From Palm Springs, CA to Austin, TX

California, Arizona, New Mexico

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Texas (and Mexico)

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There is a special page on Marfa Lights.

Larger view of Présentation d’une danseuse à l’opera

The photographs were taken on a voyage from Palm Springs, California to Austin, Texas in November 2013. Four photographs from Fredericksburg are from a trip 24 months earlier.

The camera used is a Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 24-70mm 1:2.8 lens or a Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8 lens. Photos taken with the latter are marked TELEPHOTO below the images. Photographs taken by my wife Tove with her Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens are marked Tove. More photographic details on the exif data page.

Images copyright 2013 - 2025 by G.W.Schnell and Tove Schnell. All rights reserved.

San Andreas Fault Zone (text adapted to the metric system)

If you stood on this same spot next year, you would likely be 5 cm southeast of where you are now. (The corresponding spot on the distant Santa Rosa Mountains will be 5 cm farther northwest.) In 20 years the distance will be 1 m, in 100 years 5 m. If you would return in two million years, the same spot would be about 100 km farther southeast - all compliments of the San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault is in the middle distance of your view, marked by the Indio Hills. It is there that the Pacific Crust (a continental plate) slides past the North American Crust, sending shock waves that quake the Earth and incrementally change the landscape over time. The action of the San Andreas Fault is part of a geologic chain of events that caused the uplift of the distant mountains, thus creating a rain shadow that contributes to the region’s present arid climate.

Warning on the door of the Boquillas Crossing Port of Entry

Federal law prohibits possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapon in this Federal facility unless specifically authorized. 18 USC 930(a) possession violations are subject to fine and/or imprisonment up to one year, while 18 USC 930(b) possession violations with an intent to commit a crime are punishable by a fine and imprisonment up to five years.
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