Jocko's Rocket
Outside magazine, August 1999 Jocko's Rocket Will the car of the future come screaming out of the Mojave desert? By Brad Wetzler N inety miles east of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino Mountains give way to the flat, dusty moonscape of the Mojave Desert. Out here, the only things that stand up to the wind are gnarled Joshua trees and row after row of wildly spinning wind turbines. Continue driving east toward the town of Joshua Tree and you begin to see makeshift homesteads of shaggy-haired drifters living like moles in dug-out caves, plastic tanks discarded by chemical companies, and blue-tarp tents. Nearby, dozens of local eccentrics are hawking their artistry from flimsy plywood booths: miniature cacti welded out of copper, wood-carved jackrabbits, and beaded necklaces. Military jets scream overhead. Welcome to the gritty outskirts of Twentynine Palms, California, the last stop on the planet for deadbeats, loners, and dropouts; one of the few places in the country where $20 can...