Santa Ana Desert, California (Google Maps ⧉, OpenStreetMap ⧉)

"the palm was blackish at its branches, stained by carbon monoxide coming out of the Third Street Tunnel, its crusted trunk choked with dust and sand that blew in from the Mojave and Santa Ana deserts."

"He had left Los Angeles and gone to the edge of the Santa Ana desert. There he lived in a shack, writing feverishly."