You’ve probably heard, and perhaps even dreamed, of the French Riviera: This, however, is the story of California’s Riviera on the Salton Sea, which turned out to be quite a few cuts below, and many, many a yacht short of, the Mediterranean playground: It’s hard to believe that such scenes as this abound in what […]
On California’s Royal Road, Traces of ‘New Spain’
Posted April 27th, 2012 at 7:04 pm (UTC-4)
In the late 18th Century, Catholic missionaries moved north from the Spanish colony of Mexico into what is now the U.S. state of California. They called it the Viceroyalty of Alta California — Upper California, since there already was a “California” in the vast Spanish colony of New Spain. It was the long, skinny peninsula […]
Palm Springing
Posted December 2nd, 2010 at 1:36 pm (UTC-4)
Palm Springs. Somehow I feel ritzy, elite, just writing the name. If you’ve ever seen a classic black-and-white Hollywood movie such as “Sunset Strip,” there’s almost certain to be a reference, if not a celluloid visit, to the “resort city to the stars.” This California desert town of 48,000 or so people ranks with places […]
Raining and Straining
Posted October 2nd, 2009 at 3:29 pm (UTC-4)
Last time, while enjoying my way across South Dakota, I mentioned that my ultimate destination was Seattle, Washington. Just as life is (hopefully) a marathon, not a sprint, my goal was to amble around all three of the Pacific Northwest states a bit in order to refresh my impressions of them. Seattle was the finish […]
