Roadside critters add to travel enjoyment

Heading down the highway doing the allowable speed limit, one often finds there are times when photo opportunities pop up.

I have passed up numerous such occasions over the years. Maybe it was too late in the day, the traffic was too heavy, I just didn't feel good or there were more important things on my mind.

But on vacation, one can't use most of those excuses.

Such was the case heading down Highway 1 in California on a recent October day.

On both occasions. the photo op was unexpected and I had breezed by before realizing it was there. I had to stop, turn around and go back a little ways.

There were two times just about an hour apart just south of Mendocino where I decided to go ahead and take advantage of what was available.

One was a giant metal sculpture of a tyranosaurus rex which promoted a local business. His head was hanging over some greenery and he was eyeing traffic busily heading down the highway.

He was accompanied by other sculptures.

The other occasion was on a stretch of highway near Manchester, CA. 

One of the two scuptures involved about 12 trees which were trimmed to look like a centipede or something similar.

The other was a single tree with a metal figurine of a young woman sitting under it.

All three were interesting and shows the ingenuity of people who add to life's enjoyment.

Next post: Nov. 27, 2012