flekka journaltravels

ghost town

nina — Mon, 02 May 2011 06:47:36 +0000

The week before Easter was our Spring break so we took off for a 9 day road trip. Road trip, yay! It was a mini adventure – we rented an RV (never done that before) and decided to tour some of the most beautiful places in US – National Parks Zion and Bryce Canyon, and Escalante National Monument.

This post is about none of those places. Our first stop was unplanned. We just needed a break from driving (RV ride – not the most comfortable). If you have ever driven from LA to Las Vegas, you know that once you are out of the sprawl of LA, there is not much before you reach Las Vegas. So, looking at the map, I was surprised to find Calico Ghost Town, just past Barstow (going toward LV). We have driven this route at least 5 times, and I have never noticed it.

We decided to stop. It is not really a ghost town. It is very much populated, at least from 9 to 5. A lot of people. Very commercial. But fun for the kids. And we did see some of the original buildings (this was a mining town developed in the late 19th century during silver rush), and the original train tracks (of course we also took the short train ride). Did I take pictures…

Unfortunately the mines were closed for the day, but the train ride offered some views of the old mine:

some original buildings by the tracks…

and parts of the original mine tracks and cart used in the mine at one of the visible entrances.

The town itself is a mixture of stone buildings built closer the the mine, and mostly restored wooden buildings (town burned down twice during it’s brief history) in the center of town.

School tower. Also restored.

All in all, it wasn’t a waste of time.

Next… Zion. Soon.

california poppies after rain

nina — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:14:11 +0000

It is raining right now. I don;t remember when it rained this late in the year. This is the Southern California after all. But thanks to the rain, the desert is blooming. This is what it looks like now at the Antelope Valley State Park, which is one of the few places in California, where you can see wildflowers in the spring (if there is enough rain in the winter). I understand that Anza Borego is in bloom too, but we did not get to go there this spring.

I know that color on computer screens vary, but on my screen this is pretty much the color I saw. Very bright yellow-orange. We were lucky – the weather was perfect, warm and no wind. The wind makes poppies close, and the walk around very uncomfortable.

Yes, Spider-Man is in. The interesting thing is those shirts are both Luka’s (the older one), or in other words they are wearing the same size shirts. The shorter one is 2, the taller one is 5 (and a half).

This little guy was very patient. I took this picture with the macro setting, I got within a few inches from him.

OK, I had to take a picture of them like this. I just had to.

Poppies as far as you can see.

More pictures here.

still raining

nina — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:09:33 +0000

Yes, it is still raining today. It is just beautiful – I know some of you don’t think so, but for us in Southern California, rain is a very rare sight. Anyway, this picture is from the Summer of 2007. It was taken in Zagreb, Croatia, and that day was so hot we could go out only in the evening. It was also a day before I found out I was pregnant with Sven. I was not feeling so good in the heat…