Trabuco Outdoors Blog

Wandering around Orange

I grew up in the city of Orange, so I can remember the downtown area from when I was a kid. No, the photo above was from a few weeks ago - I wasn't around in the 1920s. Anyway, we occasionally head to downtown Orange for dinner and I take the opportunity to shoot some photos. Orange circle was built in 1886 amd many of the existing buildings are from the early 1900s. This was a tired downtown area from my earliest recollections in the early to mid 1960s and the only thing that seems the same today is the Army Navy Store (except for the GPS units in the display case). I can also remember waiting in a long line with my sister at the movie theatre to watch the premiere of the Beatles Hard Day's Night. The line wrapped around from the ticket window and well down Walnut Avenue.

Here's a few photos from the around the Orange circle.

What's on the roof of that car ahead?

Chapman University graduate and street musician. I don't remember his name.

And, of course, the fountain.

And even a Mother's Day antiwar demonstration by Code Pink.

Watching

Wildflowers in the chaparral

New dad Carl Garrard and I did a quick hike in O'Neill Park early Saturday morning. He may be used to being sleep-deprived, but I'm not. Anyway, it's clear that it is peak season for wildflowers in out area. Above is a photo of a chocolate lily I took a while back. These seem to blend in with the surrounding brush and are easy to miss but an attentive eye will find them in the grassy areas of the chaparral.

Road trip, Colorado

My son Scott and I just got back from Colorado. He just finished his first year at CSU Fort Collins, and we did a little fly fishing and then stopped by Bryce Canyon NP Utah on the way home. Above is a night photo of lenticular clouds over 14,259 foot Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Bryce Canyon from Bryce Point lookout.

There is awesome scenery below the rim, but crowded along the "canyon" rim and more conducive to people watching.

Driving to L.A.

 

Wrapped up in the flag

Desert trip 2010 Part 7

After leaving Goldfield, I continued to Tonopah which isn't too far north. Here's a photo of Tonopah from an early 20th century postcard, and another from my trip. The Mizpah Hotel is the only constant between the two photos. The hotel was completed in 1908 at a cost of $200,000.

 

After passing through Tomopah, I headed to Belmont, a ghost town in central Nevada. Side trips included the Tonopah airport about 7 miles east of town. I've flown over the airport a number of times over the years but never landed there. There are three large wooden WWII era hangars at the airport including this one below. I heeded the Keep Out warnings and took the photo below.

Fortunately the weather was excellent during my entire trip. I don't remember how long it took to drive to Belmont; probably an hour and a half, on a desolate highway in the wide-open sagebrush desert.

 

 Above is the Belmont courthouse which was built in 1876. There are a few occupied residences in town in addition to crumbling adobe buildings, old wagons and vehicles whcih gives the ghost town an outdoor museum feel. If you are a ghost town buff, this one is worth the drive.

 

 

 

 

The pioneer life was difficult and often short as underscored by the grave of two-year-old George Morgan at the lower right.