Curiosities of the California Desert, Book Review
By Claudia & Alan Heller, The History Press
Book review by Craig MacDonald
It was with delight that I discovered Desert Lovers Claudia & Alan Heller’s book, “Curiosities of the California Desert.” It features stories about Trona High School’s grassless football field. Called “The Pit,” the hard dirt field is watered for the Toronado Tornadoes games.
Then there’s the more than 130 Sky Art Sculptures in Anza-Borrego, the largest State Park in California. Richardo Breceda’s amazing sculptures include a 350-foot-long dragon with a sea serpent body, which undulates below and above the desert, slithering beneath the road and finally erupting through the desert sand with the tail of a rattlesnake.
Searles Lake, near Trona, has 500 tufa spires rising from the lakebed, some up to 140-feet high.
Thousands of travelers have appreciated Artist Claude K. Bell’s gigantic, 40-foot-high Dinosaur in Cabazon, off I-10, west of Palm Springs. The imaginative fellow even created a Tyrannosaurus, complete with a slide down its tail.
Desert Exploring is free of airline costs and airport security lines. It’s a relief, a chance to break away from the pressures and stresses of urban life. You get to breathe fresh air and see remarkable beauty, which will absorb your mind and leave lasting memories.
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