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Jan 12, 2016

Bottle Tree Ranch | Route 66: Part 1

Elmer Long's Bottle Tree Ranch is exactly the kind of roadside attraction that makes the California stretch of Route 66 such a fun drive. Featuring practically every color of glass, old hubcaps and rusting tin signs, this quirky art project, in the same vein as Salvation Mountain, has made an attraction out of the seemingly ordinary.

This folk art forest of glass and metal is a fascinating place to explore. The colors, textures, and novelty of the display pull you in to investigate. Hummingbird feeders hang all over the Bottle Tree Ranch, and I must have seen about twenty hummingbirds during my brief visit. It's a memorable place to "get your kicks" and it was a lot of fun to photograph.

From Barstow, California to Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch I continued my journey heading south. My next stop along "the Mother Road" was at the Wigwam Motel in San Bernadino.

May 1, 2015

Exploring the Salton Sea

My recent road trip around the Salton Sea in Southern California was motivated by my desire to retrace the steps I took with my friend Dave in 2009 and 2010. When he passed away suddenly a year after that last road trip, I started working on a personal project about our first visit to Salvation Mountain. The area has only become more compelling to me as a result.

On my tour around the Salton Sea I visited abandoned structures and ruins in Bombay Beach, Salton City, North Shore, Niland and Salton Sea Beach. I also explored East Jesus in Slab City, and took several trips to photograph Salvation Mountain. My return to the North Shore Yacht Club was also memorable. As was my impromptu photo shoot with the mysterious boxes around the Red Hill Marina. With large gaps between my visits the changes to these places have always seemed extreme. Perhaps it's part of what keeps calling me back to the Salton Sea.