Olancha Sculpture Garden

An unusual roadside point-of-interest south of Lone Pine, is the Olancha Sculpture Garden. A much smaller metal sculpture array than Anza-Borrego’s larger metal sculptures. The Olancha Sculpture Garden is an installation by Jael Hoffman. It’s right on the 395 and free, although there’s a donation sculpture (“Give & Take”) with Venmo address. Quirky, unusual metal characters are worth the stop and a few photos.
The Fossil Falls Trail is nearby if you want something else to do in the area. We considered it but it had already been a long day so we just stopped to check out the sculptures.

15 Oct 2023: Bristlecone Pine Ancient Forest

After our stop at Manzanar National Historic Site, we drove into Bishop for lunch. From Boulder Creek RV Park in south Lone Pine, Manzanar is about 18mi north, Bishop ~80mi. Manzanar was a surprise, we hadn’t planned a stop but being of Japanese heritage. When I saw the sign driving north, I thought it worth the detour. We stay a lot longer than I planned and this delayed our plans to find fall colors around Bishop & Lake Sabrina. So our plans changed to lunch in Bishop then the Ancient Bristlecone Forest. The Bristlecone Forest was definitely on my ‘must-see’ list. I had seen some wonderful tree and landscape photos. We still had plans to hike Mt Whitney the next day, so we might still find fall colors there.
There are two main trails at Bristlecone Pine Ancient Forest – 1mi Schulman Grove Trail & 4mi Methuselah Trail. With our late arrival and being at 10,000ft, we chose the shorter trail. The Schulman Grove Visitor Center closes early and the days are getting shorter in October. The altitude was definitely felt. The shorter trail is still considered moderately challenging and the first half mile climbs 265ft. Doesn’t sound like much but its a short somewhat steep climb at the start.

The trees are amazing and worth all the trouble to get here. Many look barely alive and their trunks are weathered from thousands of years. It doesn’t look like a forest in the traditional sense, with dense green trees. It’s an exposed forest at 10,000ft. Some areas have groves of trees but the ancient ones tend to stand alone. New growth is precious and rare – see red flag photo below.

15 Oct 2023: Manzanar National Historic Site

We took a daytrip, north on the 395, to hike the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. On the way, about 15mi north of Boulder Creek RV Resort, we passed the Manzanar National Historic Site. We were in no hurry so we stopped. I was aware of the history of Japanese-Americans on the Pacific Coast being sent to internment camps after Pearl Harbor. The US was fearful of anyone who might be sympathetic to Japan, pose a “public danger”, and be potential spies. So anyone with Japanese heritage was sent here or one of nine other camps for the duration on the war. Most lost their homes, businesses, farms, and personal belongings.
In addition to Manzanar’s informational displays, the National Archives has more information.
This site can affect you when you read the many stories of Americans of Japanese heritage.
Myself, the son of a WWII Army Sgt & Japanese mom, became more emotional than I expected. It hit really “close-to-home” – if our family started during the war instead of after. My family & I, most likely, would have been interred here.

Particularly sad was many families had sons fighting and dying in service of their country. Private First Class (former Technical Sgt) Sadao S. Munemori was the first to earn the Medal of Honor. His family was sent to Manzanar & his Mom Nawa’s story resonated with me.

13-19 Oct 2023: Lone Pine Alabama Hills Trip

We’ve been staying closer to home and taking shorter trips. So our RV trips are to locations that are within two-days travel from home. We were hoping that there might be Fall colors in the eastern Sierras based on some travel vlogs & Google searches. Plus some photographers in the UCSD Photography Interest Group have talked about their trips to the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine California. So we planned a short trip in mid-October, hoping to catch some Fall colors.


Since we often start our trips at noon, we prefer to keep our drives on day 1 to ~3hrs. Towing our travel trailer at ~55-60mph, especially through traffic, can be nerve-wracking. So we stopped about mid-way at Arabian RV Oasis in Boron CA. There aren’t many RV parks along highway 395 in this area. There are plenty of dispersed campsites but we prefer hookups.
Oct 13th – Arabian RV Oasis was good for one night – not fancy, quiet and affordable.

Oct 14th – Boulder Creek RV Resort

My friends recommended Lone Pine/Alabama Hills as a great plan to hike, camp, & photograph. They camp at Tuttle Creek Campground or other BLM dispersed campgrounds in the Lone Pine area. We wanted hookups so we stayed at Boulder Creek RV Resort in south Lone Pine. It’s a really nice RV park near the Mt Whitney Portal and Alabama Hills with great amenities and location. There are plenty of places to camp but this is one of the only RV campgrounds with hookups in the area.

Daytrips In or From Lone Pine:

11-13 Aug 2023: Joshua Tree/Perseid Meteor Shower

I saw a post about the 2023 Perseid Meteor Shower on Instagram. One of the best places to see this event in California is Joshua Tree National Park, a dark-sky area. But Joshua Tree is 105°F during the day in August. Regardless, all available campsites at Joshua Tree National Park were booked.
Our last trip to Joshua Tree was the same way, so we stayed at TwentyNine Palms RV Resort. It’s located 3mi from the north entrance and usually has available sites with full hookups. Until we install or buy a RV with 12v A/C, we prefer to stay at a place with electrical hookups when it’s that hot. We do not want to run a gas/propane generator for hours to stay cool.
Since we arrived before sunset on Friday Aug 11th, we drove into Joshua Tree to find a location to photograph the Milky Way. The Perseid Meteor Shower was already happening but peak viewing was Saturday, the next night. I wanted to photograph the Milky Way with Joshua Trees. So we stopped at Cap Rock and I found a Joshua tree foreground for my Milky Way photo along the southern trail.
On our way out, we stopped at Skull Rock to watch shooting stars for an hour before heading to the RV. Since Saturday night was forecast to be peak viewing of the meteor shower. I focused on getting a Milky Way+Joshua Tree photo Friday night. Saturday, I’d spend photographing shooting stars with a star tracker.


As we were leaving Joshua Tree NP Friday night, we noticed many people had chairs & recliners that made star gazing more comfortable. So Saturday, our mission was to find two zero gravity recliners in Yucca Valley. We found the last two on clearance at Home Depot. Tip: definitely invest in zero gravity recliners if you plan on spending any serious time star gazing.
Saturday, I wanted to do a hike before we setup for the meteor shower viewing. The temperature that evening was cool enough to hike the Heart Rock and Arch Rock Trail before it got dark. Turns out the area around the Arch Rock Trail parking lot would work for meteor shower viewing. Especially since we were lucky enough to grab one of the last parking spots. The lot was full and people were already setting up for meteor viewing when we arrived before sunset. Little did we know how CRAZY crowded Joshua Tree National Park would be tonight.

We saw an amazing display of shooting stars but not the hundred per hour predicted. I set up my Move Shoot Move star tracker and shot 2 minute exposures of the northeast sky and straight-up. After 3 hours of exposures from 2200-0100, ~90 frames, I was disappointed that the many shooting stars we saw were not in frame. This was my first try at star-tracked astrophotography and I was successful at polar alignment & tracking the stars. But successful astrophotography images are the result of practice & patience and I definitely need more of both. I didn’t want to interrupt the interval to check for successful capturing of what we were seeing. I thought the 14mm focal length was wide enough to catch the meteor trails.
We packed it in a little after 0100, after 3 hours of star-gazing. Our RV park is still in the dark area so if the meteor shower improved at 0200. We could still watch from outside our RV. As we left the park, the line of cars to get in stretched the 3mi to the main road. Crazy that hundreds of people were just arriving at 0100.
Regardless, we had a great time and were glad we got there early – the zero gravity recliners were a wonderful, comfortable way to star gaze. We’ll definitely make it a point to visit Joshua Tree at night often.

We packed up and departed 29Palms at 11am. Unfortunately, all the other thousands of people who came to Joshua Tree for the meteor shower were also heading West at that time. It took a few extra hours to get home because of the traffic.

Day 3: Sumo Tournament, Kanda Matsuri Festival, Skytree

Tokyo Day 3

Our itinerary in Tokyo was full thanks to Sean & Melissa’s planning. This was their first family visit to Japan so they wanted to make the most of it. May 14th was Mother’s Day so Melissa wanted to see the Kanda Matsuri Festival. This is an important cultural Shinto event that she wanted to experience.

According to Wikipedia:

Kanda Festival, is one of the three great Shinto festivals of Tokyo, along with the Fukagawa Matsuri and Sannō Matsuri. The festival started in the early 17th century as a celebration of Tokugawa Ieyasu‘s decisive victory at the battle of Sekigahara and was continued as a display of the prosperity of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. Additionally, the current form of the festival is also held in honor of the kami of Kanda Myōjin (Kanda Shrine).
The festival is held on the Saturday and Sunday closest to May 15, but since it alternates with the Sannō Matsuri, it is only held in odd-numbered years. On these years, the festival takes place at Kanda Shrine as well as in surrounding central Tokyo districts. Its prominent parades involve over 200 mikoshi, in addition to musicians, dancers, and floats.”

Kanda Masuri Festival

Sumo Tournament

With all the visits I’ve made to Japan, I’ve never experienced a Sumo Tournament, other than on TV. It is another wonderful cultural event that expresses the Japanese culture. Sean bought tickets from the US well in advanced and we had seats above the front of the ring – Dohyo.

Tokyo Skytree

I’ve visited the Tokyo Skytree on previous trips but missed much of the shopping & restaurants, just going up in the tower for panoramic views of Tokyo. This trip, we were there at night and enjoyed the city lights at night. Then walked through the mall & had Japanese fast food – ramen.

Day 2: Mini Pig Cafe, Giants Baseball & Tokyo Dome

MINI PIG CAFE 11 AM

There is so much to see in Tokyo and you can just hop on the train and/or walk to many sights. But if you want to visit certain venues or businesses, many require a reservation. Japan has many animal-themed cafes where you can visit dogs, cats, hedgehogs, pigs, birds, and even snakes/reptiles. They offer animal companionship without the burden of maintaining pets in an urban environment. Our granddaughter chose the mini pig cafe since she had a cat cafe birthday a few months before. We made an 11am reservation and we all had a great time. The pigs were sweet and cuddly, loving to nap on our legs/laps. Some bickered with each other and the cafe hosts were quick to snatch-up the troublemakers.

Tokyo Dome Giants Baseball & Tokyo Dome City

If you love baseball or even if you don’t, you’ve got to experience baseball in Japan. It’s quite a different experience – it celebrates the game as only the Japanese can. The left & right outfields have two separate cheering sections for each team – think Friday Night High-school Football amplified. The two sides below the panoramic score board are dedicated, opposing cheer sections. They are loud and enthusiastic. Coordinated cheers, especially when a popular player is coming up to bat, results in a lot of noise throughout the game. The Tokyo Giants, although wearing the same colors as the San Francisco Giants, are the ‘New York Yankees of Japan’.
The Tokyo Dome is an amazing place to watch a game and it is always packed. But tickets can be had if booked far in advanced or through various ticket agencies. Tip: on a previous trip to Japan, we bought two last-minute Tokyo Giants tickets at a nearby Lawson convenience store. They had a ticket vending machine in the store. This trip’s tickets were reserved online from the US well in advance.
Surrounding the Tokyo Dome is Tokyo Dome City, acres of shopping, restaurants, gardens, and amusement rides. It was a wonderful place for the grand-kids to get ice cream, ride the ferris wheel, and expend their pent-up energy from sitting during the game.

25 Mar 2023: Imperial Sand Dunes

After spending the morning at Center of the World, & lunching in Yuma, we drove an hour to the Imperial Sand Dunes. We couldn’t find the turnoff for Ted Kipf Rd to North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area so we stopped at the Hugh T. Osborne Lookout. There are restrooms and a large parking lot & it was busy. This is the ATVs & ORVs meet-up place with large parking spots for their support vehicles. The dunes south of highway 78 are etched with tire tracks so not the best for sand dune photographs. It’s an epic place to offroad w/ friends & carve up the dunes, or take photos of such activities. A permit is required to operate vehicles on the Imperial Sand Dunes – permit info here; area Map pdf here.


North of the 78, is the beginning of the BLM protected wilderness area where motorized vehicles are prohibited. We parked at Osborne Overlook then hiked across the road (78) where the Wilderness Area begins and no vehicles are allowed. There were some photo-worthy dunes so I made the best of the afternoon light. Hiking the dunes is challenging and be sure to bring water.

I wanted to find the road to the North Algodones Dunes which google maps outlines so clearly. It turns out Ted Kipf Rd is a barely marked, easy-to-miss dirt road that turns north off highway 78 at Glamis. After hiking the nearby dunes and the busy morning, we decided not to navigate Ted Kipf Rd. I was okay with the few images I took near the Overlook – below is a mix of north & south dunes. I will definitely be back to explore the North Algodones Dunes at sunset & Milky Way season.

25 Mar 2023: Center of the World

We stayed at Encore Pilot RV Resort in Winterhaven, CA ~10mi from Yuma, AZ. It’s an Encore/Thousand Trails RV Resort in southeastern California on the Arizona border. When searching for places-of-interest in the area, the Center of The World Museum came up. It was right across the freeway from our RV resort. Since I wanted to photograph the Imperial Sand Dunes in the late afternoon/evening for the best light. We spent ~90mins exploring the Center of the World, early in the day when it was cooler.
It’s a really interesting, unusual, unique place in the middle of nowhere. Located in Felicity, CA, this ‘History of Humanity in Granite’ outdoor museum covers several acres. It reminds me of the roadside attractions we would drive by on our family road trips when I was young. It’s hard to describe all that is notable – the Pyramid, Chapel, Maze, Eiffel Tower Stairs, and multi-subject Granite Etchings. The historical panels, laser-etched in granite, have intricate detail, and information in English, French, & Hebrew. Each array of panels cover different, eclectic subjects and records significant moments in history, art, music, and biology. The founder, Jacque-André, was French with an affiliation with the French Foreign Legion and there are sections devoted to their history. Will these be 21st century petroglyphs in 4000yrs? Time will tell.
Highly recommended if you enjoy unusual roadside outdoor museums – admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children 5yrs & up (as of mid-2023). Is it really the ‘Center of the World’? Probably not but there are some credentials, given to the founder, innovator & builder, that say it is recognized as such. Read more if you are curious about its creation by Jacques-André Istel.

23 Mar 2023: Tanque Verde Falls Trail

One of most popular trails in east Tucson, according to AllTrails and other online hiking sites, is the Tanque Verde Falls Trail in the Coronado National Forest. It is rated ‘moderate’ by Alltrails and only ~2 miles out & back. We found this to be a really challenging hike. There wasn’t an obvious trail by the river, perhaps, because the water level was higher than normal due to the rainy/snowy winter. Working our way up the river required a lot of rock scrambling, which we expect, with strong current water-crossings.

The trail down to the river is an easy-to-follow dirt trail that brings you down to a flat rocky plateau next to the river. But once you reach this spot, the ‘trail’ a hundred yards upstream becomes a scramble or criss-crossing the river. You can choose to go over boulders, cross the river, or hike high along a ridge. But any path can end abruptly into brambles or a scramble up or down.
We managed to make it to the very last bend before the falls but were unable to make it to the falls. The only way to continue was to climb a 10ft wall. It had decent handholds but it was already a work-out to get to this point . We had to save enough energy to make it back and hike our way up the hill. Perhaps later in the season when the water level was lower or hiking some sections in the river, like the ‘Narrows’, would have been easier. But we watched other hikers have similar problems – picking a route then back-tracking to an alternative – it wasn’t just our unfamiliarity with the trail.
It was a beautiful day to hike and the area is awesome with many pools to cool off. But be aware the trail is a rock-scramble when the water level covers the shoreline and you may have to make your own route.