Dan Stafford: "How Did I Get "Hooked On" The Mojave Desert? Let Me Tell You A Story..."

Dan Stafford the "Fiber Cowboy"

 Can you tell I enjoy Christmas? 

 

 I came into the whole desert thing through an interesting chain of decisions.

 

 I was working in long-distance telecommunications in the Chicago area, (I've been at the since mid-1993, but that's another story for another time) and I met this wonderful woman and fell in love. We got married a bit later in life, but I had zero doubt she was the one.

 My wife and I each had a son from before we met, both grown adults. My wife's son (my stepson) married a wonderful woman he met, and they had two wonderful   children. Then they wound up moving to Orange County, California.

 A couple of years after my stepson and his new family moved to California, my wife and I came out to visit. As a part of that visit, we spent a night at South Coast Winery in Temecula. My wife got to talking to a local gal about property prices, and how they were very comparable to where we were living outside of Chicago. We both loved the small-town feel of Temecula, and of course, the weather was an real plus compared to Winter near Chicago.

My wife asked what I thought, and I said "I could live here." I asked her what she thought, and she said "I could, too."

It was a major life goal for my wife to be a grandmother like hers growing up; Kind, supportive, educational, loving, and present. Especially while our grandchildren were still children.

I tried to transfer within my company to an open position nearby. I'd been doing telecommunications techin' in the Great Lakes area for 21.5 years. No bite.

I came out with my wife on one visit, and we looked at 28 houses within a week. We'd both had a lot of discussion about what we wanted in a home. My wife came out and looked at another 25 houses while I worked in Chicago. On that trip, the perfect place landed in her lap, by amazing luck. It wasn't even on the market yet. 

We bought the house and sold our place in Illinois, and I left my telecom job. I used my 401k to start a small computer repair business, ran it for three years, and had to bail. I couldn't get enough work in the door. 

I spent four years as an IT instructor at a small, private college nearby, but the school ended up closing. After that, I was out of work for nearly six months, then got hired back by the same company (who had been bought and then changed their name) into a very similar position to what I had worked for them all those years in the Great Lakes. Except that it wasn't exactly the same.

This time around, I would be maintaining a bunch of repeater stations up in the High Desert of California. This meant from San Bernardino and Riverside up the Cajon Pass along I-15 and I-40. I was primarily covering from Hesperia to Baker, and Barstow to Goffs, and a little past, almost to Needles.

The other new thing I would be doing is locating our buried fiber optic cables and marking where they are in relation to pending excavation work, or repairs for broken utility lines, new fences, signs, road repairs, storm damage, etc. This is all out in the real desert up there.

I was out on National Trails Highway, the Mother Road, old Route 66. I was out on Stoddard Wells Road in the sand, rocks, and dirt near Barstow. I was out in the sandstorms, moonscape, and deep sand dunes West of Baker by the power lines, trying to avoid rain and flash floods.

Flash flood on Goffs Road after the 2023 cyclone - Photo by Dan Stafford

If you could only see how much water was rushing downs off the mountains to the left of the above picture, and pouring into the intersection to that side, you would get the hair on the back of your neck raised like I did. I got through here after I watched another 4x4 go through.

Even Amboy got soaked.

Amboy under the 2023 cyclone in August - Photo by Dan Stafford

I saw incredibly beautiful vistas out there as well, far more than flash floods. The header pic for this site is my favorite iconic Southwestern desert vista. I took that shot facing South on Kelbaker Road between I-40 and old Route 66 in the early Autumn of 2023.

The desert always had a very spiritual feel for me. It was quiet without being quiet. It demands every respect and preparation. It will reward you with incredible beauty, amazing historical wonders, and the kind of quiet and night sky that will let your mind run free, yet fill with wonder.

So, yes. I came to the desert because of love and work. It surprised and amazed me. It still does. 

What I find even better are the people that you run into out in the desert who love it too. They're kind and considerate, and will help you if you need it. They all have fascinating stories too, as do the places out in the desert.

In the end, I want this site to bring forward the stories of the desert's people in the modern era, just as much as the things that you can find out there. 

What about the infrastructure and its state of repair that impacts the people of the desert? What about the art, and the stories of all the small towns along the historic old highways? The history, and the possible futures? All the magic that exists out there?

So, to find all that, I'm going to start asking for people's stories, if they're willing to share them. I think it will be amazing.

Dan