Category: Beyond the Olympic Peninsula

Unexpected art

Who expects to encounter fields of sculptures seemingly in the middle of nowhere? Visitors arriving in Borrego Springs, California can have a surprise. Vast swaths of land on either side of the road are populated with large rusted metal sculptures of everything from dinosaurs to wild horses and huge birds.

We’d not heard of the artist, Ricardo Breceda, but his work frequently draws visitors to Borrego Springs. He is a self taught metal sculptor whose work was discovered by a philanthropist who commissioned Breceda to create more than 100 works for his property at Galleta Meadows estate. A road through the desert allows visitors to get close to the sculptures in an unconventional desert gallery.

Borrego Springs

If you spend enough time in the desert it doesn’t take long to learn that small desert towns can have a unique vibe. Borrego Springs is a nice little town with all the requisite churches and homes and the commerce needed to support locals and visitors. Plus it has eye candy.

Like many places in the desert the town has room for the unique.

And there are places where time and the elements have taken their toll.

Desert break

I like the desert and after a few packed and busy days in San Diego a trip to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California appealed. A couple hours’ drive east of San Diego, Anza-Borrego is part of the Colorado desert.

Although winter rains hadn’t triggered the wildflower bloom I’d hoped for the weather was cool enough to allow some nice walks as we explored parts of the park that were accessible in a rented car. Though the park is very big — almost 650,000 acres — we learned that most of it is reached by over 500 miles of dirt roads. Car rental agencies don’t look kindly on their vehicles bouncing along unpaved roads so our explorations were curtailed.

Theme Day: One Color

The City Daily Photo theme today is “one color.” It immediately reminded me of our recent trip to Anza Borrego Desert State Park in southern California. Especially on a cool and lightly cloudy day a desert scene like the one above can be so dominated by the tan/grey hues of rocks and mountains as to seem monochromatic.

But what I love about the desert is its contrasts and beauty any way its viewed: the vastness of its landscape at a distance, or the contrasts seen up close. One color can quickly give way to vibrancy, full of varied life.

And closer still, especially in spring, color can be found.

To see other interpretations of today’s theme, click here.

Let me count the visits

Balboa Park in San Diego has something for everyone. Frankly, we did our best to sample a little of everything. In three days we visited no less than ten museums and gardens. Because time was short, we didn’t go to the San Diego Zoo, which warrants a day of its own.

TheNAT, San Diego Natural History Museum, allowed us to get up and close and personal…safely.

There were “rat rods” and painstakingly restored vintage rides at the San Diego Automotive Museum.

In the San Diego Air and Space Museum we saw the Apollo 9 command module, above, and the Spirit of Saint Louis, its the cockpit lacking a front windshield which effectively left Charles Lindberg sightless when taking off and landing.

And we were able to hear the glorious Spreckles organ played. Plus we paid visits to the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Museum of Photographic Arts, and San Diego History Center. It’s an amazing place, deserving more than a few days but we gave it our all, stumbling out a little cross-eyed and fatigued. Next week I’ll show you where we went to chill out.

I’ll drink to that

Everywhere we went in San Diego’s Balboa Park provided beautiful views of the Spanish Renaissance architecture from the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. Its preservation is a testament to the city. San Francisco also hosted a Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Sadly, very little remains there today except the Palace of Fine Arts.

One of the ten museums and gardens we visited at Balboa Park was the San Diego Museum of Man. And the first exhibit we saw drew me right in: Beer!

Beer has quenched human thirst for a long time in civilizations around the world. This ceramic beer bottle is Egyptian, from 1375-1350 B.C. Other exhibits showed growlers from the Incas and beer’s links to Chinese nutrition … even the antibiotic properties of ancient beers.

Naturally, the exhibit gave us ideas. After we left we went to a nearby restaurant and sampled local craft beers. On the left is an IPA called “Pupil,” with tropical notes of guava and mango. The stout on the right, “Apocalypse Pony,” boasted coffee and vanilla bean. Both were delicious and I learned to be a diligent Pupil with my IPA. I discovered that it was entirely too much to consume on an empty stomach. And no, I wasn’t driving.

Blankets and horses

The weather was chilly and often grey as we visited Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. But the intricate relief in many building faces was deeply etched and still stood out.

After we left San Diego and reflected on our visit, we agreed that the Mingei International Museum was a standout. We were drawn by the exhibit “Weaving a Path – Navajo Women and the Feminine Ethos.” The display showed more than 30 traditionally woven rugs, blankets, and wearing blankets, beautifully displayed and nicely interpreted.

This carousel horse was also a real eye catcher and was created on site at the museum in 1995.

A fiberglass horse model was covered in beeswax and each bead was placed onto the model using needles. It was created by a traditional Mexican Huichol artist, Rosendo Carrillo de la Rosa, and his family.

The detail is amazing and the piece is gorgeous.