Palm Springs, Ca to Burbank, Ca

Morag was able to get a good cup of coffee today! Not a small thing, when filtered mudbog is the norm. I recall a few weeks ago (in Tennesee or Arkansas I believe) Morag asked at a McDonalds drive-thru for milk. "Creamer?" was the reply. "Oh. Do you have low-fat, or maybe half-and-half?" Morag asked. And then the waiter dropped the bomb - "uhhh, we have Equal..." Have you ever tried whitening your coffee with sweetener?

After a lovely breakfast at the only Elmer's in California (yum!), we cruised off for the day to circumnavigate the Salton Sea. I had seen a magnificent short film The Accidental Sea about this lakeside resort community, almost completely abandoned when the lake turned toxic. Turns out most of the deserted hotels and houses have been bulldozed away (local real estate agents are trying to stimulate development), but it was still really creepy...

Morag followed me in the car while I took some photos - I suggested she stay inside with the doors locked. I could hear the odd barking dog and screaming baby because, bizarrely, people still live here - mostly old guys who travelled around on golf carts. It smells really bad, and definitely feels like a cut on your foot would give you blood poisoning, but I guess the rent is cheap. I think they would have to pay me to live there.

On the way out, I asked Morag to slow down so I could take this picture of a half-buried boat (in some-one's front yard). It's not broken, it's half-buried. we couldn't stop, because we were being followed - by the local sheriff - and didn't want to have to explain why this area was so 'interesting' (kind of like taking a photo of an ugly person and then being asked why).

This was the last sign we saw before heading down to the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge at the south end of the lake. There's a film coming out shortly - called Bombay Beach - set in this unique area (the boat in the desert at the start of the trailer is at Salvation Mountain). We heard that Billy Connelly (after his documentary about New Zealand) was making a TV series of Route 66, now there's a movie of Salton Sea, what is next? Who is following us? ha ha

Near the town of Niland on the south-east corner of the lake lies Slab City ('the last free place'), and the inspiring Salvation Mountain. We had previously pulled off the interstate and visited a Home Depot specifically to get some pretty (Martha Stewart) gold paint, to donate to the creator of this colourful folk art installation.

There are only a handful of times in my life that an artwork has moved me to tears. I explained about the last one at the MoMA in New York, and this time was just as powerful. One man - Leonard Knight - had spent over 30 years of his life building a testament to love. The text is from the Bible (mostly John 3:16). It is truly the most impressive unselfish tribute I have ever seen - right up there (in my book) with the Taj Mahal.

This is the support structure inside the right-hand 'hogan' museum (a Navajo domed dwelling) - you can walk right inside it. Many lovely metaphors come to mind when walking around this epic sculpture. It took about 18 years to make the 'God is Love' mountain, and another 12-14 years making this walk-in area. It has received numerous awards and honours, and in 2002, Congresswoman Barbara Boxer entered it into the Congressional Record as a national treasure.

This project is obviously remotely unlike Westminster Cathedral, or even Mission San Xavier, but the essence is the same, and (for me, anyway) has just as much impact. It is definitely a work of pious naiveté, but remains all the more pure for it - we don't all need to be artisans, just to give passionately of ourselves for as long as we can...

Amazingly, Leonard tried unsuccessfully for 14 years to build a hot air balloon (the fabric started to rot), then he took 4 years building his first mountain - until one day, it fell over into a mound of rubble. Leonard thanked the Lord for showing him that the mountain wasn't safe. Leonard didn't stop with his second mountain, either - covering a number of vehicles with his loving inscriptions. Not a single message of hate or threat among them. Leonard's message is simple: accept Jesus into your heart, repent, and be saved.

This is Leonard's reception. The rear of the truck has a small covered area where you can leave paint and donations, and purchase postcards. Leonard wasn't there that day (he's 79, and it's too hot for him to work during the summer - most people visit in the winter), but we dropped off his paint and left a donation.

Here Leonard turns a Toyota bonnet into a message of universal love. Could Andy Warhol do that?

Speaking of Andy, I think many artists make a pilgrimage to Salvation Mountain (and the Salton Sea in general) for inspiration. This Thank You Andy Warhol painting by L.A. street artist X was left on the public toilets as we departed the Bombay Beach resort.

Back to the big smoke - the city of angels.

It is Leonard's hope that his message of LOVE will be seen all over the world and that all people everywhere will show more love and compassion for their fellow man. He truly believes that love is the answer to a peaceful and harmonious existence.

Barstow, Ca to Palm Springs, Ca

We are now missing a member of the honeymoon team... :o( our trusty Ford Focus, who we picked up in Detroit Motor City, and had stood by us until yesterday (when I made a hasty u-turn on the way to the Neon Boneyard). Our new travel buddy, a VW Jetta, unfortunately could not hope to fill his shoes. We drove across the Mojave desert to a weirdly named city called 29 Palms, hoping to take a scenic shortcut through Joshua Tree National Park. However, it was not to be - the main road had been closed (actually, a german tourist just described it as 'gone') when a flash flood came through. This photo is at the Oasis behind the Park Ranger Station, where we found out had some lunch.

As we emerged from the Morongo Valley on highway 62 and met Interstate 10, we started to see windmills.

Lots of windmills.

Then more windmills. Hundreds of them! Some with two blades, some with three blades, some static, some moving... it seemed like we have arrived in the land of the windmill! We had stumbled on the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm - over 3,000 turbine generators delivering over 600 MW (about the same as a standard fossil-fuel power station, with zero CO2 emissions).

Arriving earlier than planned in the city of Elvis' honeymoon hideaway Ooh! Ahhh! (although we only found out about this later), we relaxed for the first time in weeks poolside at the luxurious Palm Springs Motel.

Las Vegas, Nv to Barstow, Ca

Yesterday, I managed to get a couple of sought-after tickets to a tour around the Neon Boneyard - where all the Vegas neon signs go to die. It's run by a handful of art-students from Vegas University, who literally saw their local community culture going from the high street to the scrapyard. A side note: on the way to the boneyard, we got a flat tyre and left the rental car (with all our belongings) in a Jack-in-the-Box car-park, and hijacked a cab at the taxi garage (as you can't hail them from the street) to the location - all of which certainly made for an interestingly late arrival to the tour.

The museum's boneyard is on the site of an old motel - the La Concha - so is itself part of Vegas history. The distinctive hotel lobby will serve as the entrance to the boneyard (it's still under construction, so we felt doubly lucky to be given a tour).

As we saw a couple of days ago, Sassy Sally (and her life-partner Vegas Vic) are a big part of Vegas culture. This is the original signage - before she got married and changed her name to Vegas Vicky.

It's hard to communicate how hot it is in Vegas, but this might give you an idea. Morag decided she would go and sit in the shade of the La Concha building, shortly after another lithe young woman had to be carried out in the arms of her man - because she had fainted in the heat. I didn't see any of this of course (even though I basically ran to the museum, sweating like a sweaty thing and they had no water left for us), as I was as happy as a clam taking photo after photo of such outstanding typography.

Before she left, we managed to get a quick photo in front of the iconic 'Moulin Rouge' sign. The letters had been re-arranged to say 'in love' - how sweet. Betty Willis designed this logo from her own hand-writing, as she couldn't find a suitable typeface. Betty created much of Las Vegas' stylistic identity, including the fabulous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.

Ok, no more chat - on with the great signage!

This last gem was across the road, in the storage area (I don't think I was supposed to be there). Eventually I was dragged away - back to the mid-town burger car-park - where we were told the bums and other low-lifes were waking up and starting to roam the streets (sounds like a post-apocalyptic dystopian nightmare, but that's Vegas during the afternoon). Luckily, our car was not up on bricks, the fix-it guy arrived quickly, and we were on our way in 30 minutes. A lucky escape, perhaps? A delay at the Las Vegas Airport to change cars (apparently easier than changing a tyre) meant we had to scratch the Hoover Dam from our trip - unfortunately, you can't see a national landmark in the dark.

Las Vegas, Nv (Pinball Museum, Penn & Teller)

Waking up this morning, and realised we hadn't taken a picture of the inside of the hotel! Yes, we know it looks like something out of Stargate, but it's certainly an improvement on another chain motel!

As you walk from the Tropicana across to the MGM Grand, you get a good look at the New York, New York hotel complex (more like New York, Las Vegas!). Yes, that really is a working roller coaster on top of the hotel, as well as replicas of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Statue of Liberty. Having seen these all previously, it was quite jarring to see American emulations of American institutions - like looking into the start of an infinity mirror, or a Möbius strip. Am I in the movie Inception, or just dreaming about being in a movie?

The antidote to infinite regression - alcohol. I gave this true artist a couple of bucks, after he took his mask off to intimidate a tourist who took his photo without tipping. C'mon guys, play the game - this aint no Spiderman or Kiss rip-off, he really takes his profession to the next level. Plus, he can just sit there. All day. I'm not sure if he was really drunk... but maybe he was just method acting.

At this point Morag and I split up - she wanted to go shopping, and I wanted to see the world's largest collection of PINBALL MACHINES! After a long walk to the Rio hotel to pick up some great seats for the Penn & Teller show later, I took a hotel shuttle over to the Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame. Is there a name for pinball geeks? This is Matt, the engineer/receptionist.

The museum is completely non-profit (501c3), and supports local non-denominational charities. This machine was the oldest I could find - a 1948 model called Robin Hood. Most of them have a card explaining the machine's history, and all have a QR code with a link to a webpage for that particular machine. Truely a labour of love.

Not only old games, but the newest as well. They replace the bumpers sooner than they have to (there's usually a hand-written sign saying when they were last replaced), and put in new lightbulbs the minute they expire. Pinball heaven!

As well as pinball, there is a handful of true classic arcade machines: Gorf, Tron, and Donkey Kong amongst them. This machine is Tron:Legacy, and I hadn't even seen it elsewhere. I lamented to Matt that (as far as I know) there is only one pinball arcade in the whole of London - near the Goodge Street tube - it only has three machines, in bad repair, under the harsh glare of fluorescent tubes. He nodded sagely, and I knew I was in the company of a man with a shared passion.

You may laugh, but I think it was Tom Cruise who said many years ago: Pinball is not a game, it's a sport (some say a combination of chess and golf). You haven't lived until you've discovered the wonders of TILT, or activated the 'Bride of Pinbot' lips, so that she may talk to you.

More than once, I had to stop in the aisles and have an 'emotional moment' - thinking to myself that people do not go gentle into the good night, and rage against the dying of the light - merely by accumulating and maintaining our impoverished culture, selling it back to us and giving the profits to the needy. I shall leave you with one last parting shot, taken as I left the museum and headed back out to reality (or, at least, the pseudo-reality of Las Vegas).

I decided to walk back to the hotel, to collect Morag and head out to Penn & Teller's magic show. As I was going past the Airport, took this lovely shot looking back to the sunset and the strip. You can just make out the light at the top of the Luxor - the brightest beam in the world at over 42.3 billion candle power!

Penn & Teller were great - a few magic tricks you could see through, a few that were old hat, but one or two we had no idea how they were done! I almost participated in one of the tricks, but gave the book to the guy behind me (instead of holding onto it). Then it was a race (really, involving running down the strip!) to get to see the Volcano show in front of The Mirage hotel. A bit of a let-down (but perhaps we only saw the last bit, and from the back too), and it only lasted a couple of minutes. The Bellagio fountains seemed to be a lot more magical.

Although our time in Vegas was quickly running out (even after we had stayed for an extra night), but we couldn't leave without seeing the gondolas inside The Venetian. This is about midnight, so don't get confused that the sky had clouds - like much of Las Vegas, it's just for show. In the end, I compared Las Vegas to gilded candy floss - bright and shiny, but with little substance inside. Great fun, though!

Even Starbucks can't escape the Las Vegas glamour. Surprising how many brands succumb to the glitz... Those were my thoughts as we headed off on the 30 minute trek back to our last night at the Luxor.