20 Seconds Of Open Shutter & A Desalination Plant (I Think)

        If you stand at the the Southern tip of San Diego Bay and face North, you will see a factory at your 10 o’clock. As far as I know, and judging by the piles of salt around the factory, this factory is involved in the removal of salt from ocean water. I suppose the salt is then exported to the salt deprived countries of the work, and the water deprived people of San Diego. I was 6000 feet away from the factory when I snapped this pic. Super-zoom cameras are the shit, right?

Golden Hour In San Diego

        Same factory, seen while the sun is casting it’s final rays for the day upon it. Ever since my tripod got smashed to Hell by a pack of rabid wolves over the summer, I have had to hand hold all my shots. Easy during the day but less than optimal during the night.

30 Second Exposure Of San Diego’s Silver Strand Dinosaur Cage

        I set my camera on a bench, near the bike path, pressed the shutter and let the magic happen.

Imperial Beach’s Dinosaur Cage

        I’m still hoping for my money shot of the Dinosaur Cage, located on the Southern end of San Diego Bay. I like what I’ve done but I think something better is in store.

$26 Million Bridge To Nowhere & San Diego Sunset

        I really have no idea why this bridge is being built. What you see in the foreground is the mast that the pedestrian bridge will be suspended from. It will span the trolley tracks, over Harbor drive in downtown San Diego. $26 million dollars so that residents of Paris Hilton’s hotel can get to Petco Park without having the pesky inconvenience of walking all the way to 5th Ave. to cross the street. It will shave about 800 feet of distance for these glorious people. Considering the price tag and taking simple math into account, we the OTHER people are paying $32,500 for every step the Hilton folk are taking. So, Harbor Drive In San Diego has a very impressive bridge to nowhere that is, kind of expensive.

Living On The West Cost Of California Does Have It’s Advantages

        This is a view only possible to those of us that live on a West Coast of an island, state or nation. For me, it helps to be reminded why I am doing or have done the things that I do. I moved to California during the dead of Colorado’s winter, so I suppose not much more explanation is necessary in that regard.

From This Point It Is Downhill All The Way To San Diego

        This was my view upon exiting the Eisenhower Tunnel, heading west. Crossing the Continental Divide, in the spirit of the pioneers did enter my mind. I was moving across the country with no money and only the barest scraps of a plan. I was heading towards unknown opportunities and I was starting my journey in Arctic conditions, with the promise that better weather lay ahead.

On Approach To The Eisenhower Tunnel

        Try climbing over 11,000 feet into the air with your possessions strapped to your back, and you can understand the gravity of what you are doing. I can only imagine what a journey like mine must have been like in the age before fossil fuels and certainty of destination.

        Something never mentioned before, that warrants your attention now is that I do possess the powers of a God. I am not a God myself, nor am I immortal, I just play one on both of the internets. The transcending abilities of the Holy Beings in our universe are just are as much as anyone, especially me can imagine, and I can imagine quite a bit. As I recall a journey and think about the fun I had and the places and times that I went, but it is the catalyst that warped the orbit I was in, sending me careening through the distant past before my elliptical orbit brought me back into the present.

Ever The Prop In The Setting Of A Story

        Rose petals floated in a crystal blue, color changing pool, in a not so unusual way, yet had they not been there, in that most cliché of ways, I would have missed the sock that were float nearby and the vacant pair of pants that lay tossed in a rose bush.

Don’t look inside the cap or you will change the world!

        The pool, the petals, the pants and the socks all drew my attention to the shiny, gold champagne bottle stopper, and the tiny cargo it contained. Like passages from the Necronomicon, I cannot recite what I said or did next, but suffice to say that my journey was about to begin.

You Are Not Alone In Your Quest For The Divine

        Of course there are those in the world that would use an opportunity like this for other than pure, photographic fun, so I had to be sure I remained unseen by those people.

My only Reference Point To Return Home

        I saw that others had started similar journeys, and as they had already, graciously carved proper returning coordinates in a nearby succulent, I did what the champagne bottle stopper suggested, and headed for the distant past.

Creatures Moved At The Edge Of My View

        The past is a dangerous place; especially will no GPS or cell phone reception. This was a land with Ickypedia, so I would have to rely on my wits, cunning, candy I had in my pockets.

I Was In The Backyard Of Animals That Would Mean To Do Me Harm

        Even though I wanted to find out if this dragon was capable of breathing fire, I would have to find a better time to separate fact from fiction. Right now I would just have to get some sort of bearing and proceed in a manner that would best allow me to flex my photographic muscles, so I wondered away.

If A Creature With Teeth Like This Died Here, What Chance Did I Have?

        I found myself on the edge of an ancient tar pit, and I just didn’t know what to do. In front of me lay a certain death, just like this predatory cat, but behind me was the dragon. I decided to take my chances by skirting the edge of the tar pit, steering myself to the left.

There Was No Way Through This Tar Pit

        Ancient bones and scalding tar lay ahead, so I would have to try another way, and the only other way was to my right.

This Afternoon Catnap Is The only Reason I Managed To Slip By

        As I reached the edge of the tar pit, I saw a giant cat napping up on some rocks. As quietly as I could, I slipped past him, and left the deathly tar pit behind me.

Eyes That I Was Aware Were Watching Me Did Not Unnerve Me

        It was only watching. I have no doubt that for every set of eyes I was aware of through the viewfinder of my camera, and infinite number more were studying me from afar, and from up close.

Hearing This Animal Approach Had Me Leaping For Cover

        I crawled under a rock, just like a lizard so my view of this creature’s feet was very fitting. Unable or perhaps unwilling to stick my head out for a better look, I resigned to get cozy in my rock dwelling until he or she walked by, and it wasn’t until I was sure that the beast was at a proper remove that I crawled out.

This Wasn’t A Rock At All!

        My rock shelter was already occupied, and while the current resident did not seem to mind my temporary intrusion, he did seem hungry, and looked at me like I was lollipop with a bubble gum center. I attempted to throw my green backpack into his nostril, but I missed and it landed just above it instead. Even though it was large, it is still a tortoise so I easily outran it. Stupid tortoise. I ran so far that I came upon some other travellers that were about to head home, so I hitched a ride on their human train and was dropped off very close to my own front door.

San Diego Bay As Seen From Harbor Island

        Not every fracas is a victory, chief. Watching a boatload of tourists fire invisible cannonballs at each other is not as exciting as it may sound. It was one of those 3 hours of boredom followed by 10 seconds of nothing situations, and I uh… I got nothing.

Don’t Blink Or You Will Miss The Action

        I just don’t know what to say, which is ironic considering this is a blog post which would imply that I have something to say.

No Collisions & No One Fell Overboard

        I suppose it’s the movies that have spoiled me but God damn, there was just NO excitement at all. At least in the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride at Disneyland the water splashes where the cannonballs hit and there is a soundtrack to add a sense of drama. This was just boats and puffs of smoke… Sorry, I just nodded off while typing about it.

Damn The Fake Cannonballs, Full Speed Ahead!

        My dilemma now is this: Do I pay $65 next weekend to be on one of these boats, and see if that particular vantage offers up better photo opportunities or do I just sleep in instead?