Case in point: Melody Ranch.
Making up for lost time and missed opportunities, one adventure at a time.
April 30, 2014
Photo Essay: Melody Ranch Movie Ranch, Closed to Public (Except this Once)
Yes, some of Hollywood's old movie ranches have been converted into parks and tourist attractions, but some of them have been preserved in super secrecy so that modern Western TV shows and movies still have an authentic-looking place out in the deserty outdoors to shoot their saloon scenes and gunfights.
Case in point: Melody Ranch.
Case in point: Melody Ranch.
April 29, 2014
Photo Essay: The Rusty Ruin of Antique Machinery
There's just too much to do in San Diego for a day trip from LA. There's too much to do there for even a weekend.
And I discover something new every time.
This trip, I happened upon the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum in North County, which had contributed the old fashioned tractors for visitors who didn't want to (or couldn't) walk The Flower Fields.
At first, it seemed like any car museum...
...except with big cars...
...lots of heavy machinery...
...kept in a shed outside...
...rather than polished up to look shiny and new...
...and displayed in some kind of showcase palace.
Instead, these big rigs were mud encrusted...
...greasy...
...used...
...and worn.
By comparison...
...these were protected...
...because next door...
...was the TRACTOR BONEYARD.
For those of us into ruin porn...
...and rusty relics...
...this is heaven.
Like in any boneyard...
...these orphans are left outside...
...exposed to the elements...
...fading under the hot sun...
...paint peeling...
...rust encroaching.
They once worked hard...
...pushing, pulling...
...hoisting, digging...
...but this is where they have been laid to rest...
...and decompose.
The other exhibits are kept in working order...
...for occasional events and demonstrations...
...but not these guys.
...including some giant disembodied steam engines, like the 1910 Allis-Chalmers Corliss engine, once used in a beet sugar factory (and weighs over 80,000 pounds).
They even have a boiler once used in the Piru Oil Field...
...established around 1890, and closed 100 years later.
The orange color (which was added later for demonstration purposes) in the fire tubes represents the heat being transferred from burning coal in the fire box to the smoke box.
The blue represents the water that is brought to a boil by the heat, producing steam, similar in design and construction to boilers used in steam locomotives.
You could probably spend all day here, with the blacksmith lessons and weaving demonstrations and short-line train excursions.
Maybe one day I'll get to go back and drive one of those tractors.
And I discover something new every time.
This trip, I happened upon the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum in North County, which had contributed the old fashioned tractors for visitors who didn't want to (or couldn't) walk The Flower Fields.
At first, it seemed like any car museum...
...except with big cars...
...lots of heavy machinery...
...kept in a shed outside...
...rather than polished up to look shiny and new...
...and displayed in some kind of showcase palace.
Instead, these big rigs were mud encrusted...
...greasy...
...used...
...and worn.
By comparison...
...these were protected...
...because next door...
...was the TRACTOR BONEYARD.
For those of us into ruin porn...
...and rusty relics...
...this is heaven.
Like in any boneyard...
...these orphans are left outside...
...exposed to the elements...
...fading under the hot sun...
...paint peeling...
...rust encroaching.
They once worked hard...
...pushing, pulling...
...hoisting, digging...
...but this is where they have been laid to rest...
...and decompose.
The other exhibits are kept in working order...
...for occasional events and demonstrations...
...but not these guys.
Pretty much everything here is somehow related to the American farm and rural communities...
...including some giant disembodied steam engines, like the 1910 Allis-Chalmers Corliss engine, once used in a beet sugar factory (and weighs over 80,000 pounds).
They even have a boiler once used in the Piru Oil Field...
...established around 1890, and closed 100 years later.
The orange color (which was added later for demonstration purposes) in the fire tubes represents the heat being transferred from burning coal in the fire box to the smoke box.
The blue represents the water that is brought to a boil by the heat, producing steam, similar in design and construction to boilers used in steam locomotives.
You could probably spend all day here, with the blacksmith lessons and weaving demonstrations and short-line train excursions.
Maybe one day I'll get to go back and drive one of those tractors.
April 27, 2014
Photo Essay: Lions, Tigers, and Bears - Oh My!
I'll admit: I was being a bit of a stalker.
I really just wanted to catch a glimpse of Meatball, the Glendale Bear who'd come down into the foothill communities from the Angeles National Forest so many times, authorities had to relocate him to this wild animal sanctuary: Lions, Tigers, and Bears.
I wasn't sure what to expect, since I've been to a few zoos, wolf preserves and big cat sanctuaries before with mixed results.
Often the cages are too small, the cats too restless. I kind of just wanted to know that Meatball had been adopted by a good place.
But here, although these exotic animals might get excited (or agitated) with visitors, upon pacing back and forth in their own cages, they are released into a big, wide, open area...
...which has been baited with raw chicken (some whole).
Conga, the female leopard, adopted when she was abandoned by her owner at five weeks old, gets her own chicken...
...and then stalks the lions from the catwalk above.
Natasha is a 17 year old Bengali Tiger rescued when she was five years old and pregnant...
...having lived her whole life in a tiny cage in Texas, kept as a pet.
She was de-clawed by her previous owners...
...which means she couldn't even be in the same cage as her daughters, once they grew to full size.
The tigers have their own cages...
...but they share the large enclosure, on rotation with the other animals (including one shy mountain lion).
The bear habitat is also large, and currently under construction.
It's currently expansive enough for two of the sanctuary's rescued bears (including Meatball) to hide away up in the hills, not ready to come out of hibernation just yet.
There are three brown bears that are currently visible in their "bedrooms," which are small cages used for feeding and other care.
These bears weigh about 250 pounds, compared to Meatball's hefty 450 pounds.
Their traditionally dark fur also contrasts with Meatball's unusual cinnamon color. And apparently they love their peanut butter sandwiches.
San Diego is known to tourists for its Zoo and Safari Park, but Lions, Tigers and Bears lets you get up close to some of the smaller, more docile animals...
...like a rabbit that was rescued with back leg issues...
...a pot-bellied pig that grunts like a dog...
...and a pair of llamas...
...who are inseparable...
...having earned the names "Frick" and "Frack."
There are also two donkeys and some snuggly goats that hide in a barn when it's too cold.
For a little extra money, you can sign up to actually feed an animal of your choice. Donations of supplies – including raw meat – are also accepted, but they could use anything from money to toilet paper to help keep the sanctuary in business.
Although it appears as though these animals are being kept safe and are receiving proper care, in this part of the Cleveland National Forest, wildfires are always a danger. Volunteers have the animals trained to trust them, so that if they have to pack them up and move them out (in transport cages, or horse trailers) in case of evacuation, the animals will follow them to safety and hopefully not freak out.
But whatever bond they have with the animals, they acknowledge that they're still wild animals that can turn on you without warning. Although the humans raise newborns (like in the case of Natasha who arrived pregnant), this is a no-breed facility, and once the big animals grow to a couple of years old, they're never in the same cage with humans again unless sedated for medical treatment.
They also are fed only raw meat (and, in the case of the bears, fruit) and no live game. But every now and then, one of those big cats finds a stray mouse or rabbit or bird that gets into its cage from the wild, and they eventually figure out what to do with it.
Related Posts:
A Safe Place, Far from Home
In Captivity
Photo Essay: The Faces of Bonnie Springs Ranch, Old Nevada
I really just wanted to catch a glimpse of Meatball, the Glendale Bear who'd come down into the foothill communities from the Angeles National Forest so many times, authorities had to relocate him to this wild animal sanctuary: Lions, Tigers, and Bears.
I wasn't sure what to expect, since I've been to a few zoos, wolf preserves and big cat sanctuaries before with mixed results.
Often the cages are too small, the cats too restless. I kind of just wanted to know that Meatball had been adopted by a good place.
But here, although these exotic animals might get excited (or agitated) with visitors, upon pacing back and forth in their own cages, they are released into a big, wide, open area...
...which has been baited with raw chicken (some whole).
Conga, the female leopard, adopted when she was abandoned by her owner at five weeks old, gets her own chicken...
...and then stalks the lions from the catwalk above.
Natasha is a 17 year old Bengali Tiger rescued when she was five years old and pregnant...
...having lived her whole life in a tiny cage in Texas, kept as a pet.
She was de-clawed by her previous owners...
...which means she couldn't even be in the same cage as her daughters, once they grew to full size.
The tigers have their own cages...
...but they share the large enclosure, on rotation with the other animals (including one shy mountain lion).
The bear habitat is also large, and currently under construction.
It's currently expansive enough for two of the sanctuary's rescued bears (including Meatball) to hide away up in the hills, not ready to come out of hibernation just yet.
There are three brown bears that are currently visible in their "bedrooms," which are small cages used for feeding and other care.
These bears weigh about 250 pounds, compared to Meatball's hefty 450 pounds.
Their traditionally dark fur also contrasts with Meatball's unusual cinnamon color. And apparently they love their peanut butter sandwiches.
San Diego is known to tourists for its Zoo and Safari Park, but Lions, Tigers and Bears lets you get up close to some of the smaller, more docile animals...
...like a rabbit that was rescued with back leg issues...
...a pot-bellied pig that grunts like a dog...
...and a pair of llamas...
...who are inseparable...
...having earned the names "Frick" and "Frack."
There are also two donkeys and some snuggly goats that hide in a barn when it's too cold.
For a little extra money, you can sign up to actually feed an animal of your choice. Donations of supplies – including raw meat – are also accepted, but they could use anything from money to toilet paper to help keep the sanctuary in business.
Although it appears as though these animals are being kept safe and are receiving proper care, in this part of the Cleveland National Forest, wildfires are always a danger. Volunteers have the animals trained to trust them, so that if they have to pack them up and move them out (in transport cages, or horse trailers) in case of evacuation, the animals will follow them to safety and hopefully not freak out.
But whatever bond they have with the animals, they acknowledge that they're still wild animals that can turn on you without warning. Although the humans raise newborns (like in the case of Natasha who arrived pregnant), this is a no-breed facility, and once the big animals grow to a couple of years old, they're never in the same cage with humans again unless sedated for medical treatment.
They also are fed only raw meat (and, in the case of the bears, fruit) and no live game. But every now and then, one of those big cats finds a stray mouse or rabbit or bird that gets into its cage from the wild, and they eventually figure out what to do with it.
Related Posts:
A Safe Place, Far from Home
In Captivity
Photo Essay: The Faces of Bonnie Springs Ranch, Old Nevada
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