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I have to slow down and pay attention...

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

Remember where I've laid down roots,

look back at the people who got me here.

One of the most prepared actors I'd ever worked with.

Really? Yeah.

And look ahead to the unknown.

Sometimes it's just, like, one thing

that changes the course of the rest of your life.

Slow down.

We have run out of gas in the deserts of Joshua Tree.

Los Angeles is my anchor.

The desert is my release.

In the year since the turn of the century,

Los Angeles has grown from a sleepy pueblo

to a vast, seething, metropolitan city.

Fine buildings, huge stores, busy citizens.

When I was in my 20s, I had a chip on my shoulder.

I just assumed no one liked me,

so I had this "You hate me, I hate you first" attitude.

For me, L.A. was a place that accepted me for who I was.

She was loud, raw,

and bursting with creative energy.

She welcomed me with open arms

at a time when I was just trying to figure it all out.

Hell, without her, I don't know where I'd be today.

L.A. always draws people to it.

And it's got a lot of hidden pockets.

It's not a city you can visit for a week or two and get.

You gotta kinda live here.

It's got like an underbelly about it.

You've got everything here.

The mountains, the ocean,

the city, the people, the girls.

I think that creative people just end up

wanting to be here all the time

because they just get this feeling

like they can make anything out here.

It's a city that attracts the dreamers.

It's the only place you can walk around

and turn figments of your imagination

into cold, hard cash.

Last time I was here, I was gone too fast.

On this visit, I'm slowing it down

and hitting up a list of friends in all corners of town

before cruising east to experience

the unrivaled spirit and community

that surrounds Joshua Tree.

But first I need to pay a visit to my friend

at one of the sickest motorcycle shops in town.

Yeah. What's up, dude? What's up, dude?

Nice to see you, man. How you been?

Dude, I been great.

When's the last time I saw you?

Like a month ago? Two months ago? A couple months ago.

Thanks for doing this. How you been?

I been good, I been good. Traveling, riding, enjoying life?

All of it, all of it, all of it. Two wheels.

With grease permanently caked under his fingernails,

Yaniv Evan, the mastermind behind Powerplant motorcycles,

has been building bikes since he was a kid.

Now he specializes in custom throwback rides.

I feel like when bikes go by,

you can tell if it's one of your bikes.

The idea behind everything

is to start with, like, scrap piece of metal.

Like, I... I don't throw away anything.

Like... like this little ring, for instance.

I have oven parts that I've found that were really beautiful

that I would attach on some of my bikes.

It's just raw materials to start a bike with.

This is where it, like, starts. You're an artist.

What... what do you... what...

What is it about L.A., like, that makes your bikes...

Like, I mean, you're so successful here,

like, you know what I mean?

Well, the motorcycle scene to me is like fashion.

You can't... like, you can't be

rocking the same look for three years.

You gotta change it.

Like, those bikes you can see,

"that was built in the '90s or late 2000s."

Like, I can tell the era of the bikes,

and you can't be, like, halfassing it. Right.

You can't have one foot in something that you're doing.

You're gotta go balls to the wall.

This is what we're doing now.

We're building bikes from scratch.

These are the shop hangaround dudes.

No, actually, they work here.

- This is Cole. - Yeah, dude.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, man. I'm Norman.

And you're a stunt dude, right?

Yeah, that's... That's what I do...

Wheelies, burnouts, jump 'em like Evel Knievel.

And how do you guys know each other?

I rode my bike across the country, my FXR,

and I broke down pretty much pulling in here.

And, it was just... Actually the day

one of his good friends had passed away,

so it was kind of weird.

But... but my friend that passed away

was passed away 'cause he was doing a wheelie,

and a lady slammed her brakes in front of him,

and he... he instantly hit her,

and, he... he died.

And the morning that he died was a Sunday morning,

and this freak shows up with a broken exhaust on his bike.

And I'm, like, "this is not the day."

I'm... I'm, like, in tears,

and we're sad, everyone's quiet.

I just felt bad. I'm like, "you know what?"

I've gotta get my mind off this thing,

"so bring your bike here."

We ended up doing a whole day surgery on his motor...

It was a nightmare. And got him on the road,

but, we kind of, like, during the time he was there,

he's, you know, showing off the bikes

doing wheelies here.

And I really respect guys who can ride.

Like, that's one thing.

Like, I don't care about anything.

You can be the biggest scum bag.

You ride a bike like the way he rides it,

he's not a scum bag.

Thanks, man, I appreciate that.

But if... if he was, I'd still respect him

'cause the way he rides a bike.

Respect.

A quality decreed to those who earn it,

regardless of race, color, or even if you're a scum bag.

I don't know what I did to earn Yaniv's respect,

but he's letting me ride one of his bikes

to his favorite lookout.

I'm not gonna pass that chance up.

- Yeah, buddy. - This party's dope, dude.

Yeah.

Loving this bike, bro.

Yeah.

Welcome to L.A., mother.

Whoo!

This is a good little secret spot

we come up to over here.

Like, when things are harsh at the shop,

We come up here and take a break for 5 minutes,

do a little canyon riding,

and go back to work.

It's a good place to bring a girl, too.

- There we go. - Yeah, look at that.

- Beautiful view. - Holy.

That's something else. Yeah, this is cool up here.

Yaniv, hat's off to you

for building these badass bikes, dude.

I love it.

Dude, this is awesome.

Hey, this is where we park usually.

Whoo!

Man. Loving your bike, man.

What a ride.

Yeah, that was beautiful.

That is a beast. That's... that's so powerful,

I mean, it's great. Dude, you looked good.

I was looking in the back, and we looked like a...

Like a stampede of buffalo.

It's like the best of both worlds...

The motor from, like, the newer bikes,

but the frame... this frame they stopped making,

so it wasn't really a Harley when it came out.

It was more like a Japanese bike.

So I'm glad you got to get on one.

That's great, dude. I loved it.

Thank you, man. Yeah.

The only time I feel free

is on a motorcycle.

I don't think about any other bull.

Just, like, mind's clear. Yeah.

This is a good... Good spot to get away,

and just... Throttle therapy, baby.

Thanks for having us.

Yeah, brother.

You know, back in high school, everybody had a punk band.

Everyone thought they were The Ramones,

but spoiler alert, they weren't.

But everybody loved The Ramones and their

fighttheestablishment attitude.

So now that I'm back in L.A.,

I finally made time for the one place

I've been dying to go to...

The Ramones Ranch.

Shot of cream.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

Cheers - Cheers, man.

That's perfect.

That's exactly what I need.

Yeah.

Linda Ramone and her boyfriend, J.D.,

have a strange and unconventional aesthetic.

But for them, this is home.

And it's where Johnny Ramone's legacy lives on.

We've never met, but... No.

We have a ton of mutual friends. I know.

And everybody loves you. That's nice.

Yeah. Everybody loves you.

Everybody says the best stuff about you.

Of course, and I saw you put a photo by Johnny's statue.

Yeah, that's right. And then I was, like, who is that guy?

I said to Fred, listen, the other night... Yeah.

'Cause he came over for dinner.

I go, "Do you know that guy Norman?"

And he goes, "Yeah, no, he's really successful."

I go, "So he's not a bum."

Fred's great. And he goes, "no, he's not a bum.

He's really good." I'm kind of a bum,

I'm kind of a bum. I was, like, okay.

That painting Dee Dee did of Johnny years ago,

and DeeDee tried to sell it to Johnny for $50,

and Johnny's like, "I'm not giving you $50 for that."

And he goes,

"And you put my guitar on backwards to be a jerk."

And Dee Dee goes, "No, no, no, that's how I saw it."

Wow.

There's Johnny.

I have Johnny's ashes still. Wow.

And then when I die, J.D. buries me and Johnny,

and when J.D. dies, he buries himself.

But we'll all go into Hollywood forever.

I love your paradise.

This is it. It's great.

It's gorgeous. Yeah.

There's really not that much rock 'n' roll anymore.

That's the problem.

I mean, going out in New York

was pretty amazing.

I saw The Damned and The Dead Boys

a whole weekend at CBGBs.

You didn't know it was a scene yet

because you were just going out.

I was still really young.

I was in high school going out to see bands,

but then the Ramones took over the scene.

And then it all became more punk,

and then the scene kind of left,

and new wave started coming in.

When new wave sort of took over, like,

was that... was everybody upset?

Johnny had a breakdown, what do you mean? Wow.

Well, 'cause now you're, like,

"well, what the hell are you gonna do?"

Punk never really got played on the radio,

so you kind of got ousted,

and now they're starting to play Blondie

and Boy George and Visage

and all these other bands that are new wave,

and they're not gonna play punk.

And you realize it, you start getting more nervous,

so that's what happened.

And then that's why the Ramones

just kept playing and playing and playing

because there was no way to retire.

You had to play.

So, where are you going now?

The guy that does the special effects for "Walking Dead,"

his whole factory.

And then Joshua Tree. Okay.

Which I've never been there before. All right.

Thank you so much for having me.

You're so lovely.

What a sweetheart.

We'll see you very soon. Yeah.

Seeing Linda, paying my respects to Johnny,

I'm flooded with memories from when I lived here.

L.A. is a place where anything seems possible,

and I'd like to think that living here

helped shape me into who I am today.

It's been a long day,

but there's one person who I can't miss seeing

while I'm in town.

Plus, he'd kill me if I didn't.

Or at least he'd make it look like I had been killed.

Look at this.

That's 1992, Irvine Meadows,

Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, and House of Pain.

- Arseface from "Preacher." - Butthole face.

Aah! So creepy.

I could scare the out of people with this. Take it.

Tell me if you want me to slow down.

You're all right, as long as you feel good.

Look at this.

You're in my neck of the woods now. Hey, buddy.

Hi, dude. Hi, yeah.

How are you? I'm good. I'm good.

Director, executive producer,

special effects makeup designer,

and one of my closest friends, Greg Nicotero.

He's an absolute legend,

and you might recognize his work

on a show called "The Walking Dead."

Dude, look at your office. This is nuts.

I know. I redid it. Isn't it funny?

Wait, hold on, you gotta get...

You gotta get the full effect.

This is what a giant...

You know I'm a giant nerd, of course.

So this is the full effect with the...

Whoa!

Is that a direct model from something? This is...

This is a model from "Lost in Space,"

which was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. Yeah.

So you know, it's, like, "Danger, Will Robinson,"

and you walk over here, and you can, like,

flip all the buttons on.

And then, of course, you go from this wacky '60s scifi

to our little gallery of,

of dead folks.

I recognize everyone.

And then we got the well walker. We got the pets. Yeah.

It looks like it's real...

Like, feels like it's real.

How did you get into this?

You know, I just... I grew up in Pittsburgh.

I loved... I loved horror movies,

and it was just one of those situations

where I was getting ready

to go off to school to be a doctor,

'cause my dad's a doctor,

So I was premed...

and I worked at a hospital over the summer

and sat in surgeries

and watched them cut people open.

That must help with all this.

It totally did, and that's how we got jobs.

We got jobs because we did "Dances with Wolves."

The guy was, like,

"God, you're p... This stuff looks super real."

So, um, the craziest thing

is I remember going to an operating room.

One day I interned with a surgeon.

So I made the incision in the body.

It was like three seconds,

and then the blood started welling up.

And they had this little soldering iron,

and they went, "Sst, sst, sst."

And they burned all the blood vessels closed

so it wouldn't bleed.

And the weirdest thing was the smell.

I'll never forget that smell, that burningflesh smell.

And every single time we do gags in movies,

it's like, I always think about, "well, the blood would..."

you know, when the heart's pumping,

how long the blood takes to come out.

Do you ever get squeamish, or no?

No.

There's Kevin working on...

What's up, Kevin? A zombie head.

Hey, how's it going, man?

Nice to see you, man. Good to see you.

What are you making?

A zombie crushed head... A zombie smashedin face.

Wow, that's gross. It's got all the little dangly...

Yeah. It's a big sticky right now. That's disgusting.

Yeah, it's pretty disgusting. That's the trick is,

every time you walk past something like this on a table,

you have to touch it. Yeah, yeah.

Some of the stuff... This is just like fun house.

Who is this guy? What does this do?

Tell me about these guys.

I thought those were vaginas.

What's up? What's up, Greg? It's a good look.

I like the bigger nose for you. Yeah?

What do you do with this? When they rip it open

they'll reveal... That's awesome.

Rib cage, a little bit of muscle.

- Arseface from "Preacher." - Butthole face.

Nice.

I could scare the out of people with this. Take it.

I like your style. All right.

Here's your figure. Wow.

This is weird. I'm so used to...

It is kind of wild. It's so strange, yeah.

To me, it's super weird.

Here, hold on, I'll take a picture of you

taking a picture of you.

Give me back my hat.

Give me back my glasses.

Wow, aah, it's so creepy.

But first thing we ever worked together

was with John Carpenter. Yeah.

It was "The Masters of Horror." Yeah, that's right, yeah.

And he talked to you

about hiring me on "Walking Dead."

Well, yeah, so, you know, any time...

Directors always like to reach out to their friends

and find out what actors were like.

And I remember calling John, and he was, like,

"What do you want? What's up?

Why are you bothering me? What's happening?"

And I said, "Hey, listen, you know",

we're thinking about hiring Norman

"on 'Walking Dead.'"

And he goes,

"One of the most prepared actors I'd ever worked with."

Really? Yeah.

And then, of course, that was all I ever heard of it.

And then I get in the van, and I'm in zombie makeup.

It was my... it was... We were shooting episode 3,

and you get in the van next to me,

not really thinking about the fact

that I'm wearing zombie makeup. Yeah.

Like, "Hey, you're here."

Yeah, you were my first zombie, as well.

And you were looking at me going, "Yeah."

Like, you had no idea who I was.

Yeah, yeah.

And it was really funny

'cause I was, like, "It's Greg."

And you're, like, no.

Yeah, because you looked so real.

That was... you were the first talking zombie for me.

That led to a good thing over here, so. Yeah.

Show me more, show me more, show me more, show me more.

What else do you want to see? So much.

I never get sick of looking at Greg's work.

I'm sad you're leaving already. I know.

It feels like you just got here. I'll see you soon enough.

But as Day 1 comes to a close, I head out tonight,

and I'll rest easy in Hollywood.

There's something beautiful

about Los Angeles just after sunrise.

A calmness to it as it washes the sleep from its eyes.

Today I continue my ride east towards Joshua Tree

with a couple of stops along the way,

including a group ride led by rapper Sen Dog

and the motorcycle crew the Cypress Hillbillies.

But before I kick it into gear,

I'm gonna meet up with a close friend of mine

who will join me on my ride out of the city.

Where is your shop out here?

I'm in Alhambra, California.

It's not that far. No, no.

I thought it was crazy far. No, dude, no.

I'm really close right there, and it's a cool little shop.

It's just me and my wife, Fiona.

And my kids come after school.

Your supercute kids, yeah. Thanks, man.

They're all right.

His grandfather built railroads.

His father built cars.

Chris Richardson's passion for building innovative bikes

runs deep within his veins.

He owns L.A. Speed Shop

and has an obsession for detail,

specializing in vintage choppers and bobbers.

One of my favorite bikes that I own was built by him.

I mean, how far is it where we're going?

What is it? Like, an hour, hour and a half?

I think it's about 45 minutes. To Palm Springs? Yeah.

Probably with traffic, it might be maybe two hours.

Dude, your traffic out here sucks! It's crazy, man.

I had a crash here once.

This car jumped in oncoming traffic lanes,

and I could see this old lady and this old man

in the front seat just doing like this...

Yeah... As I hit the front

and just kind of flew over the car,

and my bike kind of did this.

Man.

And I laid on the ground, like, just twitching.

And people were driving.

Nobody stopped to help me,

but people were driving by going, "Sue 'em!"

Like, ten people said, "Sue 'em,"

but nobody stopped to help me.

You know what, and then I had to push my bike

into the bushes right there... Yeah.

And walk to a buddy's house

and sort of do this on his sofa for the rest of the day.

Dude. Yeah, doing the tuna, right?

It sucks. Yeah. You're flopping around.

Yeah.

Riding in L.A. is definitely treacherous.

L.A. traffic has made me move three times

since I've been here.

Traffic's pretty brutal, 100% brutal.

Like, all the time.

You know, the 405,

I do try to stay away from that,

and I take the city streets as much I can.

Every ten years, I get in a wreck.

I've survived 'em all.

It's dangerous out there, for sure.

You ever heard of Cypress Hillbillies before?

Yeah, dude, I have, actually.

I'm excited to meet them and hang out.

I'm excited, too, yeah.

We're gonna head east to our next stop

on the outskirts of the city.

Where Sen Dog and the Cypress Hillbillies

wait for us at the end of a quaint little culdesac.

Right there, right there.

Straight ahead. Yep.

This is our main pinball hall. Wow.

This one houses over 700 pinball machines.

The holy grail of pinball machine collections.

Sen Dog, the renowned member

of the hiphop group Cypress Hill.

He's an avid biker

and an affiliate of the exclusive motorcycle club.

The Cypress Hillbillies.

They don't just let anyone into the mix,

but today, they've made an exception

to let me join them on a group ride.

This bike is a beast right there. That's yours?

That's mine. That's Lucinda right there.

Lucinda? Yeah.

That's a serious motorcycle right there.

Yeah, that's an '03 anniversaryedition Springer.

Funny, I went to buy that bike one day,

and the dealer dude didn't even look at me, talk to me, or nothing.

He just let me look around and leave.

So I went back the next day like,

"Damn it, I'm gonna get me this motorcycle."

So as I'm walking in, the same dude that ignored me

opened the door for me.

He goes, "You're ready now, aren't you, son?"

He knew it. I go, "Damn right, I am."

I go, "that one right there." Wow.

I didn't really expect to, you know,

to love it as much as I did.

Not just the bike, just the whole culture.

Just the whole family of people,

that we all love the same thing.

So how long has your club been around?

We've been rolling for seven years.

Um, this year, it'll be our eighth year in a few months.

Before every ride, we meet up here, you know,

and get together and make a game plan if it's not already made,

and after the ride, you know, we also come back here

and just, you know, loosen out a little bit

before everybody goes home. Yeah. Yeah.

We're still at it. There's no other life, you know.

Some of these photos over here.

Look at this.

That's 1992 at Irvine Meadows.

Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, and House of Pain.

That was right before the concert started.

They were rolling dice right there,

and BReal took, like, 3,000 bucks off everybody.

- Damn. - For real?

That was a heck of a night.

I think everybody's performance outdid the prior one.

Really? You know,

and then the Beasties came and shut it down.

At that point, to get on tour with them,

it was definitely a feeling of accomplishment.

In 25 years in the game, I think I've met a lot of people

that I thought I'd never meet in life.

I would do it all over again just to meet these people.

You know what I mean?

It's been a rad time.

We got you some shirts, bro,

we'd love for you to have, man. Hell, yeah.

Thank you so much.

We really appreciate you guys coming and blessing the clubhouse.

Let's go for a ride. Thanks for having us.

Yeah, man. Let's do it. Let's go for a ride.

If you look past the leather and the tough exterior,

you're gonna see the Cypress Hillbillies

believe in honor and tradition.

Group rides are a testament to their brotherhood,

and riding alongside them is a sacred privilege

I'm never gonna take for granted.

- This is awesome, man. - Yeah, yeah.

- Good times. - Yeah!

Yo.

Yeah.

Yeah!

As Chris and I peel off from our friends,

we continue our journey east towards Banning...

where I have a personal invitation

to the Museum of Pinball.

Wow, look at the snow up there.

Yep. The snow on that mountaintop.

Yeah, see here,

we're kind of 45 minutes to a half an hour away

from everything.

Yeah. You want to go to the desert,

you got, like, 45 minutes. 45 minutes.

Everybody's been, like,

"My God, you're going to Joshua Tree, amazing."

Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's a big area.

Are you good at pinball?

I'm good at playing with my balls,

I don't know about pinballs.

I've gotten pretty good at pinball, I got to admit.

The Museum of Pinball,

a sacred place that only opens its doors

a few times a year for gaming competitions.

Lucky for me,

the owner John Weeks and his son Jonathan

offered me a private tour of their vintage arcade.

Wow. This is absolutely amazing.

One side's pinball, and the other side's arcade games.

- All you need is strippers. - Yeah, strippers would be fine.

You'd make a mazillion dollars.

This is our main pinball hall. Wow!

This will house over 700 pinball machines.

18 acres of hypnotizing flashing lights.

The scoreboards chime and mechanical flippers clack...

baiting me to pull the plunger,

sending its steel ball into orbit.

If only 10yearold Norman could see me now.

The holy grail of pinball machine collections.

Let's play stuff.

How do I get it into the mouth?

- You gotta work for that. - Yeah, you gotta work for it.

It's not easy to do.

Whoa.

- Whoa, you see that? - His eyes are moving over.

- See how he's shaking it? - Tilt, tilt.

- Man, come on. - See? See how you're doing that? -You tilted it.

Look at that.

- Tilt. - Not good.

He's too rough. All right.

Ching, ching, ching, ching, ching.

These look old. Yeah, these are wedge heads, so these are the older games,

and they're all electric mechanical.

This is the oldest one we have.

- Yeah. - Big Casino.

1959.

Wow.

So, pinball was illegal in the '40s

all the way up into the mid-'70s

in L.A., Chicago, and New York

because it was a game of chance.

New York City completes a roundup

of thousands of pinball machines,

each valued at about $100.

The police acted on a city magistrate's decision

which classified them as gambling devices.

Attorneys for owners and distributors

of the pinball machines

seek to appeal the decision.

Actually, it was 1973 or so,

a guy named Roger Sharp came about

and got the city council together in New York City,

called his shot, used a game called Bing Shot,

landed the shot, and proved to the city council

that it's a game of skill, not chance,

and pinball is back.

Wow, this is bringing back memories right here.

Looks like he knows what he's doing. Yeah.

As a kid I would scrounge around for quarters,

head to the nearest arcade,

and enter an 8bit world

filled with scrolling laser beams

and exploding spaceships.

This guy's an ass.

It's been a minute.

It's been a minute?

For just 25 cents,

I defended the planet

from the invading alien forces.

Now I defend it from Walkers,

so I guess that training kind of paid off.

You're doing good at this, man.

- Snap. - Nice.

I have "Defender" skills You know what I mean?

I know, dude, you killed it.

You know? Man.

I can't thank you enough, dude.

It's been a fun day.

Sen Dog and all that, how fun was that?

Dude, it was cool.

Good people, too.

Yeah, for sure, for sure.

And you're off to?

Joshua Tree.

You gotta send me a picture whenever you get there.

I'll probably get arrested.

I got a feeling I'm gonna get arrested.

You gotta have fun, right? Dude, give me a hug,

Man, thank you. All right, brother. Always good seeing you.

It's good to see you, man, yeah. Safe travels.

Yeah.

Good times, buddy. Good times.

I part ways from Chris.

He has a family to get back to,

and I have the call of the desert to answer.

I continue east towards Joshua Tree,

but as the sun dips below the horizon,

I leave all traces of L.A. behind me.

Tomorrow's a new day.

The wind is constant, and the road goes on forever.

Unfortunately, I cannot.

I need to recharge and get some sleep.

You guys ever see aliens out here?

We haven't. We know some people who have.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yo, where'd he go behind me?

What.

What about.

What about the.

What about the Godzilla?

What about the Godzilla?

What about the Godzilla? You.

What about the Godzilla? You can.

What about the Godzilla? You can put.

What about the Godzilla? You can put it.

Here's our... here's our Norman Reedus transformation.

Whoa. So you can see through there.

This is rad.

I need the big tail and crush cities,

you know what I mean? You know what we should do next time,

is we'll make a miniature city, and you can just show up,

get in the suit, and stomp on it.

Yeah.

Hold on, give me your hat.

We think exactly the same. I know we do.

It looks even better.

Yeah.

All right, perfect.

All right. We're gonna go look around.

Checked into the hotel, passed out,

and now we're up early, and headed to Joshua Tree.

Riding through here reminds me of that scene

in "The Thomas Crown Affair,"

where Steve McQueen skied high in a glider...

Wow.

Trying to clear his head

before pulling off a major heist.

That looks so rad over there.

And that song played,

"The world is like an apple swirling silently in space.

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind."

Sure, McQueen had a plane, and I have a bike,

but as if by design,

they both kind of help prepare you for the unknown,

and open the mind to new experiences.

I just hope in my case

that it doesn't result in a federal offense.

Yeah.

As I leave serenity in my mirrors,

I look ahead towards Joshua Tree.

I'm telling you, a bottle of Scotch,

and like, a laptop,

you could write the great American novel

right there, you know.

I think it's the people in the community

that makes Joshua Tree so special.

It's got such a great spirit.

All of a sudden, you just have the room

to think about what you want to create.

You can get anything you want out of this place.

It's got it all.

Everyone kind of wants to be here,

but not everyone can survive.

The desert kind of selfselects.

I came out here to find UFOs.

Why are you here?

Yeah.

- How's it going? - Good.

This is cool out here.

Gwen Barker and Eric Dean

have hung up the fastpaced advertising industry

to pursue a life here in the deserts of Joshua Tree.

I've never ridden this far east of L.A.,

but they asked me to meet them here at Noah Purifoy Museum

where artistic freedom knows no bounds.

This is surreal.

It's like a David Lynch movie or something.

All of this work is one artist,

like, over the last 15 years of his life or so.

And it's all sort of art as social change, you know.

It's all found objects, over 10 acres. Wow.

There's a lot of interesting people...

Artists, writers, photographers...

That all live out here by Joshua Tree

and the rest of High Desert.

People get a lot of inspiration from living out here.

Does everybody kind of know each other

in like a big community?

- Yeah. - It's a supertight community.

The origin of the name Joshua Tree

is because the Mormons thought

it was like Joshua reaching up to God. Raising up-

Wow, wow, wow. Yeah.

Good to know.

I've been curious about what that... Yeah.

This looks like a record player, right?

Yeah, totally.

Or birth control. It could be birth control.

It's true. It's true.

These are school trays.

You eat your lunch off of 'em. Right.

That's part of the fun of this, too,

is, like, seeing what... What was the original item.

It's interesting how you repurpose an object

and give it more meaning.

Another life.

Yeah.

This is like every 20yearold's artistic dream

is to be when they grow up. Yeah.-

To just disappear and just make stuff.

Make stuff? Yeah. Yeah.

We came out here and loved it so much

that we decided we had to be out here.

And, and dropped it all and bought a ranch,

and here we are.

The owner of the ranch just sort of in passing said

that he might be looking for his next chapter.

You know, we said, if you're really

ever gonna entertain the idea of selling this place,

let us know.

And we heard from him in a week. Really?

So, he kind of called our bluff rather quickly.

Yeah, but a guy like that probably was, like,

interviewing you in his head. 100%.

He wouldn't want to leave this to anyone.

Sometimes it's just like one thing

that changes the course of the rest of your life.

And we showed up in my old Ford pickup,

and it was almost exactly the same

as his old Ford pickup.

We probably never really would have had a conversation.

If we picked a different car

and we showed up on anything else or whatever...

And it changed the course of our lives.

I think if you're open to see those

and accept them and move in that direction,

everything works for the better, you know.

Yep. That's great.

You just have to be willing to do it.

Yeah. That's the hardest part.

So where we going? We're going to our place.

Hey, man, what's the "RR" on your baseball hat stand for?

Rimrock Ranch.

I gotta get a hat. Do you have another one?

I've got one especially for you. Yeah.

It says ass on the front of it?

Wow, that's super pretty right there to the right. Yeah.

- All of this. - Holy.

You guys ever see aliens out here?

We haven't. We know some people who have.

But, questionable

what state of mind they were in.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

What?

Hey, yo, where'd he go behind me?

Yo, we lost your boyfriend.

All right, come on, girl.

Captain's log, "Star Trek" Enterprise.

We have run out of gas

in the deserts of Joshua Tree.

We have one soldier down back there.

His lovely girlfriend is here

to keep the fire burning alive in his honor...

in case he doesn't return.

He's gone.

Never to return.

This looks like a hostile planet to me.

Although we have met... I mean, it's not far off.

It is a western.

Yeah, we have met...

We have met locals that seem very nice,

but there is sort of a weird

desert twinkle in their eye.

So they might have kept him and turned him into chili.

We don't know.

Thank God you're not chili right now.

I'll explain later.

Thanks for waiting.

Of course. I appreciate it.

It's rude to watch your girl

ride off with Norman Reedus into the sunset.

Stranded on a ride.

Season 2.

Well, welcome to Rimrock Ranch.

This is awesome up here. This is so cool.

The Rimrock Ranch.

It's an end for travelers,

a place for friends to gather,

a place to say "I do."

A place you could tune up and rock out.

It's a place Gwen and Eric call home.

- Hi, Eric. - Hi!

What's up? Hi, I'm Norman.

Hi. Annie. Nice to meet you.

What's your name? Lisa.

You're adorable. Norman. Nice to meet you.

She's a badass biker chick already. Hi!

Such a good vibe up here, all these people.

Yeah, isn't it? This is supercool.

It's our desert family.

Who's this little dude? This is Ellie May.

Hi, Ellie May.

She's my little princess.

My God. Hi, cutie pie.

Is this your truck? This is Jim's truck.

So, um, I have a '67, This is a '69.

I used to have a Ford F150.

Yeah? Yeah.

Well... I had to stop for gas at every gas station.

Speaking of Fords.

Dude. This is bananas.

Yeah.

Tell me the story with this.

Um, so, it's a Ford GT40,

replica of the original car.

I built it, spent about three years of my life.

It's my favorite car of all time,

and no one can afford the real ones, so.

You're a badass.

I couldn't even make this as a little model.

And away we go.

This is crazy.

You can feel the power.

440 horsepower in a 2,300 pound car,

so that's like the equivalent of

you know, a powertoweight ratio of a modern NASCAR.

Got a bunch of weirdos out here.

Welcome to the desert.

Tell me if you want me to slow down.

You're all right as long as you feel good.

I feel good.

I feel real good!

For me, riding is a visceral experience.

Man and machine become one.

Two men and a machine?

That's a threesome I can get behind.

I feel like my penis just got like five inches longer.

I'm not adjusting your seatbelt.

Dude, that was amazing.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Seriously, you're gonna have to leave your girlfriend

because I'm about to propose to you.

Unreal. I accept.

As the sun goes down behind the desert hills,

casting silhouettes in its absence,

signaling the end of the day.

Right here, right now,

the L.A. local band The Shrine gets the party started.

We all hold onto those things

that bridge the gap between our past and our future.

Hanging photographs on the wall,

collecting old parts,

preserving time, preserving our loved ones,

keepsakes that offer comfort

in times when we lose our bearings.

They remind us of who we are and how far we've come.

Throughout our lives, we collect these memories.

And when you piece them all together,

they reveal our journey.

Whoa.

I gotta thank you guys for having me, man.

Thank you.

Thanks for coming. This is such a...

Such a good life up here, you know what I mean?

We think so.

The best thing about living here

are all these people right here. Yep. Aw.

This is like, um, the greatest sense of community

I've ever experienced living anywhere in my life.

Yeah, I'm coming back, for sure, yeah.

We have a gift for you.

Yeah, I wanted to give you something. Shut up.

A little, something

you can remember this place by. No way.

No way. And, um...

This black hat is, um,

something you have to earn, so...

- You get of one each. - We'll talk about that later.

Does this have anything to do with the proposal?

Is this honeymoon material?

Is that what you're talking about?

Yo... Give me a hug, dude. Yeah, you're awesome, man.

You are, too. Thank you for everything.

Yeah.

The Rimrock Ranch hat isn't just a hat.

It's a reminder of my time here in Joshua Tree

and the friendships I've made in the desert,

and the ones I've maintained in the city,

and the ride it took to get here.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

No, this isn't just a hat.

It's a reminder of a ride that I'm never gonna forget.

The engagement is on.

Yeah.

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