My rental car for my two days of exploration was a Ford Mustang convertible. I had never driven a convertible before. I never put the top down on Thursday because I didn’t want to be that exposed in the pollution and congestion of L.A. But on Friday, at Joshua Tree, it was a different story.
On Friday, I headed east into the high desert of Southern California. I spent most of the day in Joshua Tree National Park, hiking, birding, exploring.
Of course I had to get a shot of the chair in a Joshua Tree.
I backed up to get another view, and that’s how I accidentally managed to get a photo of the red chair falling out of a Joshua tree.
I parked in the Hidden Valley picnic area and took a stroll around the rock formations.
Notice, if you will, the tiny purple flowers. Remember, this is the little Red Chair.
I hiked the trail to Barker Dam because the ranger at the visitor center told me there was a little water there and birds congregated. There was water — a tiny pool of gross, stagnant water — and there were birds too. I saw Black-chinned Sparrows, House Finches, Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Bewick’s Wren, Cactus Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Gambel’s Quail, Common Raven, Gray-headed Junco, and Phainopepla.
A sign claimed that these pictographs were real but that vandals had outlined them with paint.
How to become a tourist attraction in four easy steps.
First, acquire a small red chair.
Second, bring that chair to an area where there are a lot of tourists, such as the Keys View overlook at Joshua Tree National Park.
Third, have the courage to walk out in front of all those tourists and place the chair in an exposed position, then take photos.
Fourth, be willing to explain what you’re doing to a steady stream of people.
I could hear several people in the crowd — there were perhaps 40 people at the overlook while I was there — talking about me as I took these photos. When I walked back up to the overlook, a woman asked me the story behind the chair. Others gathered around to listen. A few minutes later, another woman called me over. She said her friend hadn’t heard my explanation, and could I explain it to him. Then, after I repositioned the chair and took some more photos, a third group corralled me and asked. Everyone was very nice and seemed to find it interesting, even when I explained that there really wasn’t any significance to what I was doing apart from the fact that I’m easily bored and easily amused.
As for the view, I’m standing on top of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, looking generally southwest across the Coachella Valley. In the photo above, the Salton Sea can be seen in the left distance. Palm Springs would be visible across the valley in the other photos if it weren’t for the haze.
I stopped again near Skull Rock and climbed around for a while.
One outcropping, in particular, seemed to scream for a rock stack, so I obliged.
I also stopped at the Oasis of Mara. The drought had dried things up and the palm trees were dying.
I didn’t really need or want another meal, but I was in Riverside with a couple hours to kill and this place was the most interesting spot I found. The exterior and grounds of Tio’s Tacos have been covered with folk art made from found materials and trash. Chicken wire frames have been stuffed with toys, light bulbs, empty detergent containers, whatever … to create statues. A shrine and pyramid have been built from empty beer bottles. Stuffed animals hang from the trees. There’s more of it than I could comprehend in an hour, and all of it was weird and fascinating. Here’s what it says on the restaurant’s web site.
The Sanchez family owners of Tio’s Tacos # 1 Seafood y Centro de Frutas Naturales are proud Mexican immigrants from Sahuayo a litle-town located in the state of Michoacan in Mexico, based on sacrifices and hard work they have achieved the American dream, besides being fully committed to promoting Mexican culture and to offer their customers and friends the best Mexican food in the Inland Empire, thanks to the genius and creativity of Martin Sanchez has been achieved with effort and hard work to create the unimaginable from waste and recyclable material.
I think that sums it up nicely.
After parking in the lot and wandering around for 45 minutes, I felt obligated to buy something. The beef taco was OK. The quart of orange juice that a young woman fresh-squeezed for me was delicious. I’ll allow the photos to tell the rest of the story.
As I was eating my taco at Tio’s, this cat came a-begging. I didn’t offer it any food, but I did immortalize it in a red chair photo, which is nice.
This rather shabby museum in San Bernardino, California is the location of the first McDonald’s restaurant.
The brothers started with a BBQ restaurant.
After a few years, they realized that 80% of their sales came from hamburgers. They pared their menu down to hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, shakes, pop and apple pie.
Ray Kroc came along and bought the franchise rights and forced the brothers out of the business. Apparently, when he bought the rights, he was upset that the McDonald brothers intended to keep their restaurant open. He forced them to change the name of their place to “The Big M,” and built a competing McDonald’s one block away. Both restaurants are now gone.
Inside and outside, the place is an unorganized jumble of McDonald’s and Route 66 stuff, with random photos and descriptions. I wouldn’t advise a long trip to visit, but if you find yourself with an hour or two to kill in San Bernardino …
The Juan Pollo chain of chicken restaurants owns the site of the original McDonald’s and uses part of the museum building as corporate offices. This vehicle was parked in back.
I drove into Orange and ate lunch at Bruxie, a sandwich shop that uses waffles for bread. After circling the block five times, I found a parking spot in the four-car lot behind the restaurant. A young woman was standing out front to answer questions. She explained the waffles and told me their specialty was the Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Waffle with Chili Honey and Cider Slaw. I’m not a fan of fried chicken, but when I visit a restaurant for the experience, I generally go with the special. It was delicious.
There was a lot of traffic in the L.A. area. I tried to avoid the worst of it by staying off the major roads before 9:00 a.m. and during the late afternoon. But on Thursday afternoon, I had no choice. I had to get from Yorba Linda to Riverside, and I hit a few pockets of stop and go in a construction zone on Highway 91. Even so, there were four lanes in each direction and I was never stuck for more than a couple minutes. From what I’ve heard, it could have been much worse.
