It’s the second day of the “To Be Continued” Art and Music Festival happening out in Wonder Valley which is a small unincorporated part of the Mojave desert only about 10 to 12 miles east of Twentynine Palms. There’s something about Amboy Road that makes the miles feel longer, but in a good way.
I drove out there to talk with Lindsey Anderson about the festival, and our conversation inevitably got around to Wonder Valley itself. I love walking, driving or skating around neighborhood in the Morongo Basin, scoping out cool houses and stealing landscaping ideas. But in Wonder Valley, the property lines are more loose and driving down some dirt roads feels a bit more invasive of resident’s privacy.
It can be hard to know Wonder Valley from the outside unless you are out there living in it.
Lindsey Anderson:
“To last in Wonder Valley… it requires a certain tenacious character, I suppose. And also a kind of spirit of generosity because you really are dependent on your neighbors out here and so we try to get along. We try to be there for each other. It’s a really tight-knit community. We have a pretty diverse mix of people who live here and that’s a beautiful thing about it. It keeps us together and we look out for each other… we help each other with chores and rides and groceries. We text each other when the moon is rising. It’s a pretty nice place to live if you can give up some of the comforts you might be used to in the city.
“My name is Lindsey Anderson and I’m an artist. I live out here in the hi-desert. Wonder Valley is not as developed as a lot of the rest of the hi-desert, there’s no city water here… a lot of people live off the electric grid. Historically, Wonder Valley is a place where people go because they’re at the end of their line. I came here when I was at the end of my line, you know? I was trying to find a way where I could just cut back and create a life that wasn’t so expensive so that I wouldn’t feel the pressure to keep maintaining this high-level of income just in meet my basic needs.
“It was intense in the beginning, for sure. Not a lot of people want to live here. Some people who are living out here are at the end of the line and you know what? I’m not any better than them. Those are my neighbors. We know each other, and we just have different struggles and and I think that’s part of the beauty of the people who live here and stay out here and create community out here… is that we don’t judge each other.
“The ‘To Be Continued’ is a beautiful Festival of Art and music. There’s going to be 14 different bands, there’s going to be immersive experiences that you can feel and it’s going to be a lot of just really fun people and good friends. There are sliding scale tickets at the door and we hope everyone will come out no one will be turned away for lack of funds. I just hope everybody will come out and have a good time.”
You can find more info on the festival here and on their Instagram below. You can also just get in a car, point it east on Amboy Road and drive until you find the End of the World or the Palms Restaurant – convientently located right next to each other.
Previously Reported:
