Month January 2016

Tucson, Arizona

After a night outside of Phoenix with friends and some excellent Mexican food, we moved on to Tuscon, where the gem show continued but we had already had out fill of gem shows in Quartzsite. Instead, we rediscovered the wonder of the local library and its open internet connection, taking a few days in Tucson to see more friends and get work done. We may need to start reviewing libraries. Some of these are truly superb, with gorgeous views along with useful tools. Libraries are now, officially, added to our list of digital nomad's core tools, along with truck stops, Walmarts, and Denny's.

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Quartzsite, Arizona

Quartzsite is the snowbird's nest. Every year, the tiny Arizona town swells as RVs and campers flood the trailer parks and BLM land and a two month long gem show commences. While the main street does offer some restaurants and a few hotels, the action is in these popup towns where venders sell quartz, antiques, pizza, and beer. If we hadn't already made plans in Phoenix, we would have spent a few days enjoying the warm weather and Beer Belly's Adult Day Care.

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Salton Sea

The Salton Sea is an interesting example of when humans take water away, give it back again, and then take it away, yet again. The sea was a long standing body of water until the Colorado River was redirected. When a levy failed, the redirected river returned to it's original path, replenishing the Sea for years while the levy was being rebuilt. It experienced a golden age as a recreational destination for Los Angeles's cramped denizens...until it started to sink. As more water evaporates per year than is replenished into the Sea, the Salton Sea retains little other than salt, farm runoff, and the resulting dead fish. Rent is pretty low.

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Joshua Tree

While we had already enjoyed a short hike with friends while staying in Palm Springs, we decided to circle back to for a night of camping after we bid the crew adieu. After an awesome hike, we settled in to a small camp site, set up our newly acquired inflatable glamping* chairs on the roof of the van to eat Bahn Mi and drink wine, and watched the sun set. Unfortunately, we, yet again, forgot to consider the elevation we were camping at and quickly retreated into the van as soon as the light show was over.

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Wonderland Ranch

Joshua Tree may be a National Park today, but, back in the day, cattle roamed the scrub brush and miners wandered in search of gold. This history

Joshua Tree may be a National Park today, but, back in the day, cattle roamed the scrub brush and miners wandered in search of gold. This history remains in arrested decay along the Wall Street Mill trail in the Wonderland of Rocks.

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Desert Christ Park

Statue at Desert Christ Park

Desert Christ Park is an early foray into biblically themed parks. It's not nearly to the state of gems you might find in Kentucky, but it has it's own charm as it attempts some earnest Greco-Roman styling in plaster and rebar. While it may not constitute very fine art, it's scale makes for some great group pictures.

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Krblin Jihn Kabin

The Kabin may be part of the Kcymaerxthaere series of pieces by Eames Demetrios but it certainly stands on its own in drawing your attention into an alternate world. This dilapidated "Kabin" on the outskirts of a housing development in Joshua Tree, California feels as if we had crossed into an alternate timeline. The Krblin Jihn Kabin is a faux-historic preserve where religious dissidents were exiled. It is complete with explanatory panels and plaques outlining the historic context and traditions.

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Robolights

Robolights in Palm Springs, California

Robolights has been the continuing project of Kenny Irwin Jr. since 1986. What was intended as a dystopian Christmas display of robots and found objects has become a block spanning marvel for visitors any day of the year. We happened to come by in January and were not disappointed.

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Palm Springs

Get ready to be jealous, because we are in Palm Springs. We are renting a house with a pool in the back. Thus, the first thing we attended to was cooling off in the water as the sun set. Along with the conventional walks through town, we spiced up out visit with attractions gathered from the Atlas Obscura. We visited a memorial structure preserved from the fictional civil war between north and south California. We trudged through a series of outdoor sculptures on the outskirts of a Joshua Tree suburb. And we enjoyed the crumbling remains of an early attempt at a biblical attraction with sculptures depicting religious scenes with heavy roman aesthetic.

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