Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)'s photos

Just ahead of this was a flatbed with seemingly 30 young kids on it, with the truck followed by about 20 women in traditional Hispanic costumes, dancing -- too poor lighting for a good photograph. The car itself was just getting ready to enter the parade after an hour and the spot was fairly dark. It's a Chevrolet from the late 1960's, a period when they all looked similar. Pictures of the Holiday Parade in Hanford, CA. None of these pictures are great, and some are fairly weak, but I wanted to show a holiday celebration in what is a relatively large farm city in California’s Central Valley. This is nowhere near the number of floats/contingents. The paraded last an hour and there were no empty spots, there must have been 100 or more entries. What impressed me was how many spectators there were, how much they enjoyed it, and how much it was very much a down-to-earth event. The spectators were a very mixed group with many who looked like they worked in the local agricultural industry. Very many of the floats were pick-up trucks pulling flat-bed trailers, or just a flat-bed trucks. NOTHING that looked like it had been put together by professionals. I hadn’t gone to Hanford for the parade, but considering how negative the world has been these days, it was quite encouraging to see such a large and happy crowd.

A Metrolink Arrow train arriving at the historic Santa Fe station in Redlands. The station was built in 1909 and was in service as a Santa Fe passenger train service for only a relatively short 29 years. In 1938 a trestle on the line serving the station washed out and, apparently due to increased auto usage, there was a decision to not restart service. Apparently the station was deserted for most of the intervening years, until the recent start of the Arrow service created a need for the platforms – the interior of the station is still deserted. For more details about the service and trains, click on the Arrow tag for all photos.

At the end of the day, a quick 'time-machine' shot across history. On the left side of the picture is a former citrus-packing warehouse from the times in the 1930’s when the area was a major citrus growing area. On the right side, the passenger depot that set unused for 80+ years while Redlands transitioned from agriculture to being just another automobile-dominated suburban city of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan era. And, in the middle, an Arrow train that’s hopefully a symbol of a move to public transit and away from automobile-dominance in the Southern California Los Angeles megalopolis. For a shot of the same area just four years ago, when it was still a largely unused railroad track, click here . For more details about the service and trains, click on the Arrow tag for all photos.

At the downtown San Bernardino Metrolink station, where passengers going further on Metrolink, change trains. I was surprised at the number of people on the Arrow who were transferring to Metrolink. Considering that the Arrow had only been in service 5 days, and it was a Saturday, I had guessed that everyone on the train were simply people curious about the Arrow. For more details about the service and trains, click on the Arrow tag for all photos.

At least a standard theme for what you see out the window of trains these days in the U.S. – campsites of the unhoused. What you don’t see very often, and you have to look very close to see in the upper center of this photo, is rows and rows of rail car wheels. The photo is taken from the Metrolink Arrow, crossing the Santa Ana River wash, which is adjacent to Greenbrier Rail Services , a company that has some role in making or servicing the wheels for rail cars. For more details about the service and trains, click on the Arrow tag for all photos.

Near downtown San Bernardino, a U-Haul franchise with an historic truck on top, taken from the Arrow train. I’m a little dubious about the authenticity of the truck, but I could be wrong. Per the previous Wikipedia link U-Haul, started in 1945, but this truck looks to be closer to 1930. BUT, knowing the history of U-Haul, they could have been renting 15 year old trucks! For more details about the service and trains, click on the Arrow tag for all photos.

The new Redlands Metrolink Arrow service at the University station that’s on the edge of the University of Redlands. The new service started on 10/24/2022, just 5 days before this photo was taken. \n\nThe University station is on the east end of the line and probably would not be busy on weekends (this was a Saturday). About 8 passengers got off when the train pulled in, and the ones that I spoke to were all riding it just to check out the service. I use Metrolink to go into LA some times and, since this station is the closest to the freeway and to Palm Springs, I expect to be using it fairly often in the future. For more details about the service and trains, click on the Arrow tag for all photos.

The county transportation authority’s description of the Metrolink Arrow focuses on their designation as DMUs (‘Diesel Multiple Units’) which are smaller, more efficient, and cheaper to operate than Metrolink’s standard locomotives. The design was chosen to fit with the increasing need for both expanded local service between Redland and San Bernardino, and for connecting Redlands with the larger Metrolink trains that run from San Bernardino to LA. The trains were built in Salt Lake City, UT by Stadler , a Swiss company with an 80 year history of building railroad equipment. For more details about the service and trains, click on the Arrow tag for all photos.

Palm Springs Council Member Lisa Middleton, with a veteran. Middleton is currently the Mayor – the position of Mayor rotates among Council members each year. \n\nCouncil Member Middleton is in a 1970 Cadillac Deville convertible and they're followed by a 1970 Buick Wildcat convertible. I don't know who are the occupants of the Buick.

It’s difficult, when a parade highlights cars, to ignore the cars….. here a WW II and Korean War veteran, in a 1951 Chevrolet convertible of the Korean War era. \n\nNote the Corvettes in the background (see the adjacent picture), and the Electrify America Charging Station to the left of the car (and in the background).

A Douglas C-47 (workhorse of WWII) flyover from the Palm Springs Air Museum, and three small fighter planes. At the Palm Springs Veterans Day parade.

A contingent from the PS Fire Department lead by the interim fire chief along with Ranger, who has worked out to be a strong source of emotional support for the men and women of the fire department – at the Palm Springs Veterans Day parade.

What the Palm Springs Veterans Day parade is for, honoring veterans -- and what it turns out to also be, an exhibit of some very interesting historic cars. Here a Rolls Royce that looks to be from the early 1930’s.

I don’t see others that I know on photo sites mentioning ‘influencers’. I think its an international phenomenon, but we definitely see them often in Southern California. What we see around here is young people, seemingly more women than men, who go out to natural settings and pose in various ways to show off some fashion. Those pictures are then posted on their Instagram (and other) accounts in attempts to draw lots of followers and then get paid for influencing their followers to buy particular brands of clothes or lifestyles. One begins to recognize them because they’re in the setting usually for only just a few minutes with a friend taking photos while they do something that often ignores the consequences of the situation (e.g., running on dunes where there might be dune-buggies racing up the other side).

A little grit with your turkey gravy? The wind was fairly high at the overlook parking lot, I’d guess everything was coated in sand (I was, after about 45 minutes of picture taking).

The closest picture I could get of one of the camping areas….

Dune shadows…

One of the websites describes the animal sculptures as of animals that are currently here (e.g., the bighorn sheep), or might have been eons ago. However, on the guide this and its twin are labeled African Elephants, Economy? See the discussion of farming with the adjacent picture, note in this one that the palm grove in the background looks untended.