Day 18 & 19 ( and the end of the trip 😢) Encinitas to Corona via Slab City & Bombay Beach. I was drawn back to the desert for my final few days and I wasn’t disappointed. Slab City is like no other place I’ve ever visited. A former military base that is completely off grid, no electricity, water or services. This is like a cross between Mad Max and the Last of Us. It’s the definition of dropping out of society. Currently there’s around 200 hardy souls living there in 120 degree + heat but in the winter it’s nearly 2000. I saw 2 people including Jimi who sold me a T-shirt. A musician and I’m guessing alcoholic. That was after he told me about the tweakers (meth addicts) who drowned in his nearby hot spring and sabotaged his school bus. It was to do with the lithium in the water, supposedly. Bombay Beach was incredible too, on the polluted shores of the Salton Sea it’s a town full of art and protest. The beach is one big installation but not in any kind of orderly way. My mind was genuinely blown. On reflection I’ve spent 3 weeks on the road, pretty much alone. Oddly I felt more lonely in the cities than I did in the deserts. I can now see the attraction of dropping off the face of the earth. But you do need lots and lots of space. And that’s one thing America is not short of. #slabcity #bombaybeach #desert #nomads #saltonsea roadtrip
Day 17 - Sycuan Indian Reservation to Encinitas via Otay Mesa Border checkpoint & San Diego. The temperature dropped to a balmy 75 degrees. I even put on a light jacket. I met Saul, Edgar & Antonio, Border Patrol Agents. They very kindly let me go down to the wall. It’s an extraordinary point where you see it rising up the hill like a strange national monument. They told me crossings were down but they are still detaining people every day. Up the coast it seemed a world away, much more like the American dream. At Cardiff State beach I met Italo (25) and his brother Giacomo (15) They’d been training for a state surf competition. Italo was already a pro with ambitions to go National level. His dad Gino, was from Chile. Also hanging out watching the sunset was Charlie & Claire (both 27) She was a teacher and he was a marine engineer. The whole feel was kind of idyllic. #border #encinitas #california #surfers #thewall sunset
Day 15 & 16 - Yuma to Sycuan Reservation via the Salton Sea & Indio. I crossed from Arizona into California and the heat started rising - 112 Fahrenheit (45 Celsius for us Brits) If this isn’t global warming I don’t know what is. The Salton sea ‘resorts’ of Desert Shores & Salton City were once huge holiday destinations in the 1950’s with the likes of the Rat Pack and Marilyn Monroe visiting. Now the water is mostly gone and what’s left is toxic and smelly, but an alternative community calls the lake shore home. On way back south out of Indio as I climbed up the mountain I met Jim Allison Snr (83) his wife (82) and her bearded dragon lizard. They just picked up their son, Jim Allison Jnr (56) from a stint in rehab. His dad was a former running back for the San Diego Chargers in the late 1960’s. And then I met a real life coyote and some rusting dinosaurs. Later that evening I met Pyong (65) at the casino hotel. Originally from South Korea she worked for the US Postal Service for 37 years. Neither of us had won any money #saltonsea #california #usaroadtrip #portraitphotography #landscapes
Day 13 & 14 - Tucson to Yuma via Tohono O’odham Nation Reservation, Ajo and Hyder. Just outside Tucson I came upon the American equivalent of a car boot sale/swap meet. Here I met a bunch of lovely folks living alternative lifestyles, nomads and adventurers and retirees. Jonathan (57) lived in his old school bus. He was cagey at first but we soon became friends as we chatted about CB radios. Tania (55) lived in her car, she was the mother of 9 and was delighted to be free of responsibility. Cheryl (75) was a retired pro pet groomer. There was a nice sense of community. In the Tohono O’odham Nation Reservation I met Dion (52) and his auntie, Verlene (62) - a former probation worker who served summons for children’s courts. They lived in a pretty run down caravan but they seemed happy. No email or phone. Maybe that’s why. And there was a lot of abandoned properties being reclaimed by the desert. It’s so dry, water is scarce and extremely valuable. Most rivers and creeks are dust bowls. But when it does rain there’s flash floods everywhere. Oh, and it was 109 degrees today. Water never tasted so good. And I’ve come to really appreciate Cacti #arizona #lackofwater #portraitphotography
Day 11 & 12 - Deming (New Mexico) to Tucson (Arizona) via Apache & Bisbee. From demonic black thunderous skies to military aircraft storage on a mega level, and then there was the endless desert. In beautiful Bisbee I met the incredible Beau (thanks to @carmenthekitten ) who is the founder of Riechert Foundation of Photographic Arts. This guy is not only preserving film & cine photography but he is building a film studio and a legacy for the future. Then there was Micklejon aka Mr Badfoot - a musician with a penchant for tattoos and no fear of the midday heat. In Tucson I met Trip & Andre, skateboarders who lived and breathed the world. Oh, and hit 95 degrees today at 5:30pm, but it’s a dry heat so I’m all good with that! #newmexico #arizona #bisbee #roadtrip #portraitphotography
Day 10 - El Paso to Deming via Columbus. I finally left the huge and impressive state of Texas. I was especially taken with El Paso, colourful and full of character, and characters. I met Toro (40) outside McDonalds. He’d just served 10 years for selling drugs and was enjoying his freedom. Then I met Christopher (78) I noticed his shoes first but he had a confidence about him, a retired radio personality he had just been visiting his sons in Mexico. Then it became a day of the wall and signs, mostly just memories of businesses no longer there or holding on by the skin of their teeth. As I was heading back to my motel I noticed a homeless guy. His name was Ira. He looked older than his 57 years. Homeless since Covid when he lost his job working with mobile homes. We had a nice chat and I got him some food. Once you’ve slipped through the net it’s hard to get back on your feet again. I hope I’m wrong in his case #homeless #elpaso #texas #newmexico #roadtrip portrait landscape usa
Day 8 & 9 - Pecos to El Paso via Roswell & Glencoe. Been flirting between Texas and New Mexico. I’ve covered a lot of miles recently, mostly desert but it’s far from deserted. I didn’t see a real alien in Roswell but I did meet Zachary & Sean and as ufo a cloud as I’ve ever seen. Back to reality with Oil Pumper Matt who lived with his young family in a massive RV park in the midst of the oil field. Victor & Gilberto were retired Mexican construction workers. Tim was a ranch manager in Glencoe. I met Kimberly & Valeria in the beautiful White Sands National Park. And Blessing selling Empanadas in Mescalero Indian reservation. She’d broken her neck a year before but told me God & walking had saved her life. She was part of the National Guard. So many stories and not enough time to tell them here. #usaroadtrip #roswell #texas #newmexico #aliens ufo portraits
Day 7 - Terlingua to Pecos via Marfa. From wild donkeys to tumbleweed, old signs to oil, rv’s to owls, it was another big day on the road. I met Liam (19) & Kiki (18), a young married couple who were as fixated as I was with the donkeys. The landscape changed from mountains to desert, and from ranching to industry, especially oil production which was evident everywhere. And I saw my first tumble weeds. Weirdly exciting. #tumbleweed #roadtrip #texas #oil #oldsigns
Day 6 - Rio Grande River - the border with Mexico. Today was effectively a day off. I booked a kayak trip in Big Bend National Park. We floated along the border. The river was so shallow you could walk across at any point. There’s a water crisis in the whole region. I was in Mexico several times. I met Luke & Leah down from Austin to bathe in the natural hot springs. And across the river, (literally 5 yards) I met Fidencio & his horse, Canelo. He was selling food to tourists. Trump wants to built a wall here but nobody who lives in the area wants it. #bigbend #thewall #border #riogranderiver
Day
Day 5 - Marathon to Terlingua via Big Bend National Park. It started with a lot of rain and the temperature dropped in half - I was delighted. Headed into the park. A day of driving, storm clouds, amazing landscapes and Marcus who sold me a 3D printed cowboy in the morning. Check out his 3D serpent that he has round his neck. And I wonder how the guy died. There’s a clue on his grave. #texas #bigbendnationalpark #panorama #landscape #roadtrip
Day 4 - Del Rio to Marathon via Dryden. Today was an eclectic mixture of people, past lives and roadkill. There was Cody & his son who had ambitions to be a pro bass fisherman. Tanna a taxidermist Trump fan with some unusual stuff for sale. And an abandoned house full of faded memories and shirts. #roadtrip #taxidermist #trump #texas #marathon abandonedplaces
