This is your typical Alaskan over-the-road truck. These trucks are usually dressed for the harsh conditions up here. Especially troubling are the moose killer front bumpers. These heavy duty contraptions can keep a trucker safe in Alaska by not letting the dumb moose that stands in the middle of the road in the middle of the night destroy your rig.
How would you like to see this coming up fast in your rear view mirror?
Visited Dana Point, CA while I was in SoCal. Does it get any more beautiful then this?
Dana Point Cove marine sanctuary.
Out to sea on a beautiful day.
Stumbled upon the Dana Point Marine Refuge nature walk that took me out on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Dana Point, CA.
Wild flowers in bloom with Catalina Island in the distance.
Looking south.
More wildflowers.
Towards Laguna Beach, CA.
Looking north to barely see Mt. Baldy over 100 miles away.
Dana Point Harbor.
Is this a car or what! I know it looks a little ratty, but my brother told me he sees this guy driving it around Orange County, CA. It has one of those Mexican jumping suspensions that appears to have failed on the left rear side. I was really impress by the rear window. Try replacing that if it gets broken.
Where’s Cheech & Chong when we need them?
Up in smoke baby!
Sign in the back of a car. Stop them before they steal again.
Who is that weirdo in the reflection?
Dykes on bikes. Yes there really is a motorcycle club (and who would have guessed it) in San Francisco. But these weren’t the “gals” I saw in Phoenix. Some tough cookies there. Kinda made you afraid to make a lane change.
Only in San Francisco.
Ape hangers no less.
I happened to drive to Phoenix from SoCal two weeks after a serious week of rain. Thus when I got to the desert, everything was in bloom. The drive was amazing with great colors, sights, and smells. Here are some of the shots around the Blythe, CA area.
Now in Arizona.
Everything in bloom.
Arizona mountains.
More bloomage.
Arcosanti is an experimental town that began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, 70 miles north of Phoenix. Architect Paolo Soleri, using a concept he calls arcology (a portmanteau of architecture and ecology), started the town to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth.
The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. The town aims to combine the social interaction and accessibility of an urban environment with sound environmental principles such as minimal resource use and access to the natural environment.
Having begun construction in 1970, the town is still very much a work in progress. The population varies between 50-150 people, based on the number of students and volunteers on the site, but ultimately the town is intended to hold 5000 people. Currently there are 13 major structures on the site, of at most several stories in height, but the master plan envisions a massive complex, called Arcosanti 5000, that would dwarf the current buildings. (all of this was stolen from the web).
Okay, enough of the hype. I have always wanted to visit this place after hearing about it 35 years ago. I should have gone then. Arcosanti has fallen on hard times and you can imagine what a poorly maintained concrete structure can look like after this many years. I drove over an hour to get there and stayed about 20 minutes. This is an old hippie nest that unfortunately will not achieve the goals of its creator.
Good sunset shot from the web.
Panoramic shot from the web.
Visions of the future.
Bronze bells they cast and sell.
More bells.
Canyon shot from the web.
Bronze bells.
Originally looked like this in the day.
Dry and nasty.
Valley shot.
They still have concerts here.
A little rough around the edges.
The bell casting area.
Another shot.
Another shot.
I’m not a fan of baseball, but when you are in Phoenix during spring training and have nothing else to do on a Thursday night, you go to a night baseball game. This game was between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. About fifteen national teams have spring training camps in Phoenix (the others in Vero Beach, FL). They all have their stadiums around the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Glendale areas. So, if you are a baseball fan, spring training in Phoenix is your nirvana. The stadiums are small and the players park their cars next to yours. It’s very personal.
Fifteen teams
Stadiums all across town.
Giant stadium.
I’ve heard that Jesus was a fisher of men and a prophet, but I didn’t know he was also a plumber. I knew he could turn water into wine and create a feast for thousands out of a couple Big Macs, but I didn’t know he could also remove a devil of a turd from someone’s toilet.
I want my Lord and Savior licensed, bonded, and insured.
Somewhere near Cabazon, CA a fire burned all of the trees near the freeway. I thought is was a cool silhouette against the sky.
As a kid my parents would infrequently take us for a trip to the desert. Along the way we would pass the dinosaur rest stop and invariably have to stop In Cabazon, CA. I’ve been inside these creatures as a kid as well as an adult. It’s one of those things you can go back to – up until now. Read the following story stolen from the web of how PeeWee’s Great Adventure has become a Creationist boondoggle.
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From the interstate highway, the uncommon view of two giant dinosaurs, on an arid plain surrounded by mountains, is an irresistible magnet. But tourists are not the only ones compelled to stop. Well within LA’s convenient day-drive sphere, the Cabazon dinos became media darlings in the 1980s, appearing in everything from Coke commercials to rock videos to the film Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
They were built by Claude Bell, who ran the Wheel Inn on I-10. Claude took eleven years to build Dinny, a giant apatosaurus and arguably the largest dinosaur in America. A small museum in Dinny’s belly still sells souvenirs.
Claude’s next project, a giant Tyrannosaurus with a slide down its tail, was nearing completion when Claude died in ’89. More sculptures were on the drawing board, including a Woolly Mammoth. The Tyrannosaurus was never completed and, according to the museum manager in Dinny’s belly, “it never will be.”
Update – August 2005: New owner Gary Kanter, an Orange County developer, is using the dinosaurs of Cabazon as a platform for his Creationist viewpoint. Working with Pastor Robert Darwin Chiles, they are transforming the Cabazon Dinosaurs “from tourist stop to place of worship,” according to a story by Ashley Powers in the Los Angeles Times.
(Stolen from “Roadside America” web site)
From the road driving by.
View of the sculptures.
PeeWee hiding from the beast.
PeeWee’s Big Adventure.
Looks like a funky ride.
Even though we know dinosaurs survived the flood (on Noah’s ark) we don’t know if Jesus ever rode them. But he probably did.
I think this is more real.
Record store in Phoenix. I wonder what else you can purchase in this establishment.
Can you really make an old LP record into a bong?
While in Phoenix I made a stop at the Penske Racing museum. On display were great cars from the Indianapolis 500 and other stock car events. It was amazing to see the craftsmanship and engineering that go into designing and building one of these racing machines.
Anyone need a used car???
Out in the middle of the desert on the way to Phoenix from SoCal is the only gas station for miles. So you pull of to get a tank as well as drain your tank. Next to the Foster Freeze was this museum built to honor General George Patton. What the hell is it doing here? Anyway, it was closed both times I stopped through so I shot these photos through the fence. It had a great little tank display along with other WWII vehicles. Check em out.
Okay, I’m a semi-intelligent guy who is pretty aware of pop culture and its corresponding dementia. Saw these items on the back of two trucks on the way to Phoenix. You tell me if I’m out of touch with the world. I think both of these trucks should just keep on driving.
Some times I feel like I’m talking to Charlie Brown’s parents!
Dungeons & Dragons???
Cabazon, CA is one of the windiest areas in America. Because of the venturi effect resulting from all of the air from Southern California rushing to escape east, Cabazon is one of the wind power generating centers in the world. I caught these shots on my way to and from Phoenix. Different lighting going both ways.
Heading east.
Heading west.
I had allergies for as long as I lived in Southern California. As soon as I moved away, my allergies stopped. During the summer in SoCal, the smog would be so bad that I would have headaches and couldn’t breath well. I’ve been out of there for sometime, but realized what I was not missing on my return trip from Phoenix. Coming down into the Cabazon, CA area of the trip an amazing smog valley opened up to me. As soon as I hit it, my sinuses locked up and I realized I don‘t miss this place.
All of the air from the entire Los Angeles basin get blown through this one small opening between to mountain ranges near Palm Springs. There is always wind here and it contains all of the funk and pollution generated by millions of people in Southern California.
All of the air from this red area get funneled through the middle of these mountain ranges.
Ready for your eyes to burn?
Let the coughing begin.
I can see for a mile – that’s it!
There are a lot of strange people driving out there who wish to adorn their vehicles with their mantra, life’s quest, or their inner child. Here are a few I saw on the way to Phoenix.
It says: “If your going to ride my ass as least pull my hair.”
Road rage waiting to happen???
Oh to be from Illinois.
I think this was on a used Hyundai.
Never been one to pick up hitchhikers. I guess this sign on the way to Phoenix and this movie poster seal the deal.
Love a guy in an orange jumpsuit.
Who’ll be his next victim?
When I saw this store I had to drive around the block so I could get the photo. I’m still in shock.
On Thursdays they have Senior Citizen special between 4:00 and 6:00 PM.
Saw this guy in the mall assuming the “my damn wife made me come to the mall” position. This guy was there for over an hour as his other half apparently cruised every store. The guy in the blue shirt is taking lessons and hates himself for it.
Classic mall posture.
Was going through some old photos and found this shot I took of my son on the top of the World Trade Center in New York City. Oh how the world has changed in 14 years.
This photo kinda creeps me out.
I’ve always wanted to do a stand-up comedy routine but I swear to God this is not me! It was the label on the YouTube video that came up in a Google search that someone told me to look up. This guy is another Scott Fredrickson in Scottsdale, Arizona at an open mic night at a local comedy club. I’m a comedy channel fan and he was okay for an amateur doing his schtick. Check him out.
The crowd seemed to like him.
So there is this web site called “Rate My Professor.” I recently found this and almost peed my pants when I read it. Apparently I have one student who “rated” me from a recent marketing class. On a 1-5 scale I guess I’m an competent teacher. At least my class wasn’t a 5 on the easy scale. But where I laughed out loud was on the hotness scale. One chili pepper means your a hottie. Pleeeeeease!!! I don’t need that kind of pressure in front of a class. I might want tenure or something.
Yes, that’s the photo on the site.
Here’s the link – check it out.