A very productive and exhausting day. Some road construction and traffic here and there but I must’ve hit well over 100 stops from my list today. Tomorrow, should be more of the same. I’m frantic to get through my L.A. area stacks so that I can get back on track for the rest of trip’s plans. I can spend about another week on this portion which just might be enough if I keep cranking at this pace.

It’s been hot — highs in the 80s — in the areas we’ve been traveling through. And it’s only March! When I see the dogs panting, I give in to the AC for awhile. I try to tough out the heat so that I can get the true experience of the place I’m in. I know this much for sure: I could never live in the desert. If I move back here, it will have to be somewhere on/near the coast.

Okay, so we have irises back home, too. But we don’t usually see them til Summer. And everywhere I’ve been for the past couple days, you can smell flowers. Cherries, jasmine, and I don’t know what else. It sure beats the smells back in NYC!

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There are a lot more old cars on the roads here. Cars I haven’t seen in 20 years or more. Sure, there are the restored classic muscle cars & such. But there are also the beaters that just keep going. I haven’t seen a cute little Datsun like this in I don’t know how long:

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Another Art Deco supermarket for you:

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And an Art Deco detail from Pasadena (the Armani Exchange store):

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I saw a LOT of mid-century chain restaurants today. Some on my list and some not. This might be one of a chain — or it might not:

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This would look like it possibly a Chip’s or a Griff’s, but the A-frame roof slopes down in back so I don’t know what it is:

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I was looking for an example of a midcentury “Taco Paco” stand in West Covina. The closest I could come to the address given (slightly off) was this place. But from the signage, it seems it’s been Manny’s since 1971. According to my notes, the Taco Paco stand was built in 1959, so this could still be it.

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Here’s half of a Color Tile sign. You don’t see many of these left. When you do, the letters are usually painted over with some clever spelling that fits the sign’s squares:

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A fun alcohol theme sign from Pomona. This must’ve had neon where the plastic parts are now:

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And, lastly, a donut sign variation. Not in the best shape with pieces missing. I don’t know if the sign was originally more donut-like or if it always had these little designs:

Palm Springs turned out to be sort of a bust for me. Yes, I made the requisite stops at all the big name architects’ buildings — but everything seemed over-restored, mall-like, flat. In fact, the whole town seemed like one big Disney-esque production to me. Pretty little ranch houses. Over-stucco-ed midcentury hotels. No fun. No neon. No rawness. OK — maybe a few still-great things: the Caliente Tropics Resort, the Musicland Hotel, and a couple nice banks. However, I much prefer any of the scruffy little towns I visited this afternoon. Maybe not to live in but they are loaded with photo-ops, things left in their original or poorly altered states. Little mysteries and surprises every few blocks.

Once we got back from the desert in the early afternoon, I really got rolling. Or maybe it just seemed like it since the towns change names about every 10 blocks. But I did get significantly more photos than usual as well despite the time lost in the desert. Normally, I shoot about 100-150 photos per day — today was more like 200. I have nearly finished up with the right-hand-side of my L.A. map.

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It will be exciting to start working on the other side of the map. Looking less and less like I’ll get to northern CA on this trip. You might notice that the atlas in the photo above is laying across the body of my dog Fixie. She hardly cares about me using her as a table right now. The dogs are all pretty wiped at this point. Here’s a shot of the dozers in the back today (hey guys, we’re not even halfway done yet!):

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The Energizer Bunny however still finds every town and non-town fascinating:

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A couple desert shots. Just had to stop at the Shields Date Farm gift shop while in Indio. Stocked up on road sugar: Medjool dates stuffed with walnuts. I didn’t have time for the video about the private life of the dates though:

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Just west of Palm Springs there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of these wind turbine things. It is kind of amazing and surreal. Sorry about the bug-kill on the windshield:

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I passed a place on I-10 in Redlands that looked like it had a modern but boisterous mini golf — so I had to get off and turn around. Unfortunately, it (Pharoah’s Amusement Park) was closed. I did get a couple shots of stuff near the entrance anyway, including this one:

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San Bernardino had a lot to offer for me. So many little block-long buildings in the past few days with these little mini Art Deco towers. It would be fun to do a book on just little gems & beat-up gems like this:

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Another example later in the day in Pomona. Maybe this was a church? A movie theatre? A fancy store?

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A few signs for you. From San Bernardino — hard to read but it’s the Clover Club:

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The Pala Motel in Pomona:

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The Taco King in Upland:

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The Laundramatic in Ontario:

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A couple days ago I saw these great yellow carlot-style lights — about six or so in a row — but I didn’t stop and have regretted it since. Been on the lookout for them and found a couple today. Not quite as nice (not close together, not painted brightly) but the same model. Haven’t seen these outside of CA.

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This building was probably much tiki-ier at one time:

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And finally, here’s a question. What’s better (worse): a no-frills boxy new building — or a retro-fied new building like this one in Pomona?

I worked my butt off today driving from point to point — but still barely made a dent in my L.A. area list. I’m going to have to get realistic in about a week and figure out what part of the trip gets the axe. Most likely it’ll be Northern & maybe some central CA since I can probably make up for some of that in the Fall. But I don’t want to skip Reno.

Riverside really got me frustrated. Horrid traffic going into that town; within that town; as well as getting out. I did get some good stuff while there but hardly worth the effort. I must’ve been stuck in the area for a good three hours. Part of it was construction, part of it was school traffic (parents picking up kids; buses with those red stop signs), and part of it unknown. Even on the highway there were TONS of cars — 3pm on a Thursday. What-ever. So it threw my schedule even more off-track.

I short-changed the dogs on exercise a bit but they didn’t mind too much. One really good run in the morning for Nik in a park with those “dogs must be on-leash signs”. I justify that since no one was there and he was under complete control (following commands from 150 feet away) it didn’t count. And after a manic 20 minute all-out exercise session, he seemed pretty quiet and happy for awhile. The other dogs got exercise from barking from inside the van: pissed that he got to be out while they didn’t.

Some Anaheim signs — all adapted and deteriorated. The Sandman sign really makes me sad.

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These old Fotomat kiosks are really a rarity now. A key shop seems like a perfect re-use:

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A crappy picture but I’ll include it anyway. Shot from a distance, through the windshield. Feeling lazy and pressed for time. I have only seen these advertising people with giant arrows since I’ve been in California. They spin these giant signs in circles and it’s very eye-catching. I really loved this guy’s contrasting boots with the Statue of Liberty costume.

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I thought this was an amusing car wash design. Most likely adapted from the mid-century fins (http://flickr.com/photos/mister_goleta/1394756962/) or something similar. But I could be wrong — maybe they were always lamps.

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Isn’t it always the way? You get yourself set up in the best spot, trying to avoid the sun, the power lines, the cars… and they you raise the camera and some idiot pulls in and parks and ruins everything. Well, I’d been meaning to photo these giant food on trucks things. So this will have to be my old school / new school comparison shot. The market letters here are all outlined in neon.

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At a mini golf in Riverside today, I had to pass through an arcade and this game caught my eye. I don’t know if the object of the game is to save or sink the Titanic. But there were all kinds of lights and I was almost tempted to play it. But I’m sure I would’ve sucked as I know nothing about how to play these things. And my lists beckoned.

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In Banning, a very sweet, well-kept courtyard motor inn with private garages:

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Also in Banning, a nicely painted tribute to Pat Siva. I can’t find anything about her at Google, other than that she is a real estate agent and the Stagecaosh Days’ parade Grand Marshall. So maybe that’s not her after all doing the bareback trick.

I covered a lot of ground today (never enough) but took a lot of time-outs for the dogs. Huntington Beach has a mile of beach coastline just for dogs so we just had to go there:
http://www.dogbeach.org/

I normally don’t bring the camera with me into these dogs parks & beaches since I’m afraid I’ll drop it or get it slimed up with greasy dog treats. So here, at least, is a photo of a building next to the Costa Mesa Bark Park (http://www.cmbarkpark.org/) which was a lot of fun. The artwork identifies each of the local dogs by name.

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So everybody got a lot of running in. Nik went into the ocean a bit but then got frightened by some big waves (maybe 3-4 footers) and we waited for his ballie to return by itself. Grem didn’t understand tides at all and got submerged a bit. Fixie flirted and got petted with all the people that would have her. And Grip stayed close to me for tricks and handouts (gourmet-quality cheddar today that I’m a little reluctant to share).

Nik isn’t the cuddling kind but Grem always acts like he’s her boyfriend and he tolerates it. She just goes over and flops down against him like they have been lovers for years (she’s been with us three months). They do play together — but only when he wants to. Anyway, here’s a passenger seat photo of Nik & Grem after today’s big beach adventure. I guess Nik was still a bit cold from the water and was enjoying having her there.

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On with the roadside stuff!

The Alibaba Motel in Costa Mesa has a huge gold dome and neat details:

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The Yost Theatre in Santa Ana was being restored while I was there today:

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I paid a visit to the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. It lived up to its reputation of amazing-ness:

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Vodie’s Wheel Alignment in Garden Grove had something I had never seen before: a giant pit with these lifts that you (they?) drive cars onto so they can work on them from below. Kind of like an oil change place but with more pit than ground floor. It seems a little scary to me.

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The Grove Motel in Garden Grove has a big fun sign. I love the silly little arrow at the right. But what of those white poles — what might they have supported? And who knows what the original name of this place was?

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In Stanton, the Tahiti Motel sign looks like it’s been reworked a few times. But I do like the star on top (and so does this pigeon).

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The Benkey Pool Center in Anaheim has another star/sputnik on top. I couldn’t figure out if there might have been lights in those tubes.

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Time for a little nature break. California is more beautiful than I remembered. I’m SO ready to move back here — but as long as I have that good-paying job and that cheap apartment, I guess I’ll be staying put in NYC.

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Now, these I don’t remember and I’ve seen a number of them on this trip. What the heck are they? I don’t think they’re dead — just pruned back and will regrow. But what do they look like then?

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I love this little dairy store signage:

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The Sky Palm Motel in Orange retains most of its classic look. I’m sure the signage was neon originally but at least they have retained the shapes. Much better than a box sign. The roof-as-canopy design is tremendous.

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And, lastly, I found this guy in a store window very amusing. I had never seen a mannequin with tattoos before. When I looked more closely, there was clearly a stocking-like piece that fits over the arm so it resembles a tattoo. How clever!

Another glorious day for taking pictures. The dogs got to dip their toes in the Pacific at the Doggie Beach in San Diego. There are 38 acres of sand & beach just for dogs. Lots of interesting kelp and stuff on the shore that my dogs hadn’t seen before. There are all kinds of foreign and wonderful smells for them on this trip. I know they must be glad to be in a sticker-free state again. Nik spends most of the day trembling and whining because he can smell the ocean. All my dogs are crazy about beaches but he’s way over the top. Whenever I pull over to shoot something and there’s shoreline visible, he starts screaming because he’s sure we’re all getting out. Very sad and funny at the same time.

I was so busy shooting “real” stuff for the website today that I didn’t get many things for the blog. Let’s roll ’em:

A recent sculpture by James Hubbell entitled “Pacific Portal” in Shelter Island (San Diego):

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Today, I noticed flowers and trees that I haven’t seen in more than a decade (my last visit). All stuff that I grew up with and felt very sentimental about. Pepper trees, myoporum, night-blooming jasmine, iceplant, and of course the California Poppy. There were also these big spreads of purple flowers everywhere that I don’t remember. Can anyone identify them?

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A nice Moderne building in Escondido. I don’t know anything about it but it deserved to be photo-ed:

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I think this is the tallest liquor store sign I’ve ever seen (from Escondido):

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It’s often hard to tell whether something is old or just made to look that way. This seems especially true in California where there are so many lingering old buildings that have been adapted. Here are three shots of a neat building in San Diego that I think is probably 1960s/1970s.

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And last one for the night: I love this contrast and interaction of the signage at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Esconido. They have sort of a Western-themed exterior — but then there’s this Sputnik on the roof which I assume was left there from the previous tenant.

The day was mostly spent in San Diego — unless you count the nearly half-day spent in Tijuana. Oy. I went there to photo two things, no big deal, right? Turns out my maps weren’t detailed enough. My directions too vague. And my Spanish, limited, to say the least. The Muffler Man was supposed to be just over the border — but no, he’s way, way deep in the City, on the other side of the river. And El Sombrero is on a teensy one way street, that most people don’t know about. One guy sent me WAY up a mountain. Getting back from there got me almost back in line to cross the border. So I had to do some quick thinking and put Sparkle’s AWD to the test — hopping a curb and crossing between some plastic pylons. Whew! No damage to the undercarriage and no ticket from the police.

Once I finally got the photos, I hopped in line for the border. That’s where the real fun began — not! It was two hours of crawling along and being approached by more than 100 street vendors. I still have a sore throat from yelling at my barking dogs to SHUT UP! At least I got through an L.A. architecture guidebook that I brought with me on the trip and have added a few more things to my list of things to see.

I only took a couple bloggy photos when I was in Tijuana. I would’ve taken more but I was getting pretty stressed out and impatient with the whole situation. Here’a a hotel converted into a tire shop:

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And not too far from the border, a giant Jesus statue dominates a hill overlooking the highway. I took him from quite a distance and was surprised he wasn’t blurrier. I don’t know his name or the church… in fact, I think I was already lost by this point:

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Back in the States, this sign from Chula Vista (Broadway Liquor):

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This billboard from La Mesa:

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Art Deco & Streamline Moderne abound already on Day 1 of California. I saw several old supermarkets — this was the nicest of them:

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Not in any guidebook and looking a little rough at this point:

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This one I do know something about: designed by Walter Dorwin Teague (more famous for designing those classic green & white Texaco icebox gas stations) around 1937. It was originally the Gustafson’s Furniture Store. I’d been told there was an old Jack in the Box next door that I was eager to see. But it was gone: replaced with a modern simulation of this building. I guess I should’ve taken a photo of the “twins” together — but it was too offensive and disappointing to me at the time:

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And lastly, this building I found to be just too adorable. It would be fun to live in a little castle with a rounded doorway.

We made it! I got through most of the remainder of my AZ list. Then, after a big drive across the desert and over the mountains, we arrived in the San Diego area after dark. A lot of stuff to shoot here tomorrow. Including another (hopefully) brief trip back into Mexico to shoot a couple things in Tijuana.

The weather forecasters were wrong again. A beautiful day in Phoenix and for most of the day as we moved westward. Went to the Chaparral Dog Park in Scottsdale first thing in the morning and got everybody good and tired for awhile. An awesome place:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chaparral-dog-park-scottsdale

I was shooting a mini golf in Scottsdale before it opened and saw lots of these wild rabbits. It seemed so sad that all these rabbits are being booted out of their habitats as the city expands ever outward into the desert. But on the other hand, these guys probably like having grass and easier-to-find grub around.

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Taking some pictures of an apartment building in Scottsdale, I noticed these oranges literally falling off the tree and decided to try one. More bitter than sweet. Grip and Fix were not at all interested in trying it. Nik made some faces when he ate his. And Grem just swallowed without question. I don’t think she ever chews anything so probably never even tasted the thing. I was going to hold onto the remainder as a room freshener for the van. But I had to surrender it when crossing into California.

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I haven’t had the time or energy to research this one but it appears to be a retro-y (made to look old) affair. Scottsdale is loaded with lots of interesting architecture.

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Scottsdale also has lots of these strangely contained rocks. I’m not sure what the significance of these are:

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Mesa has an annual outdoor art installation. Lots of fun statues of animals and people doing things. This was my favorite of the ones I got a chance to see:

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This little midcentury building in Phoenix must’ve had an entrance in front under the freestanding canopy originally:

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True diners are extremely rare outside the Northeast since that’s where most of them were manufactured. This Phoenix building is a simulation — and apparently, part of a chain:
http://www.5anddiner.com/

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I saw lots of recycled buildings and signage today. It’s nice to see the pylons left alone even when the building below is subdivided into a million pieces:

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These two buildings are probably still identifiable — but I don’t know what they originally were used for. Perhaps the building at the right was the motel’s attached restaurant?

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This one was probably not part of a chain — but a neat A-frame nonetheless:

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I like the masculinity and hugeness of this big steakhouse sign:

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And lastly, as I prepared to settle in for the night in El Cajon — there it was. A sign of positive things to come I think. We have arrived in Denny’s-land! Although this location didn’t have the spikey ball on top of the sign, it did have the boomerang roof.

I didn’t make as much progress as I thought I would — shooting lots of wonderful stuff and having a great time and that’s what matters. Still, I don’t want to cut into my California time. Two things I went after in Tucson were way out of town and wasted at least a couple hours. One was a dud & barely worth photo-ing (a Swiss chalet motor court); the other (a bottle house) turned out to be on private property and closed up tight with nothing visible whatsoever. Ah well. An afternoon romp at the Bark Park in Chandler that was supposed to be 15 minutes, turned into an hour because the dogs were having such a good time. That’s what vacations are for, right? It was time to indulge my passengers who have put up with two-and-a-half weeks of my madness.

Weather glorious again — I’m not complaining! I hear we may get some rain here in Phoenix tomorrow. I noticed a tire was a little low and stopped someplace to get looked it at. Sure enough: an embedded screw. That pitstop took about a half hour. I’m a fanatic about noticing anything up with the van: tiny noises, tire pressure, anything dripping, monitoring gauges constantly while driving, etc. I don’t want to get stuck anywhere but, particularly, not in the desert. Yes, pretty to look at, but not where you want to get stranded. (photo taken between tucson and phoenix where we might have been stranded)

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While they seem to be smashing up 76 ball signs in other parts of the country, I’m happy to report that in Tucson, different gas companies are just repainting them. In fact, in addition to these “ballies”, I noticed several stations that repainted the big flat disc signs as well.

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From Tucson, here’s a neat starburst-y sign and its building (which looks vaguely familiar but I can’t figure out what it was originally). I’ve never seen this style sign though.

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Also, in Tucson, my eye was caught by the mid-century rippling canopy at first. But what was really intriguing were the figures on the roof. It looks like there may have been more of them at one time. Does anyone know the story about this place?

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I dropped in on this place for a quick visit: “The Garden of Gethsemane in Tucson is the work of artist Felix Lucero, who was wounded in WWI and vowed that if he recovered, he would create religious sculptures. In the garden can be seen his images of Christ at the Last Supper, on the Cross and with the Holy Family. Across Congress Street is Tucson’s largest tree. The Garden of Gethsemane has been a Tucson landmark since 1945 and is maintained by the Knights of Columbus.”

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I stopped in Picacho to see Nickerson Farms restaurant, which is right next to I-10. I knew it was long-closed but wanted to see if the Indian Maiden was still there. However, it seemed I got there too late. However, when I looked at this photo tonight, the legs don’t seem to match and now I wonder if there was yet another statue that I missed or that was destroyed:
http://www.pbase.com/bearpaw/image/53441601

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I thought about going a little further up the road to see the restaurant itself but the gravel road looked somewhat littered with metal and trash and after my little tire incident, I decided not to go up there.

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A splendid little Art Deco house in Tucson. I know L.A. will be loaded with them but right now they look so sweet:

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And lastly, from Tucson, a couple great iconic signs that show their age. I love this diving woman variation.

I spent way more time today in NM than expected. Much longer drives between stuff than anticipated. Asking locals for directions when I had bum addresses (or none at all). Driving was stressful as well: dust storms with warning signs “Drive with Extreme Caution: May Be Zero Visibility”. Luckily, that never happened. But the winds were intense and you had to keep strong hold of the steering wheel. And this was all day long. I imagine Sparkle’s not all that aerodynamic when the wind is blowing against her sides. The wonderful sun continued but I found myself taking three shots of everything and hoping that at least one wouldn’t be blurry from the wind gusting at me. I started bracing myself against poles, walls, anything I could find in hopes of being steadier.

Oh, and one other thing that held us up in NM. In Lordsburg, which is truly a dusty, desert, Western type town, Gremlin decided to bolt and it was a good 20 minutes to capture her. I thought it would be safe to cut her loose in this fenced school-yard-y area. Her recall has been so good lately. Happy and quick. And I’ve been working with cheddar cheese which is pretty much her favorite treat. The place seemed pretty secure all around. But somehow, she found her way out and was just blasting around in the desert scrubby bushes. I had to follow in the van as she must’ve covered a half mile. She becomes like a feral dog when she does this. Running willy-nilly, panting, and acting like she doesn’t even know me when she sees me or hears me. I have to be careful how I approach her — slow, kneeling down, praising her like mad (when I really want to kill her). Anyhow, that’s IT — the little shit is on the long-line for good now. I’m going to ask my training pals for suggestions. I have never had a dog like this before.

Enough talk! On the way out of Hatch, NM, I noticed this one. I haven’t seen any other Quail Express gas stations so I imagine this is probably an independent operation. The quail painting was lovely.

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This great vintage motorhome was getting some major work done in Deming, NM. I had to look up the BrinkMobile on-line and the concept and photos are pretty cool:
http://www.brinkmobile.com/

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It seems the cactus just gets weirder and scarier the further south you go. Here are three examples from Columbus, NM which is right at the Mexican border. I have no idea what any of them are called. Anybody?

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Bisbee, AZ is copper mining country. A cute little town with old buildings and artsy folks but then you get a little south and you see the hillsides ripped apart from the mining. Here’s a pretty rather than gruesome shot of the red hills.

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Here’s a shot of a place in Lordsburg. I love the mural and the signage overkill:

Another beautiful and productive day. Late in the afternoon, I even found a bona fide doggie park in Albuquerque to cap things for them. Big and well-fenced so Grem got to be FREE of her long-line and play with the big local dogs and run like the wind. Fixie found new humans to pet her and coo over her. Grip retrieved a few balls but mostly sniffed and hunted for crumbs. Nik & I played ballie til he had to lie down in a puddle of water.

Late now — so let’s move right along.

A couple neat cleaners & laundry signs today — this one in Portales (I would’ve shot it from the other side to avoid the sun but it didn’t have any colored paint):

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This one in Clovis. I’ve never seen such a big laundromat sign!

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Both Portales and Clovis have F-111 bombers as their town mascots. Wow. I’m certainly no expert on aircraft but I assume this is some sort of precursor to today’s Stealth Bomber. This is the one in Portales:

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Sutton’s Bakery in Clovis is a sweet little place, literally. I uploaded an exterior shot over at Flickr tonight. But what’s inside is actually more interesting. They have wonderful cake decoration display suggestions. Here are a couple:

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and I had to get a dozen of what seems to be one of their specialties: thumbprint cookies. They come in about 12 different colors (I was told they weren’t different flavors, except the chocolate, which is of course what I got).

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Everywhere I go on this trip, I see these great little drive-up motor banks (no such thing in NYC). This is a pretty nice mid-century example from Clovis:

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Now, for some more signs. Here’s an almost unidentifiable one in Clovis:

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These neon K-Mart signs used to be everywhere but are now pretty rare:

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At the end of the day in Socorro, I came across this nicely unrestored painted Owl Cigar sign. The last photo is taken from the other side of the building (into the sun, sorry) which also shows a Bull Durham ad.