A cowboy bar in a cowboy county, with real cowboys milling around

Many years ago, not eons but more than a decade ago, my lovely wife Laureen, and our daughter, Jessica decided to roam across the hot and dusty trails of the Mojave Desert.

It was one of those sort of boring Saturdays when suddenly I would come up with a brilliant family outing.

“Let’s head out and see what there is to see amongst the yucca trees, creosotes, tumbleweeds, and things that bite,” I suggested.

Laureen shook her head, “Jessie and I have an appointment to get a mani-pedi this morning.”

I had no idea what that meant but a deal was struck. They could get their whatever done and then we’d cruise out across no-man’s land.

“I’ll buy lunch,” I said.

“The heat may ruin my nails,” Jessica replied.

Even Laureen rolled her eyes at that statement.

So, my two ladies got home and I had the 4 x 4 all ready for an adventure. Ice chest full of cold drinks, some snacks but not enough to ruin our appetite, and a 30-year-old map of the desert heading northeast from our home in Victorville.

I also included two small black doggie poop bags so Jessica could keep her fingernails from seeing the sunshine.

Traveling the byways is a wonderful experience and that afternoon was no different. Coyotes, snakes, a tortoise, and an armadillo came into view as we drove the dirt paths toward the northeast. In all transparency, we were heading to the Slash X Ranch Cafe - though the girls did not know.

I like a good surprise to spruce up an otherwise drab day.

Arriving at the Slash X, I was thirsty after driving hours across the desert listening to my lovely daughter complain about sitting in the back seat and the sun's damage to her nails. So, I did what any good dad would do at that point.

“Fill me up, barkeep,” I said while we took a tabletop and prepared to order a late lunch.

The food, drinks, and atmosphere were great. Like many things, the years have since glided away like a freighter on the ocean, but the memories are still there.

Even Jessica later on said that was one of the best days of her life, of course, I may be embellishing a bit here, but it is my column.

So, recently my buddy, Paul, and I were returning from somewhere and decided to take Highway 247 south off of Interstate 15 in Barstow and visit the Slash X.

We met Bartender Todd, a fount of knowledge. As he handed us two cold drinks, he explained that the Slash X gets so many visitors each year that it is hard to count.

“During our peak season,” Todd said. “We may get a thousand people a day coming here, either on dirt bikes, offroad toys, or just folks passing by interested in what this place is all about.”

The interior is an eclectic cacophony of sight and sound. Rock and Roll music is piped through the entire bar and restaurant, allowing anyone to get up and dance to see if they have the moves like Jagger. The ceiling is covered with hundreds of trucker caps from all around the country and even the world - there is actually one from the small South Pacific territory of Tuvalu.

Many of the small bars I have visited - uh, read about - have women’s undergarments hanging from the rafters, but not Slash X.

“We run a respectable joint here,” Todd informed me.

The Slash X was once a rootin'-tootin' cowboy ranch started by Lee and Mary Berry in 1942. It was a large place with between 3,000 and 4,000 head of cattle and employed many cowpokes to help herd the herds.

The ranch was so successful in raising cattle that Lee became known as the ‘Cattle Baron’ of the Mojave Desert.

As most cowboys do after a long, hard day on the trail, the men would often shoot their six guns in the air while riding their horses around the ranch and then break into a nice harmonized sing-along, like My Little Buttercup. No, wait. That was in the film "The Three Amigos."

But they did like to grab a cold one when the sun went down over the nearby mountains. Mary, being the proper woman she was, did not allow any drinking or carousing in her home.

“I’ll be not having none of those shenanigans in my house, laddies,” Mary may have said if she had just got off the boat from Dublin.

In respect to his wife’s wishes, Berry and a bunch of the boys built a cafe and bar across the road from the house beginning in 1953 and opened for business a year later.

There the young cowboys and the occasional young cowgirl could kick up their heels and have a grand old time.

It is rumored that after a hard and grueling cattle drive the crew got a bit out of hand and the boss, Berry, had to quiet them down. “Shhh,” he is reported as saying while holding his index finger in front of his lips. “She’ll hear us!”

The original logs and beams used to build the establishment came all the way from Oregon, and in fact the large single-cut beam in the cafe is believed to be the largest and oldest solid wood beam in San Bernardino County.

“This place has a lot of history,” Todd said. “Today, we get mostly offroaders on bikes, trikes, dune buggies, Rzrs, CanAms . . .”

I had to order another beverage by the time I got the entire litany of vehicles that visited this oasis in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

“Did I mention sidecar motorcycles?”

“You missed that one,” I replied.

Seems it is not only dirt-loving riders that visit the Slash X but tour buses from all over Europe and Asia that stop by to get a bit of Americana to take back home.

A cowboy bar in a cowboy county, with real cowboys milling around - what better treat is that for someone from Hamburg who is going home to a place where most people speak only German?

“Nine, nine, nine,” one Hamburger may say when arriving home. “Ich have einen echten cowpoke geshen. Vit mein own eyes!”

My apologies to my German friends.

As Paul and I sat eating a delicious lunch, Todd and the kitchen staff kept the restaurant hopping. About a dozen dust-covered patrons came in, dusted themselves off, and sat down to unwind from their adventures across the dirt trails of the desert.

All were in good moods and why shouldn’t they be? A beautiful sunny day, no wind, miles and miles of open desert to play in, and a great respite midway through their travels.

According to Todd, the favorite seasons for offroaders are spring and fall, and the early part of winter - summer is usually nicht gut due to the unrelenting heat.

With all the safety gear responsible riders wear, it would be pretty uncomfortable during the month of July, when the temperatures can easily hit 110 degrees or more. However, it could be a new fad in losing weight—wear a veritable sauna suit while cruising to the Slash X.

The ranch has camping sites, an exterior bandstand with plenty of room to shake it for what it\'s worth, karaoke nights, bike rallies, and even venues for weddings and the like. This is a one-stop place for fun for the whole family - there’s even a large playground for the kids.

We wandered the property a bit after lunch and I wondered why it had been so many years since I had last visited this iconic spot just miles south of Barstow along Route 247.

I had no answer but knew the next visit would be a lot sooner.

For more information: https://www.slashxranch.com/

John can be reached at; [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: A cowboy bar in a cowboy county, with real cowboys milling around