Porter Sculpture Park – Montrose, South Dakota

Seeing the Franconia Sculpture Park reminded me of another open-air, remote, sculpture park I found while driving through South Dakota.

Driving west on I-90, about 25 miles west of Sioux Falls, you’ll see a site to make your head turn and your car pull over.

It is usually only open Memorial Day through Labor Day. I was driving by on September 4^th (two days after Labor Day) in 2002 and found the park open.

Made of scrap mental and old farm equipment by Wayne Porter, a self taught artist who learned to weld in his father’s blacksmith shop.

His art just makes me smile.

The grand piece that catches your eye from the freeway is the 25 ton Egyptian Bull Head:

It took 3 years to build and is the size of one of the heads on Mount Rushmore.

Here's his website: Link to Porter Sculpture Park

Drive to Fort Sill, OK - 05 JUL 2010

Last week I was at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. I didn't have a camera with me, so I went to a local pawn shop and purchased a small Kodak...for twenty dollars, I'm calling it a disposable. Then, I went round the Fort taking pics; however when I got home, I found the memory card would not download. I purchased a new card (with three times the memory) from Big Lots for ten dollars. Now my $30 disposable camera is my road show challenge: produce interesting shots with inferior equipment. This week's assignment, I flew to Oklahoma City and took an hour plus drive, south to Lawton. I wanted to see the country side not the interstate, so I choose to take the back roads. I was not disappointed. With no signage to tell me what I had found, these interesting creatures were standing in a field, behind a locked fence:

As I was leaving, this 4 inch grasshopper jumped on my windshield.

Amazingly, it was able to hold on until I reached 67 miles per hour.I also found an interesting mailbox.

Border Crossing - 5 APR 2008

California here we come, right back where we started from…
You don’t have to go to Death Valley to see sand dunes, there are some lovely ones between Yuma and El Centro.

Tinky Winky, having no proof of being a “legal” alien, was nervous as we crossed through the Border Patrol.
We stopped at one of our favorite places in this part of the country, “The Desert View Tower” which has fabulous rock carvings.
This time we took the five minute hike up the cliff to see Miller’s Springs.
TW had to go skinny-dipping in the springs.
And the view is incredible…well worth the hike.

CA Registered Historical Landmark #939 - Plaque Inscription:
Bert Vaughn of Jacumba built the stone tower in 1922-23 to commemorate the pioneers and road and railroad builders who opened the area. In the 1930s W.T. Ratcliffe carved the stone animal figures which lurk in the rocks surrounding the tower, creating a fantasy world of surprise and strange beauty. This remarkable sculptural assemblage is one of California's exceptional folk art environments.
Beautiful and remarkable they are.
Only 3 hours from Los Angeles, this is a great place to take the family for a day trip.
And the entrance fee is less than AK’s Natural Bridge!
So much fun climbing the rocks and being one with the art.
Finally reaching home, Fuji gives us a proper welcome.