Born in
in Kingston Ontario Canada, near Syracuse NY, Robyn Lewis made her
way to California with her first husband – he was moving back to
family and Robyn was excited to be near LA to continue her acting
career.
Robyn
describes herself as a shy kid who took some acting classes in
Canada to try it out, which lead to doing extra work on films when
she moved to Los Angeles. On set, she enjoyed the camaraderie of
the other actors and talks about some of the pitfalls of being a
newbie in Hollywood.
While
living in the Los Angeles area, Robyn had a friend with a place in
Pioneertown. Robyn, and her then husband, would come up to visit
for a change of scenery, wandering around Mane Street, which at the
time was mostly residential. They’d wander into Pappy & Harriett’s
- with no reservations - and were wowed by a young lady who would
stand near the jukebox and ‘rocked the place’ with her amazing
voice.
Robyn
and her then husband decided to purchase a place in Johnson Valley
and moved to the desert. Robyn quickly realized this location was
too remote for a young mother with two young children. To meet
people and give the kids some social time, Robyn found the parks in
Yucca Valley, picnicking with the kids several times a week,
meeting other moms and kids. She also discovered a Mommy and Me
group where she found herself teaching several classes. Eventually,
Robyn rented out the Johnson Valley house and moved to Yucca
Valley.
Robyn
says at that time the Morongo Basin was a pretty quiet place. There
was no Starbucks, no Applebee’s. Just a Kmart and two grocery
stores. Robyn confesses to not spending much time in the National
Park until meeting her current partner.
If
you’ve been to Crossroads Café in Joshua Tree, Robyn may have taken
your order. She recently made the difficult decision to leave the
Cafe after working there for over ten years. In this episode, Robyn
says the crew she worked with was truly like a family and she met
so many wonderful people, visitors and locals alike.
In
all her years here in the Morongo Basin, she feels this is the
largest and longest influx of people that she remembers moving to
the desert. She’s asks new residents and visitors respect the
place, the silence and clean up after yourself.