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USA: Sculptures, Slab City, Essenza Mini & Weboost


January 2022

Metal Sculptures Borrego Springs

Metal Sculptures in Borrego Springs

The late Dennis Avery, landowner of the Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs, had the idea of adding freestanding art to his property with the original steel-welded sculptures created by commissioned artist Ricardo Braceda.
So now magnificent sculptures scattered throughout the desert can be visited for free.

Slab City

Slap City near Salton Sea

Slab City, also known as The Slabs, is an unincorporated, off-grid alternative lifestyle community made up largely of snowbirds in the Salton Trough area of the Sonoran Desert in Imperial County, California – Wikipedia.
During the day we visited this very special place. For us it is unbelievable that people live in and with this junk, partly rubbish. Majority of this also runs under the guise of art. We didn't feel very comfortable in this environment and left this place behind us accordingly quickly.

USS Midway Museum

USS Midway Museum

The USS Midway has been open to visitors as a museum since 2004. This was a United States Navy aircraft carrier and took part in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars. In 1992, after 47 years of service, Midway was commissioned into the Reserve Fleet, the US Navy's longest-serving aircraft carrier.

We visited the aircraft carrier with its more than 20 restored aircraft, early enough in the morning, and were therefore able to avoid standing in line among the many visitors. in good time in the morning and were therefore able to avoid queuing between the many visitors. For me, still an aviation  enthusiast, the museum was unique.

Edy drinking Nespresso

Essenza Mini & Aeroccino

To go with our smaller, more maneuverable travel vehicle, we also purchased a small Nespresso machine and milk frother. Our outside storage compartment at the entrance is made for the machine. There are even two 110 Volt outlets in the compartment; simple and easy to use. In the mornings we now enjoy a wide variety of coffee - super tasty.

timber frame construction 

USA house construction on timber frame construction

The thought behind it: Let's achieve maximum effect with minimum effort. It doesn't have to last long, but it has to be worth it. What looks like a temporary arrangement here in Europe is becoming a permanent fixture in the USA. Simply by nailing together a series of wooden slats and chipboard between the inside and outside and calling it a house.
The American heating system heats up quickly and is cheap to install because it does not require plumbing. It's the opposite of sustainable though, as it gets cold again as soon as the electric fan shuts off. It's loud, too, but noise sensitivity isn't a particularly American trait. The European system, on the other hand, is expensive to install, takes time to warm up, but then works discreetly and economically.

It works, America thinks to itself. The infrastructure of the USA has something temporary about it; houses are commodities, not capital goods. 

Weboost Cell Phone BoosterWEBOOST cell phone booster

A travel friends demonstrated his cell phone booster to us. This was so impressive that we drove back to Agile Offroad in San Diego and had one of these installed. Again, John the owner of the company was very helpful to us.

On the way back to Palm Springs we stayed in a place where the iPad showed no network. After activating the WEBOOST antenna, we had good signal strength and the reception was great and fast.
The next morning we called a friend in Switzerland via Skype, who thought from the good reception that we were next door.
Weboost reaches +50 dB up to 40 KM.

2022 01 waypoints world trip usa 33

Special America

  • There was a stroller parked in front of our neighbor's mobile home at a campsite. The following morning, this neighbor was walking around the square with the stroller, with his cat sitting in it. This was the one observation. Not much later we walked past a buggy and 2 barking dogs announced themselves loudly; we were prepared for screaming babies.
  • A mother with a small child approaches us on the beach in San Diego. The boy was tied to the mother's wrist with a flexible spiral wristband. Yes, this is how you raise independencs.
  • We mounted a Zarges aluminum box on the bike rack. On it we stuck the Swiss national symbol - white cross in the red field. A young, nice lady opined she had never seen such a big medicine box and she said "I like it very much".

Photos

Photos