My Life & Artwork - July, August, & September 2021

October 6, 2021 Teressa Jackson

Much has happened since my last blog update! I am now reporting to you from Costa Mesa, California. Read on for more about that…

I had artwork in two exhibitions that opened in July - “Xscape” at FOUND:RE Contemporary and “Agua Sagrada,” a virtual exhibition with Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop in Tucson. “Xscape” remains on display until November 14, and I have been fortunate enough to sell the painting that was juried into that show as well as the one I supplied to replace the first piece. There is a third painting on display there now, also available to go home with a lucky arts enthusiast.

I also visited my family in Oregon in July. We had a lovely time together after far too long apart. My sister and her sweet family indulged my love for rockhounding adventure, and my mom and I visited the Oregon coast, including the Neskowin Ghost Forest and Newport. My human niece and nephew have grown so much in two years, and are such lovely young people. I can’t believe they still think I’m kind of cool. I also got to meet my new dog niece, Ulu!

In August, Aaron accepted a job in Orange County, California, and my life turned into full-time home selling and packing. There was time to crank out a couple of paintings amid the chaos, as well as to get in some quality time with my friends Ursula, Kalisha, and Sarah. I am very grateful to all three of those ladies for helping to keep me sane and take care of odds and ends amongst the chaos. Thankfully, the home sale went better than our wildest dreams could have imagined, making the hard work feel worthwhile.

On September 3, Lola dog and I pulled out of Phoenix in the Uhaul and made our way to the Golden State. The trip was made even more exciting when some issues with our planned new residence arose and Aaron literally found a new place for us to live less than 24 hours before we unloaded. There were a few harried phone calls during that drive, that’s for sure!

We had fun taking Lola to meet the ocean for the first time. That desert dog had no idea what to make of the waves, but she did enjoy some good rolling in the sand. Unfortunately, we won’t be visiting the Huntington Dog Beach again anytime in the near future, as it is part of the impacted area from the oil spill that recently occurred. Huntington Beach and Newport Beach are the two closest beaches to our home (a mere 10 minute or so drive), and are closest to the spill. It’s a bummer, but more than anything, it’s truly heartbreaking to think of the wildlife impacted by this disaster.

Another Raices Taller virtual exhibition, “All Things Paper,” went up on September 4, and is on display until October 16. I am grateful to have three paintings in that exhibition, and encourage you to see the diverse array of works the artists have created for the show, all of which are on paper.

Valley Coffee Company opened around the corner from FOUND:RE Contemporary in Phoenix in September, and I am thrilled to be part of a beautiful wall installation of Arizona-inspired artwork in their shop. My painting Prelude to the Pursuit was selected through an opportunity facilitated by Artlink, an arts organization that has been instrumental to my success as an artist in the Phoenix area. I will certainly miss their support.

Most of September revolved around getting settled and learning a new place. Understandably, I’ve not been as productive as I would have liked during these past few months, but I’m happy to say I’m feeling back to the swing of things again, for the most part. The biggest thing we are still trying to figure out now is where we can go have some rockhounding adventures. :-)

In all, I created six paintings during this time, three of which are still available for purchase. Additionally, I designed and opened pre-orders for my 2022 art calendar, which can be ordered through November 15, 2021.

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Ursula and I took a jaunt out to see the Salt River during her visit. It’s bittersweet to bid this landscape farewell.

Little Bird, Big Dreams 16x12”, Watercolor on 300 lb. Arches Cold Pressed Paper Juried into and available for sale via Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop’s “All Things Paper” virtual exhibition, 9/4-10/16/21. — *Little Bird, Big Dreams*
16x12”, Watercolor on 300 lb. Arches Cold Pressed Paper
Juried into and available for sale via Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop’s “All Things Paper” virtual exhibition, 9/4-10/16/21.

See Me in the OC 8x6”, Watercolor on 140 lb. Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper SOLD. — *See Me in the OC*
8x6”, Watercolor on 140 lb. Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper
SOLD.

Sequilibrium 14x10”, Watercolor on 140 lb. Arches Hot Pressed Paper Juried into and available for sale via Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop’s “All Things Paper” virtual exhibition, 9/4-10/16/21. — *Sequilibrium*
14x10”, Watercolor on 140 lb. Arches Hot Pressed Paper
Juried into and available for sale via Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop’s “All Things Paper” virtual exhibition, 9/4-10/16/21.

Virga Vision 3x2”, Watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Black Paper For sale as of this blog post - visit my online shop to purchase. — *Virga Vision*
3x2”, Watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Black Paper
For sale as of this blog post - visit my online shop to purchase.

Cloudburst 3x2”, Watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Black Paper SOLD. — *Cloudburst*
3x2”, Watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Black Paper
SOLD.

Sonoran Slumber 3x2”, Watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Black Paper SOLD. — *Sonoran Slumber*
3x2”, Watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Black Paper
SOLD.

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My Artwork - July 2017

July 31, 2017 Teressa Jackson

July was my first full month in Belize. Aaron and I started out in Hopkins, then spent two weeks in Placencia, traveled to the country's southernmost civilization (and the end of paved roads) in Punta Gorda, and then flew to San Pedro, a.k.a. La Isla Bonita.

Despite being in four different locations, I managed to be relatively prolific, painting nine pieces. The pace of life in Belize is generally slow, and that helps. My work bounced around a bit, from Belize-inspired to pieces reaching back to my travels in the U.S. I certainly have a large stock of inspiration after 9+ months of being a nomad.

Feel free to e-mail me to be added to a list to be notified when artwork is available again (a.k.a. when I return to the U.S.).

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming: 6/6/17, 18:50:29 — Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming: 6/6/17, 18:50:29

Redwood National Park, California: 5/26/17, 15:05:25

Avenue of the Giants, California: 5/25/17, 16:12:03

Avenue of the Giants, California: 5/24/17, 16:30:59

False Sittee Point, Belize: 6/30/17, 16:01:29

Tall Trees and a Terrific Twosome

June 24, 2017 Teressa Jackson

Kerri and Teressa at King Range National Conservation Area

After my day at Yosemite and a bit of rest and work in my Sonora, California Airbnb, I awoke in the pre-dawn hours (4:30 a.m.!) to pick up one of my favorite people in the world in San Francisco. My friend Kerri was in the area for work and had arranged to extend her stay for some adventuring with me. Unsurprisingly, the San Francisco traffic meant that it took four hours to drive 140 miles. It was all worth it, though, when I saw her joyous face smiling at me.

Kerri had always wanted to see the "big trees," the California redwoods, and I wanted to help make that dream come true and add a check to that bucket list. We took off over the Golden Gate bridge, ready for rocky coastline and towering tree canopies. San Francisco can be fun, but a peaceful time in nature was much more enticing.

Lunchtime called for a stop at Francis Ford Coppola's Sonoma winery. We enjoyed a tasting of some of their wines with a bartender who looked an awful lot like Philip Seymour Hoffman's doppelgänger and was an insane treasure trove of television and movie trivia. After adding a layer of Italian food to our bellies, we were off once more.

Our accommodations for the next two nights were at the Benbow Historic Inn in Garberville, California. Although the hotel was under renovation, its interior and grounds were still really lovely. It's amazing to think of what it must have been like to stay there when the inn first opened, 90 years ago. The inn's back lawn sloped down to the Eel River, a beautiful blue-green waterway that we would follow on most of our redwood escapades.

Garberville was conveniently located near the southern entrance of the Avenue of the Giants, a section of old Highway 101 that has been converted to a scenic byway, with lots of stops where you can park and walk among these behemoth trees and the lush green vegetation that accompanies them. There are also several quaint little towns with restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, and other tourism-related amenities. We enjoyed patronizing several of them, as well as communing with the largest trees in the world. I had been to this area a few times before, but it's truly hard to fathom (and easy to forget!) how massive these trees really are until you are in their presence.

While in the Garberville area, we also wound through miles and miles of mountains and forest to the King Range National Conservation Area. This preserve was home to giant redwood driftwood, beautiful flowering plants, a black sands beach, loads of seagulls, and powerful crashing surf. It was beautiful, rugged, and isolated. We also hit beaches at Patrick's Point State Park and Trinidad State Beach, where we weaved our way from redwoods to breathtaking Pacific cliffs and back again.

Our next stop was in Klamath, California. On our way there we popped in to Redwoods National Park and got a bit lost on the roads up past the majestic Ladybird Johnson Grove. Atop the mountains and off the beaten path, we saw acres and acres of fragrant purple lupine. It was like something out of a movie!

In Klamath, we stayed in an Airbnb apartment above the office of an RV park. Let's just say that the space was probably more suited to big burly men who were interested in casting reels and cooking up some salmon, but we took a drive up to Crescent City and limited our time at the apartment. I'm pretty sure that we were the only patrons at SeaQuake Brewery who weren't wearing plaid. Welcome to the northwest. :-)

Teressa in Lithia Park's giant rhododendrons

The next morning, the redwoods were looking a bit gloomy and mysterious, shrouded in fog as Kerri and I said our farewells to them. In a short time, we were cruising across the Oregon state line, through Cave Junction, Grants Pass, Medford, and then Ashland. We dined on vegetarian fare in Ashland, checked out the historic town and the rhododendron-filled Lithia Park, and then found our way to our Jacksonville Airbnb.

Our time together was coming to a close, but Kerri and I had time for one more big destination. Crater Lake National Park was too close to resist, so we made our way to this imploded volcano. Unfortunately, I think that the unusually (even for Oregon) ample rain and snowfall over the past several months had caused the snow bank to be even deeper than usual. It might have been just a couple of days away from June, but the park was nearly entirely inaccessible beyond the historic lodge. We made the best of it, enjoying time in the rockers overlooking the bluest of blue lake and dining in the lodge.

That evening, we relaxed back in Jacksonville with Rogue Creamery cheeses and accompaniments, gazing at the mountain view from the hot tub. It was definitely not a bad way to close out a spectacular time with a super-duper friend. I was sad and sleepy as I dropped Kerri at the airport at 5 a.m. the next morning, but put the pedal to the metal and continued north...

Lupine covered hills along the backroads of Redwood National Park

Mighty Yosemite

June 2, 2017 Teressa Jackson

After saying goodbye to my mother in Las Vegas, I had a long haul ahead of me. I was soon in California, cruising along in one of the state's least attractive stretches, at least in my opinion. I adore the desert, but the Mojave Desert in southern California is exactly what most people who haven't seen a desert picture: dirty, trashy, flat, uninhabited, and boring. I think it may have been the setting for Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. As much as possible, I made quick work of putting it behind me.

Just before dark, I reached the adorable historic town of Sonora in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. My Airbnb hosts, Sarah and Stan, were so sweet and enthusiastic, and a great treat after a long day. I immediately felt at home and loved the view in the waning light from my apartment atop their garage.

Looking down into Yosemite Valley. Do you see the waterfall?

The next morning, I took off into the hills to our nation's longest-protected treasure, Yosemite National Park. The Yosemite Grant was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on June 30, 1864 in the first instance of park land being set aside specifically for preservation and public use by the federal government. This action set a precedent for the 1872 creation of Yellowstone as the first national park.

I think I may have visited Yosemite as a child, but I don't precisely remember. I'm quite sure, though, that I'll never forget it again. I only got to spend one day there this time, but it has certainly landed on my list for a return visit. The park is undoubtedly beautiful any time of the year, but I was simply in awe of the number of waterfalls created by the melting snow during my time there. Most of them drop from staggering heights. In fact, the 1,430-foot plunge of Upper Yosemite Fall is among the twenty highest waterfalls in the world. Thanks to these beauties, I got wetter than on a log ride several times during my exploration of Yosemite's wonders.

I didn't enjoy the traffic at Yosemite, but it's also understandable why so many want to see this great American wonderland - and I'm glad to see them doing just that. However, even the lines for the shuttle looked like more than I cared to undertake. I finally found a place to park and hiked around the valley, gazing at the sheer granite cliffs, waterfalls, and gorgeous trees. It was nice to get away from the crowds and find some peaceful spots to take in the landscape.

My pruny waterfall-soaked feet started to blister as I made my way back to the car, an almost-welcome impediment since I really needed to stay in one place and get some work done the following day. I drove back to Sonora with bare feet and a head and heart full of beautiful scenery.

My Artwork - February 2017

March 9, 2017 Teressa Jackson

February 2017 took me to Fallbrook, California; Joshua Tree National Park; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Death Valley National Park. All that bouncing around didn't stop me from creating - I produced seven new pieces of original artwork inspired by my travels and informed by my original photography. Several are already sold (thank you, awesome people!), but a few are still available and ready to pack their bags and bring a bit of new life to your locale.

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Fallbrook, California: 1/31/17, 11:45:21

Fallbrook, California: 1/31/17, 11:40:17 #2

Fallbrook, California: 1/31/17, 11:49:21

Fallbrook, California: 1/31/17, 11:52:26

Joshua Tree National Park, California: 2/13/17, 14:13:15

Every $30 you buy in art helps keep me rolling on my adventure across the United States for approximately 1-2 days (gas is expensive!). I'm truly grateful to all the people in my life who keep me fueled up, both literally and figuratively!

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Life in Death Valley

March 8, 2017 Teressa Jackson

Salt Creek, home of the desert pupfish, is surrounded by salty badlands

Following a night of enthusiastic storms, I headed east from Twentynine Palms, California. I decided to take the shortest route to my destination, which sent me through Mojave National Preserve and Mojave Trails National Monument. While this was a beautiful and intriguing landscape, it was also quite soggy from the rains of the previous hours. There were a few close calls, but I luckily made it to my destination of Las Vegas without encountering any roads that were completely washed out and impassable.

I'd never been to Las Vegas before, and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. My first thought was that it was actually a lot smaller than I had envisioned. Other than that, it pretty much lived up to my expectations... gambling, over-the-top glitz, shows, weird people, and lots of intoxicated partiers who could barely walk - including one who had literally passed out on the sidewalk. His friends were pretty concerned. I don't think I have a lot in common with the people for whom this is a dream destination, but it was fun to experience it for a day. I do love people watching.

The streets were pretty empty when I rolled out of town around 7 a.m., wild and crazy party animal that I am. The clouds were beginning to drift away, making for a dramatic and beautiful scene as my car passed through Red Rock Canyon and headed west again.

In about an hour, I was in Pahrump, Nevada, my home for the next week. I hadn't researched much about Pahrump ahead of time, only that it was the closest locale of any size at all to Death Valley National Park. I came to learn that Michael Jackson had once owned an estate here, it is home to the Chicken Ranch and some other (yes, legal) brothels, you can do some hardcore firearms training at Front Sight Training Institute, and famed madam Heidi Fleiss was once proprietor of a laundromat in the town called "Dirty Laundry." I can't say that any of that got me really excited. :-)

Salt in Badwater Basin, which was underwater during my visit

I was pretty pumped up about seeing Death Valley, though. After itching to visit this expansive national park for years, I was finally going to experience it. I had also achieved my goal of visiting during the wintertime, as a summer visit to the hottest, driest, and lowest place in North America can be worse than inhospitable. Back in July of 1913, the temperature reached a whopping 134 degrees there.

Death Valley has apparently been growing slightly wetter over the past few years, and they had received nearly half their total average yearly precipitation a couple days before my visit. This meant that the landscape was different than it would likely look in warm and toasty July. The lowest lying areas of the park were home to shallow bodies of water, not dry, cracked salt flats. Salt Creek, home to the rare desert pupfish, was flowing instead of being reduced to a few life-filled puddles. And there was certainly plenty of salty mud to adorn my hiking shoes as a souvenir of my visit.

One my surprises at Death Valley was the variety of scenery that exists there - flat, salty, lifeless expanses; beautiful multicolored striped mountains; surreal, wrinkly, colorful badlands; canyons; sand dunes; creeks teeming with fish; the well-preserved ghost town of Rhyolite just outside the park's borders; and so much more than I could ever properly describe. It literally takes hours to drive from one end of the park to another, and it seems nearly impossible that anyone could ever truly see and experience its diverse wonders.

I have found that the desert has a way of teaching you about the persistence and creativity of life. Some might think that Death Valley would be an exception to this observation, but despite everything it's up against, life creeps through even this harshest of landscapes. In addition to amazing desert fish, I spotted a brave and curious coyote, many birds, lots of darting lizards, and some very hopeful vegetation. While the guy passed out on the sidewalk in Las Vegas probably woke up the next morning wishing he wasn't living and the gold prospectors cleared out of Rhyolite long ago, these life forms slowly and quietly adapt, adjust, and amaze those who take a moment to stop and spot them. I'm glad I am among them.

Badlands at Death Valley's Zabriskie Point

The Joshua Tree

March 2, 2017 Teressa Jackson

I've fallen behind on updates! When I left my readers over two weeks ago, I was preparing to leave Fallbrook, California. My route from there took me north on I-215 and then east on my old friend I-10. When I turned onto California State Hwy. 62, also known as the Twentynine Palms Highway, I knew I was getting close to Joshua Tree land. At the town of Yucca Valley, these sweet little twisted, fairy tale-like "trees" began to appear.

Joshua Trees are not actually considered to be a tree. They are a variety of yucca, but can develop a woody trunk covered in what looks like tree bark, and grow to nearly fifty feet tall in some instances. Their branches end in spiny green outgrowths that echo their yucca genus.

Continuing east, the town of Joshua Tree appeared next. Little shops and cafes dotted the side of the highway, targeting the throngs of people from Los Angeles and Southern California who escape east to the magical Mojave Desert landscape.

Cholla Garden at Joshua Tree National Park

The town of Twentynine Palms, where I would be staying for the next week, would be next along the highway, but I took a detour. I turned into the entrance for Joshua Tree National Park, my reason for visiting the area.

The park encompasses various elevations and different types of landscape. It straddles the Colorado and Mojave Deserts, the southern section of the park looking markedly different from the northern one. Much of it is dotted with weathered granite boulders, their edges worn smooth from countless years out in the elements. The result, combined with the Joshua Trees themselves, is an almost unbelievable, whimsical landscape.

Over the next six days, I took in the sights of the park at its various elevations - Joshua Trees, a prickly cholla garden, boulder scrambling, and a hike to the top of Ryan Mountain Peak. I saw climbers with their gear on top of giant rock outcroppings, and enjoyed the fact that the Mojave Desert's sparse vegetation means you can pretty much wander and make your own trail anywhere that speaks to you.

I also spent a day touring around the cities of Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs. Cabot's Pueblo Museum in Desert Hot Springs was a unique highlight of that day. It had a fascinating story, having been constructed in the early to mid-20th century of entirely found and repurposed materials. I also soared to new heights to the top of San Jacinto Peak on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.

My Airbnb in Twentynine Palms was a sweet little spot above a garage in a residential neighborhood, the perfect cozy spot for working on a few new paintings and hiding out from the storm that whipped through on my last night there. As the palms (I didn't count them, but surely there were more than 29) swayed to and fro, I could have sworn they waved goodbye!

View of Twentynine Palms from the top of Chocolate Drop Mountain, which was located behind my Airbnb

Falling for Fallbrook

February 11, 2017 Teressa Jackson

Following a lovely sunny last Sunday in January day at Encinitas' Cardiff State Beach, I wound my way through the hills to Fallbrook, California, the place I would call "home" for the next two weeks. In more ways than one, my Airbnb at Equinox Farms was sure to be a different experience than my previous temporary residences.

First of all, I would be staying in a camper. Although I did a fair amount of tent camping as a kid, I haven't camped at all in years, and had never actually slept in a camper. When looking at Southern California Airbnb options, this was certainly one of the most reasonable arrangements, so I decided to see how I fared in one for a couple of weeks.

Roosevelt the alpaca gives me the stare-down

More interesting than staying in a camper, though, was the property on which it sits. My host Tricia and her husband reside in their home on the property, and have created a beautiful and peaceful oasis of a little farm here. The camper looks out on their menagerie of critters, which include an alpaca, a llama, two miniature horses, a full size horse, two goats, chickens, ducks, a pig, and a couple dogs.

The day after I arrived, I came down with either a tremendous migraine or a terrible 24-hour stomach bug. Being sick is pretty miserable, but being sick all alone is even worse. I'm not one to ask for help, but when Tricia learned I wasn't well, I eagerly accepted the Sprite, crackers, and rice she delivered to my door. It did, indeed, cure whatever it was that ailed me.

Fallbrook is a cute little town that is apparently known as the Avocado Capitol of the World, and I have definitely eaten my fair share of these delectable fruits over the course of the past two weeks. I also enjoyed some local flavor at area restaurants, chowing down on a hearty breakfast at Fallbrook's Main Street Cafe and devouring some seriously spicy Thai food at Thai Thai.

My day trips have included time to enjoy the rugged and beautiful coastline at La Jolla's Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, the retro vibe at Oceanside's pier and downtown, strolling the streets of Temecula, foggy trips to Carlsbad's Ponto Beach and to the top of Palomar Mountain, and the artsy streets and breathtaking oceanfront of Laguna Beach.

After months in more rural locales, it took me a bit to get used to the way people drive here, but outside their cars, I've found them to be incredibly, surprisingly friendly. Aside from a brief trip to San Diego years ago, I have mostly experienced the culture in northern California. I don't care to delve into negativity, but I'll just say that the demeanor around here seems markedly different from my previous impression of Californians.

One of my favorite pieces I created in Fallbrook, inspired by a pelican I saw on the pier at Oceanside, CA

I have enjoyed the places I've visited, their lush green scenery in stark contrast to the ruggedly beautiful Arizona desert. The hills are covered with boulders that look like they were sprinkled there by a hand from the sky, and the roads in the countryside boast orchards of avocados, oranges, and grapefruit. In other parts of the country, we forget how much of our food comes from this gargantuan state.

However, I truly think what I will miss more than anything is this lovely place I have called home. The camper, while small, really has everything I need. I can gaze out my window and see bunnies, a pig, chickens, and a miniature horse frolicking - all in the same unbelievable scene. I have also been quite productive, cranking out paintings at a relatively quick pace.

Painting of Dolly Llama I created for Tricia in gratitude for her hospitality

But most of all, my host Tricia has been an absolute delight. I have had little interaction with most of my other Airbnb hosts, and really didn't want or need to. They have certainly been responsive if I needed them - this is just a much different arrangement. A successful photographer and businesswoman with a whole lot on her plate, Tricia always had time for a few moments of lovely chitchat. She made great recommendations. She made me feel at home. I'm delighted to have met her and shared her space for a bit.

I'm not ready to take up residence in southern California anytime soon, but this place has definitely carved out a little boulder-shaped niche in my heart. Hasta la vista, Fallbrook!

My Artwork - January 2017

February 1, 2017 Teressa Jackson

January 2017 brought several different locales and some visits from familiar faces to my trek. I spent time in Bisbee, Tucson, Ajo, and Yuma, Arizona; cruised Salvation Mountain and the Salton Sea and laid my head to rest in Aguanga and Fallbrook, California. Although those distractions slowed my pace a bit, I still managed to create six new pieces of original artwork inspired by my travels and informed by my original photography. Most are already sold (thank you, patrons!), but you might still be able to find a treasure to bring some adventure to your decor.

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Saguaro National Park, Arizona: 1/2/17, 13:56:04

Saguaro National Park, Arizona: 1/19/17, 12:44:25

Saguaro National Park, Arizona: 1/19/17, 13:43:40

Fallbrook, California: 1/31/17, 11:40:17

Every $25 you buy in art helps keep me rolling on my adventure across the United States for approximately 1-2 days (gas is expensive!). I'm truly grateful to all the people in my life who keep me fueled up, both literally and figuratively!

Shop now ›

Salvation and a Forgotten Sea

January 27, 2017 Teressa Jackson

Yuma, Arizona, was about as close to California as my former home of New Albany, Indiana was to Louisville, Kentucky. Within moments of leaving my hotel this morning, I was cruising down the interstate in the Golden State.

Before too long, I was in the midst of rolling brown sand dunes. On a windy day like today, that meant sand was blasting my car and all over the roadway. I couldn't believe that people were riding dirt bikes on the windy dunes, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves just fine.

My first destination was a short jaunt off of State Highway 111. I encountered Leonard Knight's creation, Salvation Mountain, shortly after passing the sign for Slab City, "The Last Free Place on Earth." I had wanted to visit the Mountain for years, and by the amount of traffic they were getting, I clearly wasn't the only one with that wish.

Leonard, a Vermont native, landed in this California desert in 1984, beginning construction of the mountain that he worked on for nearly 30 years. Salvation Mountain, which he constructed out of clay, bales of hay, latex paint, tires, and pretty much anything else he found useful that had been discarded or donated, was named a National Folk Art Site in 2000, and a National Treasure in the U.S. Congressional Record. Leonard passed away in 2014, but the not-for-profit, Salvation Mountain, Inc. continues to work to maintain and preserve his labor of love.

Unfortunately, I picked a somewhat bad day to visit Salvation Mountain. Going inside Leonard's creation or climbing the "Yellow Brick Road" stairs that led to the top were off limits, as the recent rains had made the construction wet and vulnerable to damage. I still enjoyed seeing the site and appreciated the care that was still going into its preservation.

Next, I was headed to another "weird" destination. Sometime, ages ago, I saw a television documentary about the Salton Sea. For some reason, I never quite got it out of my mind, so when I found myself in the general vicinity of California's largest inland body of water, I went for it.

The Salton Sea was a dry basin when European settlers first came to the area. Apparently, it was actually, at one time long ago, a part of the Gulf of California. When farmers in the area needed water, a man was hired to engineer a canal from the Colorado River to the basin. After a couple tries, he got the canal to flow, but it ended up flowing for over a year and filling the basin to create the Salton Sea.

In the 1950's, the sea was a popular recreational area for Californians. However, the destruction created by a couple of hurricanes combined with the increasing salinity of the sea caused the area's eventual decline. The sea continues to increase in salinity, and is currently about 50% saltier than the Pacific Ocean. It's still quite a ways from being as salty as the Great Salt Lake, but it is inhospitable to most fish except the tilapia who live there, and they don't appear to be living the dream, either. It is, however, a popular spot for abundant bird watching. I'm sure the birds don't mind the fish snacks, either. I found it to be weird, peaceful, and oddly beautiful. :-)

After my tour of the Salton Sea, I cruised until the white salt crust no longer lined the roadway, through the cities of Indio and Palm Desert, and headed up through Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument to my home for the next couple of days in Aguanga, California. And now... I'm hungry for something salty...

From Ajo to Yuma, my Arizona Exit

January 26, 2017 Teressa Jackson

Monday, I awoke to a beautiful, sunny, mid-60's day in Tucson. It was a bit of a shame that my plans were to pack up and head west, but cruising down the highway with my sunroof open really isn't such a bad way to enjoy fantastic weather. In my opinion, non-interstate driving makes this even better, and that's exactly what I had planned.

I hopped onto the Ajo Highway and headed west. The scenery was beautiful, with plenty of saguaros and mountains to keep me company. I drove through the large swath of land that the Tohono O'odham Nation calls home, including their capitol of Sells, Arizona. I especially enjoyed listening to the Nation's radio station, which was eagerly promoting their upcoming rodeo festivities, encouraging their members to register to vote, and discussing other community events. They alternated between speaking in their language and English, and nearly every call for event participation seemed have the caveat of the Nation "not being legally responsible" in the event of some type of mishap, which I found to be a little amusing.

The blue skies and puffy white clouds gave way to wind, dense gray fog, and clouds, which added a mystique to the landscape that I rather enjoyed. I headed south at Why, Arizona, apparently named such because State Routes 85 and 86 originally intersected there in a Y-shaped intersection. At the time, Arizona law required city names to have at least three letters, so the town's founders named the town "Why" instead of "Y."

And now you know "Why." Ba-dum-dum.

My southbound trail quickly led me to my reason for visiting the area: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. I had not previously heard of this monument before, but when I saw it on the map, I just had to check it out. It's apparently been a national monument for over 40 years, as it was designated as such in 1976, the year of my birth.

The monument was shrouded in the same mist and fog I had journeyed in for the the past hour, and made for some intriguing scenery. The landscape there is dotted with saguaro and organ pipe cacti and interesting volcanic formations, making for some truly otherworldly scenes. The organ pipe cactus is a relative of the saguaro, a giant "bushy" shaped cactus that can grow to over 20 feet tall. These cacti are relatively common in Mexico, but only occur naturally in the U.S. in the area around the monument.

One of Ajo's two lovely Spanish colonial churches

After an afternoon winding around the monument's scenic loop, I pointed my car northward toward Ajo, a tiny town with a cute little Spanish colonial town center. The woman who checked me into the cabin where I was staying was about the sweetest person I've ever met, and informed me she'd lived there her whole life. Ajo was home to just three restaurants, and the grocery store was a combination IGA and Ace Hardware. As I picked up some groceries, I imagined that everyone knew everyone else in the store but me.

I spent Tuesday hiking the monument in sunshine, and it looked equally beautiful but completely different than it had the day before. I had intended to do a couple of the trails. However, my hike of the Arch Canyon Trail ended up being more than I bargained for when I unknowingly kept going on a steep, rocky, unimproved trail cut by hikers to the top of the mountain overlooking the "arch" in the rock. It was extremely challenging (and a little bit scary at times), but I did it, and the views were spectacularly rewarding.

I could have stayed in Ajo at least another day, but my reservations had me moving on, so I headed further west to Yuma, Arizona on Wednesday. Yuma is essentially located at the intersection of Arizona, California, and Mexico, and has the distinction of being both the hottest populated locale in the U.S. and the place with the most sunshine in the world. Yuma also grows a tremendous amount of the fresh vegetables you enjoy during the winter, so you can thank them if you enjoyed a salad, broccoli, or cauliflower today (I definitely spotted fields of all of those).

I strolled Yuma's cute historic downtown, enjoyed a craft beer sampler at one of its breweries, and visited a date farm where I slurped down a date milkshake in the sunshine. Yuma has the wonderful effect of making me feel vibrantly youthful, as it is obviously an extremely popular retirement destination. I think my hair might be the (naturally) brownest for miles around!

Yuma has been a good place to relax, as my battery was running a little low from moving around so much and my difficult hike. I can't say I've found anything to absolutely love about it, but I certainly haven't found much to dislike about it either. You'll never hear me complaining about the sunniest place in the world. Sunshine makes me very, very happy.

And tomorrow, it's westward ho again!

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