The remains of a 12th-century chapter house in Golden Gate Park.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

A modest reminder of treacherous waters at the Golden Gate.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

A poignant memorial to a young boy whose death spurred a dramatic increase in organ donations in Italy—dubbed the "Nicholas Effect."

A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.

Worker-owned cooperative and resource for those looking to lighten their ecological footprint.

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

An "anarchical" no man's land, complete with garbage sculptures and a hobo-run "Landfillian Library."

An amazing collection of fantastic reptiles, amphibians, spiders, and insects.

The timepiece that exonerated a labor radical accused of a parade bombing that killed ten people.

The perfect spot for a picnic, right next to a giant ballistic missile.

Thousands of crosses and markers for soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan blanket a California hillside.

The rusting remains of the largest assembled WWII fleet on the West Coast.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

Massive prehistoric mammals used these stones as oversized scratching posts.

Monumental sculptures of Patrick Amiot, constructed from debris, detritus, and determination.

340 bicycles, 65 feet high.

Bits and pieces from the ill-fated Donner Party's winter cabins.

Curiously, this large sporting goods store features 14 wax representations of American presidents.

Bill Murray bowled three straight strikes here at Reno's "Taj Mahal of Tenpins."

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.