Yesterday I promised photos of the Queen Mary, a beautiful ship docked in the Long Beach, California harbor. One of my dearest cousins got married on this fantastic boat last weekend. I’ll keep the family photos private, but am happy to share with you some of the photos of the ship.
My first view – wow.
I went early so I could wander around and take in the sights.
The day had rain, clouds, sunshine, and rainbows.
Tomorrow I’ll show you where I went next.
After Sidewinder Canyon in Death Valley, we took the long drive to Dante’s View. Dante was an Italian poet in the 1200s who wrote something called “The Inferno”, an appropriate sort of name for anything associated with Death Valley. Many places there refer to death and other unpleasant sorts of things, which is fitting when one considers that most things in the desert are designed to stab, kill, or poison the visitor. And almost everything in Death Valley National Park is a long drive.
I found a very pretty rock, but experience tells me that rocks turn meh when they get home, so it was a Leverite – “Leave ‘er right where you found ‘er”.
After Dante’s View, our hostess/tour guide/dear friend showed us a magical place, appropriately called The Inn at Death Valley. It was opened in 1927, and it was truly beautiful.
There was a burned out building that got turned into a beautiful garden, ponds surrounded by palms, stone steps and paths, classic architecture, and a mysterious palm orchard, for which I can find no explanation. These aren’t date palms.
I have questions. Always.
And maybe you have a question for me. Ask away!
Okay, just two more photos.
And thus we conclude another road trip with the Central California artist, with the hopes that some seed of new creativity lodged in her inquiring mind.
After our Salt Creek adventure in Death Valley, we headed to a place called Sidewinder Canyon.
This is the view looking back across the valley before we headed on foot up the canyon. The Valley. Death Valley.
That crack in the wall is our destination.
Looking ahead.
Looking back.
Trail Guy helped me up the steep steps.
Then we reached a wall. Time to head back.
To be continued. . .
We were able to pack many sights and sites into a short visit to Death Valley.
When our friend got off work, we headed to a place called Salt Creek. Someone told us that it gets really interesting if you go beyond the boardwalk.
This place is just so weird.
We walked across the salt fields, which were wet in some places.
So wet in surprising places that sometimes one sinks in and must crawl out, while trying to stand up but laughing too much to find a foothold. (And my friend was laughing too, but she took photos instead of helping me out!)
And this is why people are advised to stay on the boardwalks.
No worries – I just scrubbed up in the salty creek (and then rinsed the salt out of my shoes later). It was worth the hearty laugh.
We visited a mine next. I forgot the name but remember that it was in operation from 1904-1917 and produced a pile of gold.
It had a tramline like the one in Mineral King, but I didn’t feel like climbing up to it. (My shoes were wet.)
To be continued. .
The first morning we were in Death Valley, our friend was working, so we took a walk to one of the many abandoned cabins, this one about a mile above her house. We saw it a year ago and found it interesting enough to visit again.
Our friend told us there are probably 100 or more such cabins in Death Valley. I find that fascinating (but no, there won’t be a book by me about this.)
As usual, my attention went right to the shiny and colorful object among all the variations of browns and grays on the rocky ground.
The cabin was located near a water source. We headed down to see it because we spotted some wildflowers, called Bitter Brush.
Of course we went off trail, which makes me a bit nervous in the desert where everything is designed to kill or poison you.
There are an infinite number of places where people used to fling their trash, now called “can dumps”, which got me thinking that the entire park is now a Can’t Dump kind of place.
To be continued. . .
Oh boy, there she goes again, rambling on about another trip instead of showing us what it is to be an artist in Central California. Well, artists have to take field trips for new sights and locations; it fuels creativity (so I’ve read).
We went to Death Valley to visit a dear friend. The desert doesn’t really appeal to me with all its dry brownness, but this is a very dear friend and visiting her makes this weirdly wonderful place appealing. Because of her, we got to see all sorts of things that we would not have experienced otherwise.
This is the view from the road in front of our friend’s house.
To be continued. . .
Last week before the rain, the air was very clear. I had to work on Saturday, so in spite of having stuff to do in order to prepare for First Saturday, Trail Guy and I drove down to Lake Kaweah to enjoy the morning. This isn’t something I have done many paintings of; I’m not convinced anyone else will appreciate it, especially from the unfamiliar viewpoints of walking along the river in the lake bottom.
You can decide for yourselves if any of these views would appeal to people.
If I were a hobbyist, I could just paint what I want. I am a professional artist, so figuring out what my customer base is interested in is just part of the business of art.
After walking around Convict Lake, we headed toward the June Lake vacation rental. The Farmer was driving, and he suddenly said, “Are we ready to head back or should we go see the South Shore Tufa Towers at Mono Lake?”
I was sorry to have not seen that part of the lake, and after some discussion, we headed there. It was late afternoon, just about the time the light starts getting good.
There were many serious-looking photographers along the shoreline. They looked like retired school teachers, fierce and focused, with tripods, long lenses, and expensive looking outdoor gear. Being around them made me think I should whisper and tiptoe. I restrained myself from kicking off my shoes and splashing in the lake.
On Day Four we drove home. I did a drive-by shooting of Mt. Whitney.
This was a great trip to weird places on the East Side of the Sierra Nevada with great people. Thank you, Trail Guy, Hiking Buddy, and Farmer, for the best birthday weekend of my (gasp of horror) six decades!
P.S. I just watched a documentary called “The High Sierra Trail” and it states Whitney’s elevation as 14,505′!
After the very disappointing Devil’s Postpile and the terrific view of the Minarets, we headed to Convict Lake, hoping for fewer people, better parking, and fall color.
We found the fall color on the upper end of the lake, about 1/2 way through the 3 mile loop trail.
We were a bit early for truly excellent fall colors. So, following a tip from a stranger, we headed up the Rock Creek Road. The color was better and the turnouts were few.
On Tuesday, we will conclude this trip and your Central California artist will return to the drawing table and the easels.
Maybe.
None of us on the trip had ever been to the National Monument of Devil’s Postpile, a weird rock formation. (Have you noticed that the word “weird” can describe most of what we saw while on the East Side of the Sierra Nevada?)
Frankly speaking, this thing ain’t worth the trip. The entrance gate didn’t warn us to park above and catch a shuttle, and then after a long winding bumpy road, we got to an overfull parking lot. What?? We parked in one for overnight parking only and walked back to the trailhead. A poo-ranger decided to clean the women’s restroom at the busiest time of day and there was a very long line. The short trail was crowded and dusty, and then this is what we saw.
We headed back up the road, looking forward to the view point for the Minarets. As we were leaving, the entrance station guy asked to see our permit! Well how do you think we got past you as we headed in, Mister Bossy-pants??
