Pullin' Chocks

The Valley of the Names, Imperial County, CA

At first it was called something else.  The Second World War’s U.S. Army General George Patton, who brought soldiers to train in the area north of Yuma, called it Graffiti Mesa, according to local buzz.  Why The Valley of Names?  Because of the names, thousands of them. They are written with rocks placed carefully in the sand, square borders with names or nicknames in the centre, heart-shaped images, symbols denoting personal hobbies or interests, sunbursts, even just initials.

In the 1970s the area grew to four acres. Then high schoolers found the spot in the 80s, followed by winter visitors in the 90s, and the area became known as Valley of Names. The rocks have taken all shapes and sizes over the years. Today, you’ll see more than 10,000 names embedded in the desert floor on what has grown to 1,200 acres of land maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Many of the rock and sand designs memorialize a loved one. Some of it just leaves an “I was here” message. Retirees, RV groups, motorcycle groups. They all like it here, they’re all expecting something much smaller. Then when they see the quality of the work, the care and the number of names, they realize the beauty. They see that it’s meaningful.

A spot in the Valley of the Names as seen on Google Earth @32.8729759, -114.6826895

Quirt, Marylin and Gari standing at the McClennan 1974 tag below (lower right of Map pic above)

 The Names for Gari & Steve

Interesting names and designs
Jim Jackson's Baja Bug

 Ahhhh

Cousins Danny, Joyce and Judi, do you know what this represents? That's right it's The Chicken Memorial!

Heart Art

 A horse and sun burst and of course Gari got into that particular picture in the background

 A little stone man, and Gari got me in the background, very funny!

 Fiddle Red's memorial

 The 2010 Snail

 This way?

 A whole lot of Names

 Ocotillo starting to bloom

 Quirt and Marilyn contemplating the Names; we never quite know what Steve is doing...