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California,  Lens-Artists,  Nevada,  Street photography,  Travel galleries

Gallery: raising a smile in California (and Nevada)

November 24, 2024 / 63 Comments

Oh, when you’re smilin’

When you’re smilin’

The whole world smiles with you

Songwriters: Daniel Gaston Ash / Glenn Derek Campling

When I travel of course I take plenty of photos of the ‘big’ things I see. The landscapes, the city sights, the famous buildings and monuments, the wildlife, interesting people … The list is, if not endless, at least pretty long. But I’m also on the lookout for quirky details. The sort of thing that would never make it into a guidebook and which I come across by chance. Things that might not even be there if I were to go back tomorrow! Amusing signs, odd juxtapositions, anything a little unexpected.

Those images often don’t make it into my travel galleries because they don’t ‘fit’, they aren’t part of the story of a place. How happy I was then to see Ann-Christine’s call for photos of things that made us smile for this week’s Lens Artists challenge. All the sights below certainly made me smile on our recent California road trip. I hope some of them have the same effect on you!

My feature photo was taken in Tahoe City on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. The remaining images below are presented in chronological order. If interested you can see our itinerary in my previous post, Our California road trip.

Sign advertising ice cream

Sign on Pier 39, San Francisco (and yes, we bought one!)

Sign saying 'Happy Trails'

Spotted near Point Reyes: an appropriate slogan for our trip

Car sticker, 'Do you follow Jesus this closely?'

In the car park at Fort Ross State Park

Small dog looking out of a car

Posing beautifully for me outside a coffeeshop in Point Arena

Cacti in a planter with an elephant head detail

Small plant holder in a Ferndale coffeeshop; I do love elephants!

(there will be quite a few coffeeshops in this post, they are great places to spot amusing details)

Jigsaw puzzles on a shelf

For sale in a Eureka coffeeshop; I loved the slogans on these jigsaw puzzles!

Small bear ornament with a missing ear

On a table in a café in Tahoe City, Lake Tahoe; I was moved by his missing ear!

Neon sign advertising ice cream

Near Lake Tahoe (again, we bought one, naturally!)

Stickers on a road barrier

One of hundreds of stickers on a barrier at the Mono Lake Vista Point; I loved the message, ‘You be you’!

Car registration plate 'A Punk'

In a car park near Soda Springs on the Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Pass

(like coffeeshops, car parks can be a fruitful source of smiles)

Sign warning against leaving food in a car because of bears

In a car park in Yosemite Valley: an important message conveyed in a fun manner!

Humorous sign about coffee drinking
Sign reminding of the importance of the small things in life

Signs in a coffee shop in Fresno

Key chain with image of a gopher

The key to our cabin at Grant Grove, Sequoia / Kings Canyon National Park

Car with windscreen shades featuring Star Trek characters

In a car park in Ridgecrest: ‘Live long and prosper’

Girl with bright coloured hair pulling a face

In a gift shop in Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley; I asked this sales assistant to pose for me as I loved her hair, and she pulled this face as I took the shot!

(She also posed sensibly for a second shot but this version made me smile more)

Door with image of a skeleton reading a newspaper while seated on toilet

Service station toilet door near Indian Springs, Nevada, on what is badged the ‘Extra-terrestrial Highway’

large photo of a classical statue on the wall

Ladies’ toilets in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas

Silhouette of Elvis Presley

Entrance to the toilets at the car hire drop-off, Las Vegas Airport

(oh dear, there are suddenly a lot of toilets here too!)

Man with Hello Kitty stencil in his hair

Spotted in the departures area at Las Vegas Airport; Hello Kitty seemed an incongruous choice for this young man!

I visited California and Nevada in September / October 2024

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