I Just Saved You From A Trip To Barstow

Here's my little tale about my visit to Barstow.... I had finished walking my properties for work and needed to walk all of the adjacent properties.... 'If anything catches my eye, I should check it out....', I thought to myself....

Lo and behold, the this is the first sign I see!


Home Of The Old Woman Meteorite! Was it a meteorite in the shape of an old woman? I had to see it! So I walk up to the Desert Discovery Center, to find out that it had closed for the day.... Now I'm crushed! How could the Desert Discovery Center be closed!?!?!? How am I supposed to discover the desert? However, I could not be deterred....

I peeked through the window to see if I could get any peek of this 'Old Woman Meteorite'.... It's very difficult to not look suspicious when you're looking though the door of a closed building.... You cup your hands around your face, and you press your face around the glass.... I needed to see this meteorite for some unknown reason. I look around to see if anybody is staring at the tall man scoping out the Desert Discovery Center, and when I look back to scan the interiors again, I see someone staring back at me! Scared the hell out of me....'

The woman walks to the door tell me they closed at 4:00 P.M. Glancing at my phone, I notice that it's 3:50 P.M.!!!!!! I proceed to beg and plead with the woman to let me see the 'Old Woman Meteorite'..... 'It's only 3:50 P.M!' 'I need to see it!' 'Please! Please!!! PLEASE!!!!' Finally, the woman takes pity on me, and gets her manager, who lets me in to see the meteorite before she leaves....

It doesn't look like an old woman..... It was apparently found in the 'Old Woman Mountains' in San Bernardino County. It the second largest iron meteorite discovered in the United States.

I was disappointed by it's shape, until the lady picked up these beads and throws them in the air, and as if by magic, they are magnetically drawn back to the meteorite!!!!! Just when I thought I was out.... They pull me back in....


I let the kind manager get on with the closing of her the Desert Discovery Center, and take the short walk to 'Centennial Park'.... This is what you'll find a Centennial Park.....



Not much, but it's something.... And both the tank and the train had a sign podium in front of them..... But all the signs were missing!!!!


So after being so impressed with the power of the Old Lady Meteorite, my brain started creating far-fetched ideas about how the tank and train were used....

The tank must have been used by brave American soldiers in Iraq, as they quietly (the tank was very quiet in my story) surrounded the building where Sadaam Hussein was hiding.....

And the train.... Well, the train my have been used to haul Dumbo, his mother, and all the other circus animals! It's my brain.... Leave me alone....

Now I'm on a mission to find out what the real back story of the train and the tank.... I had to go to the fire department, so I asked them.... "It's a train and a tank, the signs were probably stolen...." was the answer I received.... No cool stories.... Nothing.... Just a train and a tank donated to the city of Barstow.

The fire department did have a really nice dedication to the 343 firefighters lost on September 11, 2001....


My trip is almost complete.... I walked across the street again to the 'Mojave Valley River Museum' also known as 'The Oldest Museum in Barstow', which is closed until further notice.... I was still able to check out some of the things in the parking lot.... There was a set of jail cells made by E.T. Barnum (was there any relation to P.T. Barnum?) Iron Works in Detroit, Michigan.



And there was a time capsule! Now I have a reason to go back to Barstow on July 4, 2076!

So there you have it.... That's everything.... I just saved you from having a reason to visit Barstow. You. Are. Welcome.