September 25, 2021 - Saturday - We belong to an association called the Mohahve Historical Society and they were sponsoring an event at the "Dare Devils and Speed Museum" in Apple Valley, CA today. The host of the museum is Waldo Stakes, a land speed aficionado. We knew that this tour was going to be interesting.
Our pre-tour research indicated that Waldo can be described as "eccentric." In early 2020, Waldo collaborated with another Apple Valley resident, "Mad" Mike Hughes, on a steam powered rocket. On February 22, 2020 the rocket launched with "Mad" Mike aboard and it quickly plunged back to earth, killing "Mad" Mike. For a video of the fatal launch, click here.
Apple Valley looked like this when Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had their ranch here. It has been heavily developed since then.
This is the entrance to the "museum."
This is Waldo Stakes who gave us an hour and a half lecture about all of his rocket stories.
There isn't a museum presently, but it's planned. Until then, all of Waldo's artifacts are stored in containers.
There are used rockets everywhere.
This is the launcher that launched Mad Mike to his death.
This is Waldo's new baby, a land vehicle that could reach a speed of 2000 MPH.
The stories were interesting, but it was hot and Waldo was a little hard to understand for Judy. Well, that's why they're called adventures.
Since there was an In-N-Out Burger on the way to see Waldo Stakes, we stopped in for a couple of burgers.
The Double-Doubles and fries were delicious.
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