How the site of the iconic Windows XP wallpaper "Bliss" looks today

2023-04-25

The site of the iconic “Bliss” image, photographed in January 1996 by Charles O’Rear. You know it. Everyone knows it.

A few years back, my girlfriend and I were on a birthday road trip and we visited a few different places around the Bay Area and this was one of the places on my list. Turns out, it’s just on the side of the highway near the Napa Valley area of California (38°15′00.5″N 122°24′38.9″W). The story of the photograph is really quite interesting, I suggest giving this documentary a watch.

Here’s how things looked when I took my own photograph of the site in July 2018 (copyright me) ↴