Post #218992 by Satan's Sin on Sun, Mar 5, 2006 11:51 AM

mbonga,

I travel quite often from San Diego to my favorite camping spot in the Anza-Borrego State Park via I-8. I am not only quite familiar with Desert View Tower but most everything else along that stretch of road, and no, sorry to say, whatever one-story museum used to be there is long gone. And believe me, I keep my eye out for kitsch.

If one is heading east, when one comes upon Desert View Tower then it's time for fast downhill ride as the road drops from a roughly 4,000 ft. elevation into the sea-level flatness and wide expanse of the beautiful desert. As one continues along the 8, there are abandoned homes and gas stations and businesses to the right and left, sitting there like derelict vessels at sea, and perhaps one of these was the ice-cream stop you mentioned.

Take the Ocotillo exit and there you will find the brand-new Imperial Valley College Desert Museum. Here's their website:

http://www.imperial.cc.ca.us/ivc-dm/