The dogs and I are back in the desert for the weekend.  Perfect weather and a full moon tonight.  A day of dust, mid-century buildings, and other fun stuff.   I’m glad we’ll be missing Modernism Week — but if you like crowds and people more than I do (!), you might wanta go:
http://www.modernismweek.com/

After Nik’s eyeball exam in Culver City, we were off for a few stops in the Inland Empire.  This guy in  Fontana at Smog Latino was one of the unexpected, highlights of my day.  A foam type sculpture — I’m assuming modeled after the owner:

On to the desert & Cabazon.  This bowling alley is just east of the big Morongo Casino Resort.  Not vintage neon but still very fun.  Even more impressive at night:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clearlight/4099650005/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11107057@N00/4100406324/

I love the picnic table in the shade of the gigantic bronto in Cabazon.  By the way, that’s Sparkle on the far right.  360,000 miles and puttering along just fine!

Some signs from Desert Hot Springs:

A vintage postcard of the Cactus Springs Lodge:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollywoodplace/4654593900/

They’ve obviously modernized the office quite a bit. Unfortunately, I can’t find a vintage photo of that.  I love the cactus growing through the roof on the right:

One more for the night — the Marilyn Monroe in Palm Springs.  This statue was previously in Chicago and was moved here in 2012.   It was created by Seward Johnson famous for lots of other giant and life-sized statues, the giant eyeball, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seward_Johnson_II

I’ve got lots of other photos from today over at Flickr tonight:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

And I’ll have the wrap-up with some photos from tomorrow on Monday or Tuesday.