California

Four days in San Francisco /  by Liesl Pfeffer

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San Francisco, CA
November 2018

Four days in San Francisco, or was it only three? We flew from Berlin for our friend Dan’s wedding to Erin. The airline lost my bag and Vic had to lend me something to sleep in and some make up for my jetlagged face. We ate as many tacos as we could, Tyler drove us to see the ocean, the wedding was joyful and sweet, and afterwards we flew to New York to pick up the belongings I left there in storage in 2016.

Tahquitz Canyon, Palm Springs /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Tahquitz Canyon
Palm Springs, CA
November 2015

There is a two mile loop trail just outside Palm Springs up through Tahquitz Canyon to the falls. I was mesmerized by all the rocks on the ground, wondering if I would find the perfect chunk of quartz, and wondering also if I would have the nerve to sneak it into my pocket and take it home with me. Nice hike, no quartz (probably for the best). 

Colorado Desert sunset, California /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Sunset, Colorado Desert, California
November 2015

Me in the backseat of the car, a passenger whilst we were driving through the desert highway at dusk: "we should stop soon"... "we should stop and see the sunset"... "it looks like its really beautiful and I want to take photos" ..."I'm just going to put my window down and take some photos" ..."oh boy its beautiful we should pull over if you see a turn off" ...."i really think we should stop". Poor Dan. Like driving all day wasn't enough, he had this whiny photographer in the backseat and Joy in the front seat desperately needing us to get to the first town so she could have a rest room stop. Eventually I got my way and we stopped and I got a couple of photos that do the pink desert light pretty much no justice at all, like most photos of sunsets. 

Salton Sea, California /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Salton Sea, California
November 2015

A big salty lake in the Colorado Desert in California, we skirted its shoreline for half an hour while we zoomed deeper into the desert towards Salvation Mountain. We stopped for a moment to take photos of the strange hazy light that was floating over the water. Later in the day, and after the sun had set, we passed by again. this time stopping at the tiny seaside community of Bombay Beach (population 295) for a drink at the Ski Inn, recommended to me by a friend in LA. We put songs on the jukebox, looked over a well-loved geology book about the Salton Sea shared with us by the friendly bartender Steve and stuck a signed $1 bill to the ceiling. 

Cabazon Dinosaurs, California /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Cabazon Dinosaurs, Cabazon, CA
November 2015

We pulled off Interstate 10 to visit Cabazon Dinosaurs on our way from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. Cabazon Dinosaurs is an unusual theme park / attraction featuring some truly enormous sculpture dinosaurs, seemingly in the middle of nowhere (as the mountains in all directions in these photos will attest). This is one of those places that makes me wonder at, and be grateful for, the strange things that human beings decide to do. According to Wikipedia, sculptor and portrait artist Claude K. Bell built the first sculptures to attract customers to his Wheel Inn Restaurant, which opened in 1958. The first dinosaur, named Dinny, was made out of spare material salvaged from the construction of Interstate 10 at a cost of $300,000. Um, wow.