On Saturday hubby and I headed an hour north of us to a small town called Boron. Boron is best know for it’s 20 Mule team that use to run borax from mines near Death Valley to the railway located near Boron. This year the theme was “Dancing with the Mules.”
20 Mule Team
You see the wagons are original from 1909 and without extensive restoration the carts will not last forever. I read in the paper this may be their last year. It was an amazing site seeing them come down the street and as they got to the end there was a left turn that made things much more interesting. Let’s just say it took quite a few people to help those mules get around it. What a hard life for the mules, teamsters, and of course the miners.
The wagons and the water they had to carry to keep the mules hydrated.
notsofancynancy 
we all have those left turns to navigate
By: on thehomefrontandbeyond on October 8, 2013
at 5:31 am
hahaha Yes we do!
By: notsofancynancy on October 8, 2013
at 6:33 am
I can remember working for my grandfather as a teenager in the early 1980s and him having 20 Mule Team Borax soap for washing. It was grainy, had a distinctive smell which reminded me of laundry detergent and did a great job taking grease and oil off my hands. I remember it coming from somewhere in California, but didn’t know where. It’s interesting to learn some of the background.
By: Cotton Boll Conspiracy on October 8, 2013
at 8:39 am
That is exactly where it came from and they still have a borax mine there today. The story as I know it was in the beginning they were hauling the borax many miles across the desert from Death Valley about 170 miles to Boron. One day the big wigs were all in Boron and started checking around when to their surprise they found borax right there near the railway. Silly men!
By: notsofancynancy on October 8, 2013
at 10:00 am
You surely do travel a bunch! I’m such a little hermit. Yup, like my rocking chair at the end of a long day…
Nice pics, as always Nancy!
cheers-
Sue
By: Susan Bahr on October 8, 2013
at 2:12 pm
Thanks!
By: notsofancynancy on October 8, 2013
at 2:23 pm