Every now and then there are these unpaved side roads that seem to stretch on forever without really going anywhere. Amazingly, people actually live here.
三不五時會碰到一望無際的沙石路，奇怪的是住有人家
As the dwellings of varying degrees of permanence scroll across the screen that is my window, I get the distinct impression that the people who live here must've inspired the characters from Tremors.
映入視線內的是各種不同程度的住宅建築都有，留給我深刻印刻印象的是住在這裡的人大概已激發出不同的人物
We cross right through a salt bed and within a few seconds of noticing a formation that looks far too orderly to be natural, I spot a sign marking this portion of the salt bed as property of the National Chloride Company. It's an intimidating company name until you think about it: NaCl. Table salt. The entire population out here traces its roots to salt mining in the pre-railroad days.
我們跨越規則排列的鹽床，我看到一塊牌子寫是國家氯公司的產業，即NaCl (=鹽)
全部居民可追溯到未築鐵路前的採鹽時代
Further into the middle of the vast and desolate expanse there's a train stopped at an exceedingly tiny depot, and I can only assume the train served as a vital supply link many decades ago.
再深入荒涼處，有一列火車停在小車站邊，我推測火車是幾十年前的補給工具
The tiny depot on the other side of the train? That's Amboy, and it was settled by those salt miners in the mid-1800s before getting first a railroad, then Route 66 running right through the center of town. At its peak, it had 65 residents. Now it's at four, and the whole town is owned by the same guy that owns the first McDonald's. Really.
車站另一邊有商店，那是1800年之殖民處，然後66號公路貫穿市中心地，高峰時居民有65人, 現在4人。整個鎮的老闆是首家麥當勞的老闆
The funny thing is that l almost missed this rich piece of American history so intricately woven into the fabric of our motoring infrastructure, because my thoughts and my eyes were transfixed on the road ahead and the desert. Weeks later, I wonder if General Patton's men did the same.
Oh yeah, this is also where our troops trained for the North African battles of World War II.
有趣的是我幾乎錯過美國歷史豐富的部分編織成我們汽車的基礎建設，因為我的思潮與視線全轉成路的前方與莫哈比沙漠。不知名將巴頓將軍也會如此.
對了二次大戰派赴北非作戰的士兵在此訓練。
01/07/2015
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