March Challenge 1: Discovery on an Uncharted Path
This is entry 2 for the March Challenge hosted by Patricia Feager and Lew Corcoran and it speaks to the voyage of discovery while traveling on an uncharted path.
Back in the early 1990's my wife and I were on vacation in the San Francisco are. It turned into quite the trip for memories as we not only visited the Bay area, but the wine country of the Napa Valley, as well as the CalNeva area at Lake Tahoe.
We intended to drive south along the back spine of the Sierra Nevada mountains across Death Valley and then turn to San Diego. Getting into the Lone Pine, CA town at night, we sought a room as well as a place to eat.
Walking around the town again with no knowledge of its history, we went into the General Store, which was right out of the late 1800. A long entry area was adorned with autographed 8 x 11 black and white photos of actors that had stayed in the area while shooting films in on location in the Alabama hills. The history goes back to the late 1920's, but the films are not all westerns.
As I am a huge fan of old movies, seeing these photos on the walls was incredible. Yet, knowing that most of the films that I had seen on TV, or some of the original TV shows were filmed on location on those vistas.
Mt Whitney, the highest point in California, had been in many a movie, as well as the desert scenes with movies as recent as The Gladiator in 2024, and Godzilla in 2014.
There is now, a Museum of Western films in Lone Pine, CA. Over 300 films were filmed there the names of which are also emblazoned on the sidewalks with stars on them in Hollywood.
I know that the scenery is breathtaking and mire than memorable when one considers that we drove through those passes and were at the base of the snow-capped mountain as well.
It' easier today to take a journey but when the only navigation device was a paper map, and a thin guidebook, a discovery like this was very special.
March Challenge 1: Discovery on an Uncharted Path
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