Landed in Los Angeles, but Joshua Tree was my first stop on this road trip. Haven’t been in the high desert for six years. Came out to see Vanessa Zendejas at AZ West and visit Dusseldörf artist Paloma Varga Weisz’s large-scale sculpture in Twentynine Palms, part of AZ West’s High Desert Test Sites.

Drove up to June Lake in the Eastern Sierras where there was still snow. Quiet little town getting ready for their season of Rainbow Trout to begin.

Stopped in at the shores of Mono Lake whose shrinking shoreline is dotted by clumps of tufa (spires made of calcium carbonate). For the past eighty years, Los Angeles has diverted water from the tributaries of the lake, increasing its salinity and causing extensive environmental damage.

Remnants of the Kennedy Gold Mine in Jackson, California. The deepest of these mines, it produced over 34 million dollars of gold during its day.

Obligatory visit to Yosemite. Makes me think I should’ve never left California.

Headed up to San Francisco, where I lived from 2005 to 2008. One of my favorite places on the West Coast. The ruins of the Sutro Baths. The original buildings burnt down in the '60s, but the concrete foundations for these saltwater bathing pools remain.

One of the state's greatest testaments to the power of camp and schmaltz, the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo is nothing short of inspiring. Built by Alex and Phyllis Madonna over decades, each room is completely unique. I don’t think there’s another hotel like it on this planet.

One final stop before heading back to Chicago, Harry Oliver’s Spadena House, built for Irvin Willat in 1921. I don’t go in much for architecture, but what’s called the Storybook style is totally captivating.