cima Shell has the keys!
Very interesting video, you just never know what you will find on the side of the road. Thank you for sharing this with us today from Henrico County Virginia
WH- You're not alone there. In your flip flops and at 13:44 some critter scurried away.
always check in the glove compartment, you never know what you might find
Two words I never thought Wonderhussy would say together, burnt wieners! you are the best🙂
What an interesting little place you found Wonderhussy. Looks like a place for truck parts but I am surprised the EPA doesn’t say anything because they did about wrecking yards and closed them down.
most accidents like that happen when drivers fall asleep I see it alot I been driving for 27 years and I love your channel
The shocks on my pu wore out many miles ago . I can get some fairly cheep and i know how to replace them . I just live with the more bumpy ride . Its not like having an engion or tranny quite . Yeah I have had to fix stuff in a parking lot or on the side of the road .
Another great video as usual, keep it up miss hussy
Nice work. First time I've seen anything like this truck haven heaven. Thanks for spending the time and exploration.
Rusty was stocked with a load of Gatorade from the bottling plant heading East.
Tex was hauling a load of Vienna Sausage from Barkersville heading West.
It was a dark stormy night...
I used to pull that stuff on friends. I'd limp toward them and say, "Twas a dark an' soormy night when I furst seen th' great white. TORE ME LAIG OFF, 'E DID!"
Hey W. Hussy, we spoke with one of the owners of the OmegaMart in LV yesterday. He states you're approved for full access to the establishment to produce your content. In addition, if you would like to have your friend W. Jeepsy tag along feel free to do so. Hope This Helps Yo ! 🙈 🙉 🙊
Lucky for you -- I was just about to tan your hide! But then you thanked us TRUCKERS just in the nick of time!😎😂😎
This is cool reminds me of when I would roam into abandon houses after hurricane Andrew in homestead Florida. I would see all the old toys, furniture and homes. wondering what people did in them before the storm.
Sarah , I know that area so well where you at. I pass through there frequently with an rv in route to LA, Fresno, etc. ] I use that road ur on Goffs road to get backto I 40 ! God Bless You formally your videos😁] There was an old motorhome abandoned there up until 2020, then it disappeared. Well have a great day , RonMoore from rv World in Northern Indiana
The last time we were in Essex, 2000 or so, we stopped to take some pictures of that old sign above the cafe/gas station. Some guy came out and said we couldn’t take photos because “they” were testing a new car. My wife and I looked at each other and said “New car? Let’s go see!” And that’s how we became some of the very first of the public to get a look at the PT Cruiser convertible.
That should be worth millions! Of something.
Chrysler proving grounds was over in yucca
Looks like all the truck cabs had been in wrecks. Most of wine bottles are broken. Looks like some one brought them out there and used them for target practice.
I love to hear you sing. You’re awesome.
your right by amboy--used to have a crank phone until about 1983--not sure if restaurant in amboy is still open--i drove that road everyday back in early 80ties--the rail road hiway is interesting
Cracked me up! The grossing out over the open sausage can. Clean your hands on a Trucker’s mattress!
I think some tow company dumped those out there did anyone notice that the engines were gone and pretty much anything else that could be resold
The Hussy can belt out a tune, very fine voice!
@12:40 Cracked me up. Bear looks like it's having sinus issues.
In the early 1970's our family of 6 rented an 18 foot Winnebago for a trip from the East Coast to Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. My Dad drove trucks in combat in Korea, and hauled up and down the east coast as a trucker before he got married. For us young teenage kids, the trip was a blast, but I think for Dad it was a nightmare. I remember it being loud and squeaky at highway speeds, and so underpowered that we could only go about 45 mph against the 30 mile an hour headwinds across Kansas. Things got real when we got to the mountains of Colorado. I recall stopping for lunch at a roadside pull off next to a creek where it was rumored that they used to pan for gold. There was a wrecked camper in the valley, and dad became very upset when I pointed it out. At 13 I kind of appreciated that driving in the mountains could be dangerous, but hadn't really internalized it yet. He later confided to us that he had never been more scared in his life than when driving that flimsy overloaded RV though the mountains. 50 years later I understand all too well how quickly things can go sideways out on the road.
Great video Sarah!
Vienna Sausages are friggin gross! Yuk! I tried them once when I was a kid. One bite and I spit it out! Never again.