Day 9 - Upland CA to Santa Maria, via the coast highway and Ojai

     There is one cool coffee shop in the town where my mother lives.  It's called Boomers and has great 50s decor and run by some local babyboomers I think I should have been in High School with but wasn't...

     That's where I started my day.  I did not want to go anywhere near Los Angeles so I took highway 214 through Pasadena then I was able to pick up the Ventura Freeway which brought me to highway 101 around Santa Barbara.  I wanted to check out the little town of Ojai so I drove the 30 miles inland and got out of the truck for a little walk.  Spendy little town with a Nigerian necklace of silver selling for 165 dollars.  (Absurd.  Fortunately I was just looking.)  There was also this really cool chair made from beads...beautiful to look at and photograph but I didn't even bother to ask the price.

    I walked up the sidewalk and a young man who said he was a journalism student took my picture then wanted to get my name.  I told him about the road trip and that I was from Eugene.  His face lit up as he pointed to himself saying "11th and Polk."  I responded "17th and Polk".   It was a high five moment on 'High Five Day' (according to my friend JJ). 
    On the way in to Ojai I noticed two things (other than the traffic)  There was a place called the "Blue Iguana Inn" and another called the Psychic Boutique.  There's an older movie starring Daryl Hanna as a stripper called 'Night at the Blue Iguana' and I wondered if it was filmed there.  Sandra Oh was also in that movie but more about her later.  Here's the picture....

    Way to spendy for me, I could tell just looking at it.  But across the street hidden in the bushes was a small house had obviously been there before all the rich people and the vineyards came in 20 years ago....

      This is "California" for shack.  I bet it cost more than 500 grand too. 
     I left Ojai for the Pacific Ocean dreaming of a walk in the water.  The road was curvy, mountainous; a nice place for a Sunday drive.  About 30 minutes later I was headed north on 101 the ocean waves rhythmically curling into white foaming tops then flattening as they broke on the shore.  Surfers and bikinis laid about the beach.  I spent 6 yrs in southern California during high school and the only thing I miss is walking in warm ocean water.  Years ago we used to go camping at El Capitan Beach on a whim.  (My father was the impulsive type).  Now my friend Colleen, who lives in Solvang, informs me that you need reservations 9 months in advance.  It also costs 10 dollars just to take a walk on the beach.  Thankfully I asked if they gave discounts to disabled veterans and I got in for free.

    I was so happy to be on the beach walking in the water that I took about a hundred photos.  I will just post the ones I really like...

    And then I took a little self portrait in the water just for kicks...

    The water was cold but the salty smell of the ocean and the song of the waves moved through my spirit like the teenager I once was.

     Gaud I miss the ocean...
    I spent a few hours combing the beach for shells and rocks then I got back in the truck and continued north through the one long continuous vineyard from Buelleton to Santa Maria.  By this time it was 8pm and I needed to stop for the night.  I figured Santa Maria would be cheaper than the other options but I didn't realize it would also be loud and obnoxious.  At about 11pm I went to the front desk and complained about the noise.  The woman, thankfully, put me in another room.  I watched Bill Maher hoping television would put me to sleep.  It worked, but 8 o'clock this morning the family next door hollered me awake.  So I am starting the day off grumpy.
    Tonight I am headed to my old friends' Jennifer and Bertina's house in Colma just south of San Fransisco.  I haven't seen them since the film festival last year.  It will be nice to catch up...  yona c. riel

Roadtrip Day 3..Lone Pine to Death Valley and Rhyolite Nevada

     I left Lone Pine by 10am and took my first picture of the day before I left town.  Turns out there was a very cool, but closed, store right next to the hotel I stayed in...

 and it was even for sale (which should be no surprise since I think half of the places I have seen so far had 'For Sale' signs on them.  Another reminder of just how bad the economy is....)

      After mulling over the artistic beauties (skulls, metalwork, old gates, etc) I continued south on HWY 395 taking the turn off for HWY 190 to Death Valley.  Before I got to the park I stopped at a sulphite mine.  Being an old rock hound from the 80's the scattered junk looked pretty amazing from the truck.

 

And besides I just love it when nature has made art out of throw-aways.  Here's a long shot of the mine.....

    I walked around for a good hour and found several old bricks (great in the yard), a few old blue glass fuses (still wondering why they were out there) and some weird glass like green rock (which I later found out was obsidian.. Here's one more shot of found art...

   

    After I left the sulphite mine I continued up HWY 190 into Death Valley.  I was excited for two reasons.  First there is an amazing ghost town on the border of Nevada and California called Rhyolite.  I had seen pictures and really wanted to go there.  Second, I believed my timing was right on to see a lot of the desert wild flowers in bloom, which they were.

   I took so many pictures of Rhyolite that I am only going to load up about 8.  If you ever get to this area in my opinion it's even better than Bodie if only because it is not as well known.  Okay here's some pictures.  There were several old structures still standing, the most amazing was the old bank.  It was a few stories high, constructed of handmade brick and the closest thing to the ruins I found in Oaxaca.   Another amazing structure was the general store right across the street.  Course it's all dirt roads now....

 

     And then there was the old shack.   I love the textural designs of the old boxsprings against the pale blue wood.  And the rusty old metal tube that once had a wood stove hooked up to it...

     There was one train car that had been left up there. 

The metal on it had a beautiful natural patina...

  

     
    And then someone had made an interesting outdoor museum.....

I presume it had to do with death and bicycles but I didn't get the actual story behind it....

    There is a whole long line of these ghostly persons in the next shot.  The mountains and the strange clouds made for great contrast...

   I also found a tall sculpture of a abstract of a woman..

    Rhyolite is my favorite stop so far.  That and my awesome finds at the sulphite mine removed the disappointment of not getting to see either Bodie or my beloved Buckeye Hotsprings yesterday. 
    Death Valley was really crowded.  Tourists everywhere despite the overcast sky.   It seems to me everyone was out looking for wild flowers (a lot like myself).   At the general store I saw two dykes (shock of all shocks) and at the park ranger station I saw another couple.  The last two looked like they had just finished a shoot of Showtime's L-word. 
    Tomorrow I will post some pictures of death valley, the flowers and the 'artist pallet' drive.... I am headed to Arizona now in hopes that I make Arcosanti by my birthday which is tomorrow.  thanks for reading my friends... it keeps me connected out here on what would otherwise be a lonely road. 
   yona c. riel