Hot Springs, Coyotes, and That Town's for Sale? - Home Sweet Homeless - Part 2

I just sold my house. I'm home, sweet, homeless. I just saw a coyote trying to catch a jackrabbit. Let's see if we can see him again and see what's going on back here. There he is. I guess he didn't get that jackrabbit. He's still looking for him though. I'll turn back so I don't disturb him. We're heading into the historic little mining town of Austin, Nevada. I need to get some water. Cute little place. Austin has a pretty setting. Up on the hills and in the hills. If we were heading east, we'd be taking this road. I think they advertise this as the loneliest highway in America. Or the loneliest road or something like that. It probably used to be. I was on it way back when. But since they started advertising it as such, I don't think it is anymore. No, we'll be heading south. On the Nevada 376. And this is what the 376 looks like. Roadside scenery, Nevada style. Ya man, put on your shades man. We in Kingston, Jamaica man. No, we're not. Besides, it's a totally different kind of snow in Jamaica. Ambulance up ahead in Carvers of all places. This little tiny erg in kind of nowhere land here in the smoky valley of Nevada. Yeah, not much out here. What used to be a restaurant I guess. Saloon right there. That big dirt pile to the left over there, that's mine. And they have mines scattered all over the state of Nevada. This thing's probably a couple of miles wide. There's a closer look at that big dirt pile there. Yeah, that's a lot of tailings out there. Tons and tons of it. It just keeps going and going and going. I wasn't kidding when I said it was maybe two miles, but I think I underestimated it. It could be three miles of tailings. It's only 430, but the day will be coming to an end soon. Nevada does have some lonely roads. And I hope it remains that way. Good morning again. It's the first morning with no ice on the inside of the windows. Just steam, condensation, no big deal. It's a lot warmer here now. Well, I won't say a lot, it's a little bit warmer, but at least there's no snow on the ground now. The inside of the car is 45 degrees. Wild horses coming down to drink. Another day, another hot spring. Nevada's good that way. Today we'll continue heading south, and hopefully the weather gets even warmer. It may not look like paradise to you, but to some people, this is paradise. Wide open spaces, and a hot spring. We're on our way again. Let's see what we find today. I camped in that hot spring I showed you a little bit earlier. There were a lot of people there, I was surprised. A brief look at rustic Goldfield, Nevada. The old Goldfield Hotel. A look down the main street. Plenty of local color here. And look who's driving. Say goodbye to Goldfield, and we're back on the road. Gonna lose some elevation here real fast. It's all downhill from here, I guess you could say. We're in the desert, and it is Joshua Tree studded. A lot of people don't realize how long Nevada is. North to south, it's something like 500 miles. So it takes a while to get through if you're going that direction. Rain that falls from the clouds. I think they call that virga. And it's quite common in the desert. You can see that virga off in the distance there. Hey, how about that? There's actually rain hitting the ground. Out here in one of the driest regions in North America, Nevada. We're not too far as the crow flies Death Valley. Which is the hottest place in North America, and definitely one of the driest. In the desert, you never know what you'll find in your backyard. These guys are in Beatty, Nevada. One of the fun things about being on the road is it's just full of surprises. Always be careful for pedestrians crossing the street. Especially the ones like him, who just like to stand in the middle of the road. And what about this guy? He can't seem to make up his mind where he wants to go. Get out of the street, you jackass! I enjoy poking around and exploring relics of the past. Like this place. So if you're wondering what an active brothel looks like in Nevada. This is one right here. You got the nice pink paint. And the little blinking sign. Girls, girls, girls. That was actually a Motley Crue song back in the day. The bar is open. Looks like COVID has taken a bite out of their business. Sorry, we are closed. I always like the end of the day and sunset in the desert. I think it's the most beautiful time. Look at the colors on those hills. Good morning from the southern Nevada desert. I'm about 100 or so miles north of Las Vegas. It was a nice evening last night. Although a bit chilly. There's a brutally frigid wind blowing this morning. Sunny and clear, but cold. This is where I parked it for the night last night. Yeah, life is a highway. At least my life is a highway. At least for now. Hey, look at that sign up ahead. Looks like Burroughs Crossing. That's a pretty cute sign. And so is that one. They've got one for each direction. So don't be a dumbass. Slow down for the Burroughs. I just got some gas, a block of cheese, and some potato chips to munch on while I'm driving. In Pahrump, Nevada. And now we just crossed into California. Right now it doesn't look much different than Nevada. It's all desert. But I like the desert. Does anybody else like the desert? As we drop down in elevation, the temperatures are rising up. Welcome to Shoshone, California. Just a little spot in the road, but we'll fill up our water jug here. It's got a cool little museum right over there, a little visitor center. And there's the crowbar, a place you can get some food. And our water is just right behind this big truck. Right in there. If you're traveling through the California desert, you want to make sure you don't run out of gas near Shoshone. This place will gouge you. It has some of the highest prices for gas. While Shoshone has some of the highest prices in the western U.S., just down the road about 30 miles in Pahrump, they have some of the cheapest prices in the west. Shoshone's in California. Pahrump's in Nevada. Could have a little something to do with it. California has super high gas prices. We're really out here. Yeah, I love it. Okay, it's time to take a little break. I got a nice little surprise for you, although it's not the best day for it because it's really windy. But we'll have a quick look. Well, it probably won't come as a surprise to you that I found what? Yep, another hot spring. I'm going to give the hot springs a miss. Just had a quick look. And the wind is so strong that it usually sucks the heat right out of the hot pools. I mean, they stay somewhat warm, but it's not the best for soaking when the wind's blowing like 30 miles an hour all day long, which it's doing today. So we'll get back on the road and head to the next place. The wind is blowing so hard, it knocked this hat off right off my head. And it went through the air about 30 feet before it came down to the ground again. This guy's been waiting for COVID to end. The desert is a fascinating place. COVID really has thinned out the people that might ordinarily be out here. You know, people at the cafes, the campgrounds, out on the road. And it's really got this feeling of kind of a lonely desert, you know, kind of the way the desert is supposed to be. Maybe, you know, like traveling through the desert in like the 1940s or 30s or something. It's actually kind of cool. Many people have the misconception that the desert is nothing but sand dunes. And while there are sand dunes interspersed in various locations throughout the desert, the desert is mostly rock. As far as COVID goes, and any stay-at-home orders, well, I am at home. I just had a look at the temperature on the gauge inside the car here. And I was like, oh yeah, 73. Are you kidding me? Do you like my wind-sculpted hairdo? This is what's billed as the world's largest thermometer here in Baker, California. That's its only claim to fame in this town. It's basically just a strip town for the traveler. Tourists don't come here. Just people passing through needing to get some food or gas. Overpriced gas, I might add. Getting on the interstate now. Interstates are not my favorite way to go. But this is going to get me to the next camp spot fairly quickly. This is the interstate I-15 that goes to Las Vegas. And there's an idiot who just passed on the right. I'm not going to go through Vegas. I don't really care for Vegas. Some people like it, I guess, that live there. I've met a lot of people who don't like Vegas who have lived there. And I have met people who live there and they said it was much better when the mob owned it. It was clean and orderly and nice. If anybody got out of line, they were spoken to in a rather firm manner. Ever had a dream of buying your own town? Well, that dream could be realized, apparently. This whole town of Nipton is for sale, according to that sign, and we'll probably go through it tomorrow. You would think, way down here in the desert, that it wouldn't get that cold and that you wouldn't have ice on the inside of your windows in the morning. But you... would be wrong. That is ice. The sun's been up for a little bit, but it's still cold out there. When I got out of the car this morning and I looked across the creosote bush, across the desert, I saw this. I thought, what the heck is that out there? And then I realized it was Prim, Nevada, off in the distance. Seemed pretty strange, just seeing this thing stuck in the middle of nowhere, trying to be like a miniature Las Vegas. I just went for a walk in what I thought was going to be pristine desert, and I guess I was wrong about that, because I see in the distance some towers and what looks to be maybe a solar farm. And it certainly does make it look industrialized out here. A lot of these environmental groups say we need more wind turbines, more solar fields, more, more, more energy, more green energy, so-called green energy anyway, but they don't really look at the big picture. Because if they did, and they truly cared, then they would see that there's only one thing they need less of, and that's people on the planet. They don't want to touch that hot potato. I can only think of one environmental group that has addressed the overpopulation problem of the world. I'm not trying to say the environmental groups don't care. I'm sure they mean well in their own way. But they could step it up a bit and be a little more bold in their outlook. I can say that I did my part. I never had any children. Instead of subsidies from megacorporations building these wind turbine farms and solar farms, we could be subsidizing individuals. That would be a much better way to go about clean energy is personal wind and solar. On rooftops of people's homes and businesses. And possibly little wind turbines. You know, mini little windmills in somebody's backyard. Enough said on that subject. Let's get back in the car, head on down the road to the little town of Nipton. The one we saw on the sign last night that said the entire town's for sale. So let's go check that thing out and see what that's all about. Looks like we're coming into Nipton. It says historic town ahead.