2020: A Year in Review, Pt. 2

Be careful about what you wish for…it just might happen. I was talking about country music with my friend Jansen one day and brought up Patsy Cline, who he had very little knowledge of. Not surprisingly, the song “Walking After Midnight” was discussed, and I said it would be fun to do a country-themed shoot…after midnight. A few nights later, he called and asked if I wanted to make that happen, and the next thing I knew, we were shooting the photo above. I love stuff like that, especially when it’s impromptu.

Even though I’ve been back in San Diego for over twenty years now, there are still places I had yet to explore, like the Quince Street wooden trestle bridge (built in 1905) and nearby hiking trails. 2020 is when it finally happened! Such a cool location!

A trip back to Palm Springs meant I got to stay at one of my favorite places again, The Movie Colony Hotel:

I had a photo shoot in Las Vegas; because I was not crazy about flying, I decided to drive it for the first time and finally see Calico Ghost Town along the way. DEFINITELY worth it!

While in Vegas, I made it back out to Red Rock Canyon:

Vegas itself kinda sucked; even RuPaul’s Werk Room was closed…due to COVID, of course. That became the catch phrase of the year. Anything that no longer worked like it should...just add “due to COVID” afterwards.

On the way back, I stopped at the Barstow Train Station, which was once a Fred Harvey Restaurant back in the day. I had to get a selfie in front of one of the vintage Santa Fe cars; if only it had said “Atchison and Topeka,” too!

What’s the best part of traveling? Coming home to Willis!

Another San Diego first was getting out to see the Desert View Tower and its incredible “collection” of rock paintings:

My workout group rented an Airbnb in Catalina; we made friends as soon as we got off the ferry as we sipped a few beverages by the water.

Don’t be shocked, but I managed to shoot a few photos while there. It was nice to return to the Island after my first trip sixteen years ago.

In December, I finally made it back to the Chateau Marmont after having been away for over a year.

Willis was glad to be back, too.

I was especially pleased to get back into painting again, and very grateful for the commission which provided that opportunity to be creative.

Last one for this post shows Willis sporting his Christmas bowtie (thanks Melissa, aka “The Colonel”).

I can’t really complain too much about 2020. It was actually nice not to be on a plane as much as I typically am; it forced me to stay home and get some work done around the house. I also was blessed to be able to spend more time with Willis, which always brings me joy. It doesn’t look like things will be changing any time soon,  so I’ll just continue to make the best of what life has given me, which has been pretty good so far.

See more Daveland photos at my main website.

Desert View Tower

A few years ago, Willis’ groomer had suggested I visit the Desert View Tower. Photos of it looked interesting, but the fact that it was about 80 miles east of San Diego prevented me from rushing there. Finally, for a photo shoot I trekked out to this wild and wacky place that is literally in the middle of nowhere. Once you exit I-8, you travel down a rough little side road strewn with interesting decrepit structures, debris, and “art”:











Located in the In-Ko-Pah Mountains, the elevation is 3,000 feet here. The centerpiece of this little park is the stone tower, built between 1922-1928 by Bert Vaughn, a San Diego real estate developer who owned the town of Jacumba. Vaughn dedicated it to the highway/railroad builders who opened up the area, which previously took a month to travel between Yuma and San Diego’s beaches. The five-story/70' high Tower functions as a museum and an observation deck with a gift shop at the base. Unfortunately, there was an event at the tower the day I visited and I was unable to go inside. Looks like I’ll have to go back! During World War II, the tower served as a lookout post to ensure that Nazi forces were unable to enter the U.S. via Mexico.



Boulder Park is just steps away from the tower, and is the kind of thing that kids (and adults who still have a childlike yen for exploration) will adore. Imagine caves and rough stoney-paths, sprinkled with approximately 37 large carvings of animals and shapes that literally spring out from the huge boulders.



Unemployed engineer Merle T. Ratcliffe came to the area to recover from tuberculosis and ended up sculpting the quartz granite boulders for a dollar a day and a jug of wine over a two-year period during the Depression era of the 1930’s. The carvings and tower are registered as official California Historical Landmarks (#194 and #939.3).





This wacky place is DEFINITELY worth the journey! See more San Diego and environs photos at my main website.