Tag Archives: vacation

October 17, 2016 · 5:35 am

Road Trip — Silver City by way of Pinos Altos

Silver City Street Art

As my birthday approached Ursula decided to surprise me this year with a little road trip. We would be exploring the area in and around college town/art community of Silver City, New Mexico, while staying in a rustic cabin in nearby former mining town of Pinos Altos. Also on the agenda would be an excursion and hike along the famous, recently reopened Catwalk Trail (all next week) in the Gila National Forest as well as a tasty celebratory dinner at a truly gourmet establishment in Silver City (Fun Food Friday’s extensive restaurant review of Café 1Zero6).

Palace Hotel — Built in 1880; used as a hotel staring in 1900

We took off early Friday afternoon, as we had exclusive dinner reservations in Silver City. Finding we had time on our hands, we initially bypassed Silver City and headed into the high elevation of Pinos Altos to check in at the Bear Creek Motel and Cabins. Ours was the charming (outside) but, in our view, overly rustic (inside) Cabin A.

Bear Creek Motel & Cabins; Cabin A

Other cabin residents disagreed with our assessment, as many told us they are frequent guests of Bear Creek. So, don’t let me dissuade you, as you may really enjoy the Old West ambience.

Palace Hotel — Built in 1880; used as a hotel staring 1900

With still almost an hour to go until our reserved time at 1Zero6, we headed out onto the streets of Silver City for some photo opportunities. I was not disappointed.

The Art Deco styling of the Murray Hotel

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Filed under Automobiles and Driving, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Tagged as photography, Pinos Altos, R. Doug Wicker, scenic driving, Silver City, travel, travel photography, vacation

September 23, 2016 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — Todos Santos Favorites

Pink Flamingo in Red

All around here in the desert you’ll see a cactus that appears very much to be the saguaro associated with the Sonoran Desert up around Tucson, Arizona. Tucson is rather dear to me, as it’s where I met and married the love of my life, whom you’ve met in many of my travel articles. But I digress. We were talking cactii here. These cactii at the southern tip of the Baja are not saguaro. They’re the world’s largest, however — the towering cardón cactus (pachycereus pringlei,or elephant cactus). These monsters can grow to 70 feet/21 meters and weigh 25 tons/22.7 metric tons! Here are some smaller examples:

Cardón Cactus — Often confused with Saguaro

Below is today’s photo gallery. Click on any image to enlarge and bring up today’s slide show. This concluded our journey aboard the Golden Princess as she made her way from Chile to Los Angeles back in March, 2015. I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey.

Stained Glass

Home, Sweet Home . . . at the Cultural Center

Towering Adobe Mission Tower

Hammocks

Loud and Proud “Art” Gallery

Horsing Around

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Tagged as Fun Photo Friday, photography, R. Doug Wicker, Todos Santos, travel, travel photography, vacation

September 21, 2016 · 5:35 am

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Pilar

Mission Bells heard from The Hotel California?

As I said Monday, in my article on the Hotel California, there’s a mission right around the bend. This is the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Church of Our Lady of the Pillar) for the Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas. The mission was founded in 1733, and the first structure established for this mission was built in 1747. This adobe building was erected in 19th Century, although it does retain some of the original walls from 1747, most notably the entryway.