Adult Superstore
On photo excursions we keep an eye out for old abandoned signs, unusual times gone past buildings and other oddities of Americana. Heading towards Tucson, the sun setting, we pulled off the freeway in the middle of nowhere to photograph an old restaurant sign and such. Darkness and an unmarked rough road and what is there on the way… The “Lion’s Den Adult Superstore for women, men and couples!”. On the edge of the Picacho Peak State Park with a Civil War battlefield. I guess unique to Arizona perhaps? Note the Saguaro Cactus all over the hillside.
“Of All The Gin Joints…”
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Sadly only a photo on the wall and not actually at the counter. On a photo excursion and stopping for food at Lutes Casino in Yuma Arizona.
No Olive Garden
My kind of stop for food on a road trip! This ain’t no Olive Garden LOL! Lutes Casino in Yuma Arizona.
Sand Dunes Mirage
Out on a photo excursion last few days. No I did not bring them with me. They are just a sand dunes mirage.
Spa And Cactus
Desert Hot Springs, known for little spas and boutique hotels, some really nice, some not so much. A small town, founded in 1941, nearby the much larger resort city of Palm Springs. Built by tourism coming for the natural mineral hot springs and then by real estate speculation. Having seen good times and bad times, there is still a mix of the times gone in signs of the past, if you just take the time and go look. From a photography excursion just yesterday.
Rude
Don’t you just hate it when people leave their car blocking the pumps when they go to the restroom. From a Death Valley excursion, photographed with a Hasselblad digital camera.
Sky Chief
Exploring and photographing around Death Valley. A Sky Chief gas pump, a premium fuel invented as high octane and introduced by Texaco in 1938.
Here in Keeler on the East shore of what was the great Owens Lake. Population in 2010 was 66. Back in the 1870’s a steamship carried ore across the lake which today is non-existent. In the 1920’s The City of Los Angeles bled the lake of it’s water leaving behind alkali dust storms driving away the people and their lives.
The Comforts Of Home
Just did a three day road trip exploring the wonders of nature. So nice to find all the comforts of home in the middle of nowhere. Too fun! Actually I have one friend who was not there who I expect will know exactly where this is. What do you think? Anyone else?
Space Travel Not Required
Found a new photo shoot location on a recent photo excursion. And no space travel required. I can see you posing in front of that landscape now! The question is… Who is you? Send me an e-mail to Ian@SecondFocus.com. Thanks!
Shoes and Atomic Bombs
Shoe shopping in Rice California along Hwy 62. Rice was formerly named Blythe Junction. Now a ghost town, it was the home of Rice Army Airfield. It was the 2nd choice for the world’s first atomic bomb test in 1942. This is the somewhat famous Rice Shoe Tree. On a photo excursion and location scouting yesterday.
Wouldn’t you like to know who and why? I would.
That Way!
Sometimes these photo excursions and location scoutings are not much more planned than going ‘that way’. At Rice California with Arizona straight ahead.
Unseen
How often do you not see what you see? Driving along you look over and there is something over there in the distance. Driving up a road that seemingly does not take you to a destination. This is one of those. On a photo excursion and location scouting yesterday. What an amazing thing to see in the middle of nowhere.
The Metropolitan Water District Eagle Mountain Pumping Plant. Just look at that incredible building probably dating to around 1938. I do find it all fascinating.
“While water flows through much of Metropolitan’s service area powered by gravity, it takes five pumping plants along the Colorado River Aqueduct in the California Mojave Desert to ensure its final destination to Lake Mathews.
These pumping plants move water supplies from the Colorado River Aqueduct with a total lift of 1,614 feet. All pumping plants have nine pumps, and each of the nine units has a nominal rated capacity of at least 225 cubic feet per second. Each pump is driven by a vertical, three-phase, 60-cycle, 6,900-volt synchronous motor, which is totally enclosed and water-cooled. Each Intake motor develops 9,000 horsepower.” – MWD website
Summit Inn, Sad
The news reports from the huge Bluecut Fire are nothing but sad. Also sad is the loss of the Summit Inn, a roadside Route 66 stop with it’s roots going back to 1928. Myself and friends stopped there just back in November on one of our photo excursions. Reminds me to get out and see more of the world, even when it is close by.
Summit Inn on November 14, 2015
“Free-Form 50’s Coffee Shop Architecture”
How many of you can reach back in your memory and see yourself sitting in a Bob’s Big Boy? I sure can. Such a memorable part of that 1950’s and 1960’s car culture so identified with Southern California. This Big Boy is in a storefront in the little community of Julian, California. One of many stops on a recent photo excursion. Photographed with my Hasselblad. Love that camera!
“Customers couldn’t get enough of Bob’s new creation. One fan in particular was a chubby six year old boy in droopy overalls. He would often help Bob sweep up in exchange for a free burger. In honor of his young friend, Wian decided to name the better burger the Big Boy. Another regular customer, a movie animator, sketched the now famous character on a napkin.” – http://www.bigboy.com/careers/story/
Gun Crew Stroller Parking
The US Navy has certainly become more inclusive since WWII. Providing stroller parking for the 16 inch gun crews on board the USS Iowa Battleship. Yesterday at the Pacific Battleship Center – Battleship USS Iowa.
Miles And Miles And Then…
Sunrise the other morning taking a different route to the Salton Sea. A day for a combination of photo excursion and location scouting. Almost 25 miles of road with no one to be seen and then coming around a turn, a crew shooting a Nike commercial complete with a California Highway Patrol escort.
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