Some photos from my recent California trip that I never posted….
Archive for the 'California' Category
03
Jun
The Big Sur Coastline
It’s been over 100 degrees there lately.
Reminiscing about the Salton Sea tonight and how much I want to go back as soon as possible. I have so many photos that I haven’t even gone through from my trip to California. I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time photographing the Salton Sea as I had hoped. Better luck next time.
17
Apr
something’s missing
I miss the Salton Sea. I miss California. I miss my friends there.
After I visited the Salton Sea, everything else was pretty low-key. I stayed overnight at a hotel in Palm Springs. I stayed at hotels a lot more than I had expected on my trip, but I have no complaints (except for the bargain hunter that I almost stayed at in Barstow).
I spent the last day in the LA area with my friend Robyn who I had stayed with on the beginning of my trip. It was good to have one last hurrah before my butt shipped out of the state.
I am back in Philly now. Not so happy about it. This weather stinks. And after photographing such great things in the desert, everything else seems so boring in comparison. I need to get out of this city more often.
I’m still not well, but I will be going to the doctor on Monday and hopefully I’ll be on the mends soon.
28
Mar
Day 14: The Salton Sea
I woke and hit the road for the Salton Sea. It was a 3.5 hour drive to get there. My route went through a super dooper windy road through hills of a previously burnt forest and fields. Then I hit Anza-Borrego State Park. Anza-Borrego is one place that I’ve always wanted to visit in the spring because it’s one of the best places for desert wildflowers in southern CA. However, since my itinerary was changed a bit due to being sick, I wasn’t going to be able to stop. But the view of the flowers from just the road was amazing! I saw a lot of Indian paintbrush, desert marigold, lupines, beavertail cacti flowers, cholla cacti, apricot mallow, sand verbena, and so much more…just from the car. I arrived at the Salton Sea and suddenly filled with excitement. I’d lived so close to this place for a couple of years, but I’d never been there. For years and years I’ve wanted to visit the Salton Sea. I was finally there!
The Salton Sea was accidentally created over 100 years ago and is now a huge ecological disaster. The New River, which flows north out of Mexico, provides the Salton Sea with the freshwater that it needs, but is also a huge threat to the Sea as well. As it flows, it has picked up agricultural run-off with pesticides, dead animals, industrial waste, and raw sewage. There are high levels of DDT and selenium that are residual within the silt bottom of the sea. The pile worms on the bottom eat the silt, which are then eaten by fish, which are eaten by birds. The New River is the most polluted river in the US. And since it flows north out of Mexico, many illegals will swim in the river, popping up for fresh air along the way. But Border Patrol won’t even touch them because they’re so dirty. ick! Anyway, the Salton Sea is 30% saltier than the ocean, which is the biggest risk to the wildlife and overall health of the Salton Sea. Coupled with the pollution brought by the New River, The Salton Sea is a key part to the Pacific flyway for some of the greatest bird populations in the world(over 400 species). The very very pricey Salton Sea Restoration Project will reduce the lake to a fifth its current size, but create ponds that would continue to support the wildlife species.
Seeing all of the effects of the pollution and salinity first hand was quite a site. In the photo below, you can see lines of brown, tan, and white: these are dead fish. BILLIONS of dead fish.
And then I drove around the upper half of the western and eastern shores of the Salton Sea…
As the sun started to set, I made a quick exploration of Salvation Mountain and Slab City.
Afterwards, I drove to Palm Springs where I spent the night in a hotel. I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time in the Salton Sea as I wanted to. I could have easily spent weeks taking photos there. I must go back.
25
Mar
Day 13: San Diego
I stayed at the hotel until the very last minute that I could check out. I went to grab some lunch and hit the road. I stopped at a Barnes & Noble to kill some time and then took a nap in my car. Then I made the drive to San Diego. I met up with my friend Andy (not the same Andy from my previous posts). We were both pretty hungry so we went to a really awesome Japanese restaurant. Andy gave me a small tour of San Diego afterwards. I’ve been to San Diego about 4 times, but I feel as though I’ve never really seen what the city has to offer. We went to the harbor and walked up to the USS Midway, which is an older aircraft carrier that was a flagship in Desert Storm in 1991 and decommissioned a year later after 47 years of service. Surprisingly, I’d never been that close to an aircraft carrier that I could recall. I can only imagine how today’s aircraft carriers just tower this one. We also went to a hill where you could see 360 degrees in all directions. It was so neat to see all of a city from one single location. Other than that, we just hung out and talked since we haven’t seen each other for at least 8 years. I should have taken my camera along to dinner with me, but didn’t. So no photos for the day.
I spent two years of my life living in Barstow and I’m still fairly familiar with the area, but I never really did much photography of the outlying desert communities….which are really just houses scattered here and there with lots of abandonment in between. So that was my mission on this trip. I had some idea of the locations where I wanted to go so I headed in that general direction and just drove around for a while.
Although it’s so easily recognized and I’d been there before, I stopped to take the token photo of Peggy Sue’s Diner.
At this point, I already had to use the bathroom so I thought I’d drive to Newberry Springs and visit my next stop: the Bagdad Cafe. Why I didn’t think to use the bathroom in Peggy Sue’s is beyond me. The Bagdad Cafe was the set location for the movie of the same name. I’d never been to the cafe so I decided that I’d check it out since it was along my route. Of course, I stopped to photograph a few things along the way there.
I arrived at the Bagdad Cafe. When I walked in, I was immediately greeted by the two men who were working there. There was a family from Europe visiting the cafe as well. I was asked if I wanted something to drink so I asked for a hot tea and sat down. One of them men asked if they could cook any food for me. I said “no”, to which the other man (who we’ll refer to as “creepy dude”) replied “That’s good cuz we ain’t got nothing. We ran out of just about everything.”
Creepy dude continued to tell me about his life and experiences he’s had. Raised as an Air Force brat in Europe where the school system is much more strict than it is here. When he was back in the states, he went to MIT for grad school, but thought that the place was a shit hole so he left. He then decided to work for the FDIC and repossesses people’s shit that they can’t pay for (houses, boats, cars, etc). Said that he only works a few weeks out of the year for them. Said that he lives in Alta Loma, but comes to the area on vacation…but in the same breath said that he moved here for real estate. He was going to buy the hotel next door (which was also in the movie) ; it was in escrow but he couldn’t afford it…and maybe someday soon he can buy it (see photo of hotel below).
He makes $1,000 per hour. He likes to fly planes.
The guy had chatted it up enough with me so I decided it was time to leave. I was in awe. I forgot to use the bathroom.
I was quickly reminded that I needed to use the bathroom when I left so I made a quick escape to a gas station not far away. The gas station had a convenience store and a grill where you could get food made to order (keep in mind that this IS the desert). When I left, I spotted one of the female employees who had no front teeth. She smiled and continued to play with the huge gap with her tongue. Gross. I continued my journey…mostly along Route 66.
I reached the town of Daggett where I took some photos of buildings, but also paid a visit to a Pioneer Cemetary. I had known (and forgotten) that it existed, but I don’t recall ever being there in the past.
I could have stayed out taking more photos, but I really wanted to pick up my new prescription…and I hadn’t really eaten much all day. I wasn’t feeling too great that night and had a little fever so I decided to stay at the hotel one more night. I’m glad that I did and I felt much better the next day.
I left Morro Bay in the morning. I didn’t sleep to well due to numerous trips to the bathroom, kids laughing and yeling at 2am in the campground, etc etc. It was cold, but I stayed pretty warm in my sleeping bag. But I seem to have developed a rash all over my arms and legs…possibly from the antibiotic that I was prescribed. I stuck it out and hoped it would go away.
Though I love the central coast in all its beauty, I was starting to get fed up with the colder weather and looking forward to the warm weather in the desert. I drove for 6 hours…through rolling green hills, hills covered with wildflowers, through the San Joaquin Valley orchards and farms, through the Chevron oil pumps, and finally onto Route 58 that leads to the desert….through Tehachapi with the wind generators, past Edward’s Air Force Base, and the airplane graveyard in Mojave.
I stopped at a rest area where there were only restrooms…and this little brown van selling espresso and coffee…in the middle of the desert. I talked to them for a while. I bought some hot tea from the Cruzin’ Coffee truck and then hit the road again.
I stopped at Four Corners where Route 58 meets 395 and took some photos of an abandoned hotel.
I arrived in the Barstow area and decided to drive around for a while scoping things out and seeing what has changed. Let me just say that there’s a Home Depot now! I stopped and took some photos of more abandoned places before I decided that it was time to find a place to sleep for the night.
I thought about staying at another campground, but really wanted to be close to a bathroom and have a good night’s sleep and a hot shower. So I stopped by a Motel 6 where I thought I found a bargain room for $37/night. I should have known better. When I got to my room, it looked like the bed had been slept in, the towels didn’t look clean, the sink was dirty, there were dead bugs floating in the toilet, but the icing on the cake that made me leave was finding hairs scattered throughout the room. Not to mention that there seemed to be sketchy characters lingering around. So I went to a hotel down the street that I knew was good and I had stayed at in the past.
The whole hospital ordeal really seemed to rain on my parade for this trip. It is such an inconvenience to have to always be close to a bathroom. And let me tell you that it ain’t fun when you’re driving around in the desert where there are no bathrooms. Anyway, I relaxed in my room, contemplated what I’m going to do about the rest of my trip, looked at some photos….while I also felt an earthquake. I wasn’t sure if it was one or the building shaking and there was no data on USGS for it until yesterday. It was a small 1.2 (according to USGS)…not very strong, but I did feel it.
The rash still hadn’t gone away and I was itchy. I decided that I was going to stop taking the prescription and call my Philly doctor the next day for a new prescription.
My first night of camping in the back of my car was not fun. Although I am small, the car is not big enough with the seats down. And when they’re down, they’re on a slope. I bought some foam to sleep on (I have my sleeping bag along, too). But I woke up with a sore back….and incredible fog! Although I didn’t get a photo of the amazing view from my campsite, this was my campsite in the morning.
I was intending on heading down to the desert…took Route 46, which goes through the hills and valleys…through many of the vineyards of Paso Robles. It was gorgeous. I realized that there was no way that I could leave the central coast yet. Nor did I really feel up for a 6 hour drive.
I reached the 101 and grabbed some lunch. I also made a trip to pick up a tent because this car camping thing was not going to work out. Since I had decided that I wasn’t going to leave, I decided to revisit Mission San Miguel, which was just north of where I was. The mission is undergoing renovations so not as much was accessible to the public as it had been when I had visited several years ago. Nevertheless, still beautiful.
Then it was time to find a place to stay for the night. I had already stayed in the Cambria area for two nights so decided to go a little further south to Morro Bay. I had looked into a few campgrounds in the area. I ended up staying at an RV park that was about 200 feet from the beach! It was lovely. Here is the view from outside of the RV park and an opposing view of the beach, facing the RV park. I had free wifi at the campground and it made me laugh that I could sit in my tent and be online.
After I had my tent all set up, I wandered to go get some dinner. On the way, I found a couple of sea otters that were mating. And then a couple of more. It’s a crappy shot and doesn’t do the justice of how cute they really are!
