I went to California a few years ago when I was about 21 with a group of friends. We rode up the PCH highway, with nowhere to be, just driving aimlessly. It was getting dark so I googled the nearest hotel, it was in Santa Maria. The drive there was absolutely breathtaking. The hills, the cool breeze, the winding road.
Anyway we get to the hotel after about two hours of driving. The whole town of Santa Maria is covered in fog.. sucked because we were totally going to go down to the beach. The next morning one of my friends gets a call, she needs to come back to Arizona; where we are from, because something happened to her mom.
So I'm in charge if driving halfway back. I look at the maps, we can either backtrack all the way to LA, get stuck in LA traffic for hours, or we can go this sweeted looking back way. Of course anyone who has been to LA knows how clogged the 101 is and how long it can take to get out of town, so like any sane person I choose the back way. The route was take the 166 to the 58, then follow signs. The route is absolutely desolate.. no houses, businesses, no nothing except mountains and land for sale. After a few hours of driving we were starving and so I found a place to stop at the 14 and the 58 called Mojave. It said Hamburgers.. just a sign with hamburgers and one pump for gas and oddly enough a laundromat that connected to the gas station.
We go in to get food and there are definitely no hamburgers. But there were three huge creepy men who watched us walk around the store. The smell in the store was sickly sweet, like rotten hamburgers and there were flies on everything, huge fat flies.
As we were checking out they started asking us questions like where we were going, who was with us, if we knew anyone in the area.. full on creeper vibes. I grabbed my bag of snacks and we hurried to the car. Two of the guys got into this big old Chevy, and they started following us. As I said before, there is nothing around for miles.. so after about 20 miles my friends started getting really freaked out. These guys were slowing way Down, then speeding up riding our asses. Of course none of us had any cell service.. The guys got braver and actually hit my car bumper with their truck. I had had it so I pulled over to the shoulder, slammed my car into park, reached under my seat for my FNX 9mm, cocked it and got out.
I pointed it directly at the driver who had done a Uturn and was facing our car. I fired a warning shot into the air in their general direction, and the guys took off like their asses were on fire. If I hadn't brought my gun with me, I'm pretty sure my friends and I would be chained up in a basement somewhere.
I don't know if this really constitutes as a creepiest thing you've ever seen, probably more of a Let's Not Meet...but if you ever go to California.. do not stop in Mojave.