the micro mashup.

Share this post

road trip: anti-spa weekend

morningpagemashup.substack.com

road trip: anti-spa weekend

nothing out there and nothing out there

Amie McGraham
Dec 16, 2022
24
14
Share this post

road trip: anti-spa weekend

morningpagemashup.substack.com

It had to be gritty, we decided. Grungy. No more than a 5-hour drive. Not your typical girls’ weekend. Blythe, Needles, Indio. All nixed for…Borrego Springs?

A place I’d never heard of until Cindy suggested it. Tucked behind Palm Springs like an afterthought. Another desert ghost town desperately trying to capture that mid-mod vibe—more vintage boutiques than people.

Cindy, my long-time partner in crime, and her pet dinosaur

A place where life-size rusted metal sculptures of pterodactyls inhabit shadeless sand dunes, radiating the heat of a million years. Motels with ashtrays outside “Fitness Rooms” and cow skulls hung on dark-panelled bedroom walls.

A place, detached and timeless, where we reconnected.

a page and sketch from my journal

Thanks for reading the micro mashup! Subscribe for free weekly posts and support my work.

14
Share this post

road trip: anti-spa weekend

morningpagemashup.substack.com
14 Comments
author
Amie McGraham
Dec 31, 2022Author

Yup, I camped with some friends at Joshua Tree a week before the pandemic and lockdown hit and we had a blast exploring the funkiness that is Twenty-nine palms.

Expand full comment
Reply
Carter Ettore
Writes Carter Ettore's Agitarius
Dec 31, 2022

Wow, Anza-Borrego looks really cool. I had to map it out. Have you been up to Twentynine Palms? It is one of those places lots of people hate because it is basically dead-zone desert nothing, but there are SO MANY cool mid-century modern house rentals there. Desert dream. Otherworldly.

Expand full comment
Reply
12 more comments…
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 amie mcgraham
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing