I had a nice visit last night with a college friend that I haven’t seen in over ten years. So now, trying to catch up, I’ve put a mess of photos over at Flickr and it’s time to double-up here. Last I posted, I had taken a tumble and luckily did not break the camera. I, on the other hand, have been hobbling around ever since.

I took the dogs to the Culver City Dog Park yesterday:
http://www.culvercitydogpark.org/main/001_home.cfm

and to the Westminster Off-Leash Dog Park today:
http://www.venicedogpark.org/

Not as much fun as the beach but they’re still geting good running in. They’ve also had non-doggie park romps as well. But I think they’re really getting the hang of this lifestyle. They have started not getting up each time I open the car door to take a picture. They’re all pretty sleep deprived at this point.

So let’s get to the pictures. Forgive me for not including cities for most of these. I do have them buried in my notes somewhere if you want to know where they are. Let’s start with some signs. Here’s a neat plastic globe:

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I assume this is the Sacramento State Capitol Building on this sign — although they are all pretty generic aren’t they? And why bring it up in Los Angeles?

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A couple Mexican sterotype signs;

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This sweet one is over the entrance to a bar called “The Joker”:

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I love this building-as-sign. Pretty nice artwork, no?

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Here’s a nice little neon detail on an otherwise now plastic sign:

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There are lots of these hamburger stands around L.A. with busy signage:

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Here are a couple mid-century details from two different buildings:

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Another mystifying shrub — this one with giant drooping trumpet flowers. Anybody know what this one is called?

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It was kind of depressing to see all the changes and new development in my beloved Santa Monica & Venice. Here’s an example of what’s happened to Zucky’s — a coffee shop that had been in Santa Monica forever. Now a bank but they incorporated the pylon sign and stonework as a tribute. It’s almost more painful to me — kind of like a taxidermied animal:

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There really is a car culture in Los Angeles. They drive FAST here. In fact, I witnessed a hit-and-run accident today on the Pacific Coast Highway. It seems 3/4 of the cars on the road were built for speed. In Calabasas, it seemed you could buy any high-priced sports car you might dream of owning. Here’s a photo from the Lamborghini lot:

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Here’s an interesting building that I went to see though it doesn’t fit within the confines of my website. The Samitaur (“Stealth”) Building is from 1993. There is another building next door (my 3rd photo here, the window shot) that is still under construction (same architect I think). Here’s some more about the Samitaur Building:
http://www.architectureweek.com/2000/1011/design_1-1.html

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Lastly for the night, here’s an eye-catching display in Venice:

I got through what seemed like hundreds of stops today: Torrance, Carson, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Gardena, Hawthorne, Compton, Lynwood, South Gate… But sitting down with my calendar and the stacks of things ahead of me, it looks like Northern CA is going to get short shrift for this trip. Tomorrow should be fun and interesting for me as it will include my old stomping grounds: Venice, Santa Monica, West L.A., etc. I’m very curious to see how much it’s changed as I haven’t been back there in over ten years.

No beach for the doggies today which was disappointing for them — esp. since we kept driving by them. I’ll have to make it up to them tomorrow. They had to make do with abandoned lots — not very glamorous but wore them out enough to get through the day. I’ve never seen Fixie and Nik snoozing together — both of them are pretty uptight. But I guess this trip is breaking down some boundaries:

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I took a nasty tumble today — luckily on a nice wide median rather than while crossing a busy street! I guess I was looking at my subject matter and didn’t see the little bump in the concrete. I can usually stay upright when I stumble but this one was bad and all I could think about was don’t – break – the – camera! One of those episodes where time stands still. I went down hard on my right knee (now pretty swollen), scraped up my left palm, and tore up my right elbow. The camera was in my right hand and I watched and heard a big thunk as the UV filter lens ring hit the ground. I immediately checked to see if the camera was okay — and everything looked and functioned perfectly fine. Whew, that was a close one. I will be much more careful. The rest of the day as I would run across lanes of moving traffic (hey, I’m from New York – we don’t wait for lights!), I’d chant to myself: “pick – up – your – feet!”

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More plant identification is needed. Another lovely flowering shrub that I don’t remember seeing before:

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A very unusual-looking flowering tree:

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A nice old bank entrance in San Pedro:

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A perplexing sign in Hawthorne — I’m glad I wasn’t going that direction! I couldn’t figure out if the letters were meant to represent street names or if they were graffiti:

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I’d never seen a mid-century Swiss cheese wall before:

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A fading but flickering neon sign in San Pedro:

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A fun one from Harbor City:

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I really thought I’d bump into more old KFC buckets and Norge Balls on this trip. So far, not much luck. This one was broken but I had to stop anyway:

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And just next door was this cute oldie:

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Lastly, this odd McDonald’s sign. I’ve never seen one like this before. I was looking for a Lucky Boy Hamburger Stand and found a modern McDonald’s at the address. I snapped this photo out the window anyway (sorry about the quality). Maybe it was made in a more retro-y style to appease the folks that were grieving the loss of Lucky Boy? Or maybe McDonald’s is experimenting with some new signage?

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Tomorrow night, I’m going to take a night off for good behavior. Actually, I’m going to get together with a pal from college days and I know I won’t have an ounce of energy left for Flickr-ing or blogging. So don’t worry that I’m laying dead in a road someplace. I promise to have an extra dose of photos for you Thursday night.

I must’ve been through more than a dozen cities today. Bellflower, Artesia, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Paramount…are the ones that come to mind. Finally, made it to Long Beach which took about half the day. A great off-leash doggie beach in Belmont Shore was a great way to end the day for all of us. Grem disappeared down the beach for quite awhile and I was just about to panic when I saw a black dot on the horizon flying towards us. The Pacific was warm enough today for Nik to get a lot of swimming in. He’d been tortured all day by the salty smell and views of the beach. I think he’s starting to understand “later, buddy, not now”. Grippie has mastered the art of sleeping in a sitting position:

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I think these bushes might be what I’ve been smelling the past couple days. I want to say azaleas but I don’t think that’s it. They’re more like cherry trees but in bush form. Can anyone identify them?

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I saw more summer flowers today including these white roses. I understand it’s freezing back home in NYC.

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Some other “plant life” caught my eye today: palm tree-shaped cell phone towers. They sure beat the plain old white ones we have back home — but they always give me a chuckle:

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This one was more natural underneath the metal sheathing but they had to run a bunch of wires up the trunk for some reason:

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This Art Deco building must have been so serene before all the pizza shop signage. Sheesh, couldn’t they come up with something just a little more respectful? I love the way the little ballie sits on the point.

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Somehow this pharmacy sign got adapted to “P” something from the Rx. But the building is now empty so who knows what will happen to it next:

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I’d love to know the history of this Long Beach sign:

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This sign hangs above the Tidy Dog Self-Serve Dog Wash in Long Beach. I don’t know if the place used to be a laundromat or if this sign was recently installed in a humorous retro sort of way.

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Lastly, this giant baby was standing in front of the Long Beach Museum of Art. He really creeped me out. I had to Google him tonight. I’m still not clear about his significance but here are some additional photos of the “Child”:
http://www.lbma.org/child.html

Another wonderful and productive day. Only problem is, I had some trouble getting on-line tonight and now it’s after midnight. So let’s get right to it!

The dogs got a nice run in Pasadena this morning at the Alice Frost Kennedy Off-Leash Dog Park. It was already hot by the time we got there so I kept bringing them back to the hose & fountain to keep them wet. With the heat, I’m even more motivated to get stuff done and get to the coast. I’ve basically been working from east to west in the L.A. area. It’s hard to come up with any more reasonable way to do it as the area is really just one big sprawl. I have literally been jogging back and forth to the van now when taking photos to try to maximize the number of stops per day. With all the sitting behind the wheel, it’s probably a good idea to get a little exercise. People must think I’m either nuts or up to something.

Early in the day in Pasadena, I found a nice little old canopy gas station. I had to admire the wonderful little Mini Coopers and MGs as well. My very first car was an MG Midget and I loved that thing. When it got total-ed in an accident (hit from behind), I begged my parents for another one. Fun little cars but very expensive since they constantly need repairs and parts from England. I finally moved on to reliable and economical VW Bugs and vans.

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I’m not sure if this place in Pasadena was ever part of a chain. The building didn’t look familiar or the shapes of the sign. But it had one of those lovely cheese hole sleeves like Denny’s did:

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I’ve seen photos of this sign with the ballies all up on top. Made me sad to see it this way:

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A cute sign at Chroni’s Hot Dogs:

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A fun one from East L.A.:

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I don’t know if this was always a liquor store or if it was ever a burger joint:

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A lovely Art Deco building suffers a humiliating adaptation. Still kind of amusing though.

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I wonder why know one thought to do this before. Or maybe they have but I’ve never seen it:

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And you can never have enough arrows:

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And lastly, a variant on the “Scary Chef” statue (http://flickr.com/groups/itug/) that I haven’t seen before. And just what is he holding? Candlestick holders? Weird wine glasses?

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.