Golden Gate Bridge from Kirby Cove

This shot of the Golden Gate Bridge is from the beach in Kirby Cove.

The City From Twin Peaks (Panoramic)

This is an HDR panoramic image made from Twin Peaks. It is actually 10 separate shots processed separately and then stitched together in Photoshop CS6. The file is large enough to produce a 16X65 inch print.

USA

This automobile was in a salvage yard just outside Toppenish, Washington. Despite extensive research I do not know where the USA automobile in the image was made. I have checked to see if the USA company was acquired by a current automobile manufacture or a defunct automobile manufacture. If you know who made it or have any information the company that produced this automobile, could you please let me know? THANKS!

Orchids

These shots are from the orchid green house at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California. The orchids in the images below are of the  Cymbidium variety. Orchids have always been my favorite flower, ever since I saw them at Tom Selleck's Black Orchid Restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. On that trip I ran into Tom Selleck twice at Hanauma Bay. I went to his restaurant dressed in shorts and a tank top and immediately felt unwelcome, so I took a quick look around before I left (before being escorted out). That quick look also made me quite fond of salt water fish tanks and scuba diving (Hanauma Bay also had a little to do with it also). The Black Orchid is the national flower of Belize. I like orchids so much I even have a special window where I keep mine, it's like a garden window with opaque glass. 

Unconditional Surrender

The sculpture Unconditional Surrender sculpted by Seward Johnson is a recreation of Victor Jorgensen's photograph Kissing the War Goodbye similar to a more popular photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt's V-J Day in Times Square. It is located in San Diego, California at G Street Mole Park in the Port of San Diego (also known as Tuna Harbor Park) right next to the Midway Aircraft Museum and is the second. A temporary styrofoam was installed in 2007, in May of 2012 when it was sent back to New Jersey for restoration. In March 2012, the San Diego Unified Port District voted to purchase a bronze replacement for the loaner. The first Unconditional Surrender was installed in Sarasota, Florida 2005, at its bay front. An automobile crash occurred on April 26, 2012 during which the Sarasota copy of the statue was struck and was damaged, this led to the statue being taken down by the city.

This was taken from the elevator on the USS Midway.

This is a F-14 Tomcat located on the USS Midway. It is the same type of plane used in the movie Top Gun.

Battery Kirby and the Golden Gate Bridge

Battery Kirby was built in 1899 and active 1900-1941 and named for Edmund Kirby of the 1st U.S. Artillery, Brig. Gen. of Volunteers, who died 28 May 1863 of wounds received at Chancellorsville, Virginia, during the U.S. Civil War. The battery has experienced some graffiti, if you look at the skull in the second image you will notice the nose is a head and the jaw is the shirt of a man hidden in the skull. From the battery you get a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and if you continue down you will see a beach that also has a great view of the bridge.

Diamond T Truck

This is a Diamond T Truck manufactured by Diamond T Motor Car Company that operated out of Chicago Illinois from 1905-1911. Diamond T was acquired by the White Motor Company in 1958. In 1967 Diamond T merged with Reo, another White acquisition forming Diamond Reo. This Diamond T was at a auto salvage yard just outside Toppenish Washington that I have visited several times. It seems like it is stuck in time a time warp, but I had been there in late 2012 and visited again in early 2013 and things had changed quite a bit. I see many makes of automobile's I have never heard of like the Day Elder Truck, CT Electric 5-ton Model F-5 Flatbed Truck, Oakland Automobile, Fageol (out of Oakland California) and the Reo (that the band Reo Speed Wagon got their name from). It is very interesting to be able to step back in time. I also have a post of a few Garages at the salvage yard. 

Day-Elder Truck

This is a Day Elder truck made by Day Elder Motors Company in Newark N. J. they came equipped with an engine from Buda Engine Co. While doing research for Day Elder I could not find much information, but I did come across a couple of pages of an auto journal that mention Day Elder Motors Co. I also came across  an ad for someone selling a 1918 Day-Elder Model B Stake Truck that said they were manufactured by Nation Motors Manufacturing Co. of Irvington, New Jersey. It also said the majority of the company's sales were probably restricted to the Tri-State area until the 1920's. For more information follow this link to the ad for 1918 Day-Elder Model B Stake Truck .

Another From Kirby Cove

Here is another image from Kirby Cove. In my previous post I posted another image from Kirby Cove.

The Golden State

When I first saw this it looked like a treasure chest. It is actually flotsam  that is wreckage of a ship or cargo of a ship. It is located in Kirby Cove just north of the Golden Gate Bridge on the west side in the Marin Headlands. While there I saw a helicopter fly under the bridge and the fly back over, I have never seen that before. Helicopter tours take tourists all around San Francisco, I just might have to try it someday. I have a video of what I saw below. The video is not mine.

Old School Electric Truck

The Curtis Publishing Company bought 22 of the CT Electric 5-ton Model F-5 Flatbed Truck. I don't know the year they were made I have seen 1912 -1916 it had 4 G. E. Model 36-A-102 electric motors (one for each wheel) and was capable of going 12 miles an hour (2 miles an hour over the speed limit at the time). It sold for $4,400.00 without the batteries that had 42 cells. 382 amps. There are less than 15 of these electric trucks left in the world and very few have been restored because of the complexity of the electrical system. I was lucky enough to see two of them. They were used until 1960. The electric car is not a new idea it has been around for a while here is a link to the history of the electric car.

Oakland Motor Car Company

This is a Oakland at a auto salvage yard just outside Toppenish Washington. The Oakland Automobile was produced from 1907 - 1931 in Pontiac Michigan by the Oakland Motor Car Company from 1907 -1909 and then by General Motors from 1909 - 1931.

Stonehenge Replica and Surrounding Area

This is a replica of Stonehenge  it is located just north of Biggs Junction Oregon on the Washington side of the bridge. The bridge crosses the Columbia River that makes up most of the boarder between Oregon and Washington. The replica is near the Us Route 97 and Washington State Route 14 that runs along the Washington side of the Columbia River. 

The following three images of the church, old gas station and garage are from a little village located in orchards below the replica.

Antelope Oregon

Antelope Oregon is a small city in  Wasco County. In the 1980's the town grew again when followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who had started the city of Rajneeshpuram on the nearby "Big Muddy Ranch", began to move in. Rajneeshpuram was an intentional community (or commune) of Rajneeshees. On September 18, 1984, Antelope's charter was amended by a vote of 57 to 22 to change the name of the city to Rajneesh. The Oregon commune collapsed in 1985 when Osho revealed that the commune leadership had committed a number of serious crimes, including a bioterror attack (food contamination) on the citizens of The Dalles.  A short time later Rajneesh was indicted on federal immigration charges, attempted to leave the country, and pleaded no contest to two of the 34 charges and returned to India. On November 6, 1985, the remaining residents, both original and Rajneeshee, voted 34 to 0 to restore the original name, which was never changed by the Postal Service. The Big Muddy Ranch is now owned by Young Life and has been converted into a camp known as "Washington Family Ranch."

Here is a short film about Rajneeshpuram

Barn in Washington on 97 Winter

I have passed this barn on US Route 97 north of Ellensburg Washington for years mostly during the summer months and have a previous post during the summer. It is actually closer to the ghost town of Liberty just to the south. I had a chance to shoot it during February of this year. I find it interesting to note the changes of time like the fence that is falling over or the building on the left that is leaning. It has been seven years in between the images and the changes are really not that great when you consider the time that has passed.

Red Horse Drive In Ellensburg Washington

I have passed through Ellensburg many times not knowing that I was less than a quarter mile from the Red Horse Drive In that has a vintage Mobile Gas Station right next door. It's a 50's style diner with plenty vintage signs to see. The food is is great and they had so many malt or shake flavors to choose from.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

I took a trip to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in early April. Here is a few shots from the trip, the Fouquieria Splendens commonly known as Ocotillo (but I prefer Jacob's Staff or Jacob Cactus, maybe I am partial to those names because my sons name is Jacob) was in bloom. The Ocotillo  were 10 to 12 feet tall with red blooms. I also saw Barrel Cactus in bloom. As I was walking around a Teddy Bear Cactus scared me, it looked like small creature standing on its hind legs starring at me.