Slab City and Salvation Mountain

2/15/09 Second Part - Slab City and Salvation Mountain

Ruth highly suggested that we visit "Slab City" and "Salvation Mountain" while down at the southeast corner of the Salton Sea . This turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. Slab City is located at an abandoned World War II Marine base that was closed down and subsequently the buildings were removed leaving only the cement slabs hence "Slab City". Over the years RVer's, Canadian RVer's, Snowbirds, drifters, and all sorts took over the area as a place to park free usually to spend the winter. From reading in some of the websites it sounds as if the various catagories of people group together there.

Apparently the group is pretty much self-regulating and policing. I would think that it would be a real interesting experience to spend a few weeks there and meet some of the people. There have been a number of film documentaries done about Slab City and the character of the true story that the movie "Into the Wild" was based upon lived in Slab City for a while. I haven't seen it yet but a segment of the film was shot on location at Slab City.

I would have to say that Slab City in general was not trashy and there was not much junk laying around. There was mixed levels of quality of living conditions but, hey, to each their own. Some rigs looked new and expensive and others looked like they had been around a long time and grown roots there.

Below is the bulletin board that welcomes you to Slab City and has current activities posted. Obviously a real piece of art.
I hope that I have created enough interest for you to read more about Slab City click on the links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City
http://www.desertdutch.org/slabcity.htm

Ruth has asked that I add a link for her blog titled"Phantom Seedlings" to mine and I do hope that you will visit it. It profiles her interest in the deserts and the people that live and have lived there. It also contains the preface for her upcoming book. Take a look at:

http://www.ruthnolan.blogspot.com/


Click on the photo to enlarge!


Below is an overview of Slab City. Definitely not overcrowded.


This guy has turned his rig into a mobile work of art.


This place is called the "Range" and is the location of Saturday night talent shows. This could be a real interesting way to spend a Saturday night.



Below Joe is relaxing in the spectator seating at the Range.



Now on to "Salvation Mountain" which is along the road on the way to Slab City. This is where Ruth introduced us to desert rat Leonard Knight. Leonard had taken on the mission of his life to spread a very simple gospel message that God Loves You and that we have sinned and we must ask God's forgiveness. He repeated to us a number of times to keep the message simple and that is the message he preaches.

Leonard is a very kind and simple gentleman. He doesn't force his message on you and he doesn't ask for monetary donations. The only donation he asks for is a donation of paint to continue his art work. He does accept a donation if you wish and thanks you for it and offers postcards and picture puzzles in return. He also loves to talk to strangers and tell his story. If you ever have the opportunity to visit there be sure to search out Leonard and talk with him.

We felt that Leonard is truly what he proclaims to be and puts all his resources into his mission.


Sign at entrance to Salvation Mountain.




Salvation Mountain










Looking down on the Sea of Galilee from top of Salvation Mountain.








Part of Leonard's artwork.






Leonard Knight talking with Joan.




Leonard with our group, Bev, Joe, Leonard, Ruth, myself, and Joan.



A plaque from the Folk Art Society of America proclaiming Salvation Mountain worthy of protecting as a National Folk Art Site.

We ended the day driving back to Palm Desert that we had a full day of experiences (Salton Sea, Slab City, and Salvation Mountain) that we will remember a long time and possibly draw us back in the future.

I suggest you Google on Salvation Mountain and also do a search for Salvation Mountain on YouTube for more interesting information.

http://vagabonders-supreme.net/SlabCity.htm

http://www.salvationmountain.us/

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2042

Salton Sea

2/15/09 Day Trip to the Salton Sea

After hearing about the history and current situation with the Salton Sea from my cousins we all decided to take a day trip and check it out. My (second) cousin Ruth has hiked and traveled through most of the parks and desert trails in southern California and combined with studies she is very knowledgable of the geology and history of the area. In her travels she has met numerous "desert rats" that have taken up residence or escaped for what ever reason to living away from society in some remote areas of these desert regions. Traveling to the Salton Sea would give us an opportunity to meet one of those persons.

Ruth is a writer in addition to being a teacher and has published a number of articles about the people and history of the region.

Ruth has asked that I add a link for her blog titled "Phantom Seedlings" to mine and I do hope that you will visit it. It profiles her interest in the deserts and the people that live and have lived there. It also contains the preface for her upcoming book. Take a look at:

http://www.ruthnolan.blogspot.com/

The history of the Salton Sea is an amazing story. I was only vaguely aware of the Salton Sea and the location since a couple of years ago when Bev and Jeanne pointed it out to Joan and I when we were visiting Joshua Tree National Park. You can see the sea from some areas at that vantage point.

The long chronology of the Salton Sea is best read from a number of internet links and involves Colorado River flooding and diversions, Southern Pacific Railroad, B-29's from a base in Utah dropping fake bombs, early American Indians, Sonny Bono, the Rat Pack (Sammy Davis, Frank Sinatra, etc.), salt mining, great fishing, large scale fish and pelican deaths, and more. It's a history that probably not many other lakes or body of waters can match. The farming of the Imperial Valley at the south end of the Salton Sea is an integral part of this region and is a key economic factor.

Besides the interesting past history of the Sea it's future is a big question mark. Can the current problems be fixed? Can the Sea survive? Can the polical interests be resolved? The Sea may only have a limited future.

Here are a couple of suggested links for more information about the Salton Sea:

http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/thesea.htm click on the chronology button on this one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0502/feature5/index.html

Click on photos to enlarge!

This is the visitor center for the Salton Sea State Park. It's a well kept facility and has a new appearance. The park rangers are very informative and have a video presentation that is well worth watching. A nice RV park is at this location also.

That's right, when standing on the shore you are 228 ft below sea level, sea level being the Pacific level. This might be compared to Death Valley which is 282 ft below sea level. For you pilots this is a really low density altitude except probably in the summer when it's around 120 there.

This is what remains of the Salton Sea Yacht Club. The area was developed in the 50's and became a hot spot for the stars from Hollywood to hang out giving it the title "California Riviera". Now the area is a ghost town.

One of the thousands of white pelicans at the Salton. The Salton is on the Pacific Flyway for millions of migrating birds. What would happen if the Sea dries up?

A large flock of the white pelicans.


Joe and Bev goofing around on the abandoned playground close to the yacht club.

I've decided to split this day trip into a couple of sections so see the next entry for more of today's adventures.

A Desert Oasis Hike

2/13/09 Joe and Bev took us to an oasis.

Weather - Another beautiful day in the mid 70's.

Joe and Bev took us to a place in the desert called Thousand Palms Canyon. It was in the Coachella Valley in between the mountains and hills and is basically a nature preserve. The canyon contains a couple of springs that have created a true oasis in the desert. From a distance you see a green area with tall palms in the canyon surrounded by bare hills and mountains.

Saying bare is somewhat not true as we have come to discover that the desert is not really bare as it appears when seeing it from a distance but is actually covered with many types of plants. Since we have been in the southwest there have been a couple of rains and it has really started the desert to begin it's spring growth.

They say that in about 2-3 weeks the desert will be covered with wild flowers in bloom and will be beautiful. This trip has allowed us to spend more time in the southwest than we ever have before and thinking of the geography of Ohio we have come to realize that there is a great diversity in geography, plants, and animals in addition to humans in this world.

The palms here are not trimmed and are huge. They are huge in height and in circumference at the base with all the untrimmed frons attached. You could create a living space inside there. In the picture above Bev and Joan are standing at the base of the trees if you look carefully.

In this area with the available water there are bobcats and other animals in addition to lizards, and snakes.

Trip to Palm Desert

Days One and Two of Four Days in Palm Desert






Since Joan has an Uncle and Aunt in Indio and I have cousins in Palm Desert we have been stopping there the last couple of years when we are in the neighborhood. My cousin Beverly and her husband Joe have been very gracious to host us at their home. Having fresh orange, lemon, and grapefruit trees on the condo property plus heated pool and spa is an attraction but the discussions about many topics and especially old family times is especially rewarding.


After visiting the Desert Visitors Center in Palm Desert we went to neighboring Palm Springs to see the Museum of Art there. Both of these cities are beautiful with Palm Desert's untold number of golf courses and hotels with the most beautiful landscaping to be found anywhere and Palm Springs history of the playground of Hollywood stars.
Cousin Jeanne from Victorville came down to be us Saturday and Sunday.




Another Chihuly
After the musuem we had supper at John's in Palm Desert

Old Scottsdale

2/08/09 An Afternoon in Scottsdale

Weather - It rained some last night but the clouds broke up this afternoon. Clouds in Phoenix?

It was about a half hour drive to Scottsdale on the east side of Phoenix. The rain we had yesterday has started to "green up" the desert and things are a little less brown.

We parked in Old Town Scottsdale and shortly thereafter a trolley bus that makes a circuit around Scottsdale was coming down the street so we flagged him down and got on.
He makes a circuit around the old part of town and then over to the modern shopping district.

Old town was wall to wall jewelry stores with much turqoise and southwest type jewerly. Looked but no buy. We also looked in a couple of art shops that had some beautiful western art and sculptures. Again, no buy.

Coming back from Scottsdale the clouds were beautiful and the shadows on the mountains were the things that artists would love. Would have liked to taken time to take some more pictures.

Chocolate

2/6/09 Chocolate Festival

Weather - A little cooler but blue sky, 65.

Today we stopped by the Glendale Chocolate Festival in old downtown Glendale.

Lots of free samples of chocolate from the vendors but also a large number of other fair type food vendors - funnel cakes, crepes, sausage sandwiches, etc.
Photos can be clicked on to enlarge.

After sampling a few things some excercise to walk it off seemed to be in order. The developers here seem to put in large pre-planned neighborhoods and developments. They clear maybe a couple hundred of acres, put in streets and utilities and then the walls surrounding the home properties first and then they build the homes. It seems that the commercial facilities such as small strip shopping centers are also part of the plan.

One of the nice things they do is include green spaces with plenty of walking trails. Below are photos of some of the areas in Tracy and Anjan's neighborhood.

Notice the green grass and no white stuff on top.

A Chihuly Day

2/?/09 The Chihuly Exhibit

Weather - Another beautiful day, 75 and blue sky.

We read that there was a Chihuly glass exhibit at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens and we decided that we'd better go and check it out. I'd have to say that we're not real impressed with Chihuly's work but we visited the Botanical Gardens last year and if the glass exhibit flopped we knew the gardens would be nice to see again.

Dale Chihuly was born in the state of Washington and has quite a biography including studying glass on a Fulbright scholarship in Venice, losing an eye in an automobile accident, and injuring a shoulder in a bodysurfing accident. One of his works was commissioned by the University of Akron and is on display in front of the Polymer Science building. It may be the only work of his that is not glass. More on Chihuly at the site below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Chihuly

I have always thought that his work is kind of monotonous but "The Nature of Glass" exhibit was impressive with a number of different forms and the quantity on display. Also amazing was that it was so exposed to the visitors considering that a small bowl in the gift shop was selling for $6,000.

A few of the works below. Click on image to enlarge.

A real cactus starting to bloom below -

A nice exhibit all in all.

Storing the RV

2/ ?/09 Storing the RV

Weather - Beautiful as usual

We parked the fifth wheel on the street at Tracey's house overnight upon arrival but the local homeowners association only permits overnight parking for one night. Tracey had arranged for the rental of a parking space at a local RV storage facility. The facility is well run, gated, and has 24 hour access. In case we want to use the trailer for some local side trips we can easily pull it out and go.

Click on photo to enlarge!

The storage facility has a wash station that we were able to use to clean the trailer of the road dirt including the residue from White Sands.

Nice and clean again!

Lake Pleasant

2/4/09 Took a ride up to Lake Pleasant

Weather - Beautiful day, about 72.

We decided to take a ride up to Lake Pleasant today for a day trip. It's only about a 45 minute drive north of Phoenix and easy to get to from Peoria since Tracey lives on the northwest corner of Phoenix. Lake Pleasant is an integral part of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) which serves to bring water from the Colorado River to Phoenix and on down to Tucson.

Even though it's relatively easy to get to the lake we managed to get a little lost on the way there but we eventually found our way to the marina and the RV Resort. The RV Resort has a 5 star rating and is probably one of the best you'll find anywhere. They have 254 full hookup sites and the resort has all the amenities including heated pool, spa, and all kinds of activities to keep retirees busy and out of trouble.

The Maricopa county park on the lake is also very nice and spread out over many acres with scattered clusters of campsites. We had a nice chat with the host of the visitor center and found out that she and her husband volunteer there 20 hours a week and in return get a free campsite, all utilities, and a golf cart to run around the park. We may have to investigate that possibility some more but on the other hand maybe we don't want to be tied down to working 20 hours a week.

Click on photos to enlarge!

Lake Pleasant!

Maricopa County has the sheriff that makes inmates live in tents, wear pink underwear, and generally makes them work for a living.

Pleasant Lake apparently is known for record size largemouth bass, crappie, catfish, and talapia. Also stripped bass have also been introduced to the lake. I brought fishing equipment with us so may have to investigate that possibility also. Out of state license is a little pricey at $32 for a five day license for out of staters. But then few fishermen calculate the cost per pound of their catches assuming that you catch anything. I guess catching fish is one of those priceless experiences that even if you don't catch anything is still a priceless experience.

The water supply for Phoenix was originally for the most part pumped from wells from underground aquafers. However they were finding that it was creating a net deficit of water and the distinct possibility of running out of water existed. It was decided to build what became named the Central Arizona Project (CAP) to supply water from the Colorado River to Phoenix, some other towns along the way, to one million acres of farmland, and on down to and ending at Tucson. Water is an issue that we don't have to deal with in Ohio, at least not to the extent of those living in Southwest desert areas. A lot of information about the CAP is available on the website below:

http://www.cap-az.com/

The CAP must have been a civil engineers dream project to work on including all the elevation issues to worry about, design of the canal and concrete lining, boreholes through mountains, pumping stations, etc. Besides the engineering issues, it took 22 years to get it approved by congress before construction and then 20 more years to actually build. The management of the water resources is incredibly complex.

Click on image to enlarge!

336 miles of waterway.

Bisbee, AZ to Peoria (Phoenix), AZ

2/2/09 Mine Tour and Travel to Phoenix

Weather - Beautiful day, clear blue sky, 60

Today we got up early and walked down to the entrance of the Queen mine for a 9AM tour. The Queen mine has an interesting history. Evidence of ore was found, lost in a card game, changed hands in a horse race, etc. It's interesting reading at http://www.queenminetour.com/index.htm
The mine produced 6.1 billion dollars of metals (1975 dollars) including copper, gold, silver, and zinc during it's operation. Today you can ride the old mining train 1500 feet into the mountain and learn the mining process used. It's all very interesting. Below is a video of our trip into the mine.

After finishing the mine trip we packed up, unhooked and headed for Tucson. A few miles north of Bisbee we came to another border patrol checkpoint. A couple simple questions and we were again on our way. Joan was amazed and somewhat disappointed that they didn't want to search our trailer for unlawful aliens. My feeling is that they can tell just by looking and a short chat whether they want to do a search.

Just a few miles past the checkpoint Joan asked what was in the sky over to my left. At first I didn't see anything but then I saw this white spot in the sky. At first I thought that it was an airplane but after watching it for a while it just stayed in one spot. I decided that it was a UFO and needed further checking out. It was probably 5 miles away but pretty large to show up that well. At the first opportunity I pulled to the side of the road and got out the binoculars. I was trying to figure out in my mind how I was going to get a picture of a UFO and deal with the resulting fame on the newsreels, etc. Upon using the binoculars it turned out to look like a small blimp but stationary in one spot. Remembering back to articles in Popular Mechanics or someplace I decided it was one of the tethered balloons that the Border Patrol uses to watch activities on the border to Mexico. After watching it for a few minutes it was back on the highway to Tucson.

Amelia led us to Joan's family friend Oleta's in Tucson. The GPS is handy when you don't know your way around a city. We had a nice visit with Oleta and picked some grapefruit from the tree in her backyard.

From Tucson we headed up to Peoria on the NW corner of Phoenix. It seems like once you get to Phoenix you should be there but it takes an hour just to get across Phoenix. Anyhow we got to Tracey and Anjan's around 6PM.

The final mileage was about 2,900 miles since leaving home.

Deming, NM to Bisbee, AZ

2/1/09 Deming, NM to Bisbee, AZ

Weather - Beautiful blue sky, cool 54.

Our goal today was to drive to Willcox, AZ and then head down to Bisbee close to the Mexico border. South of Willcox on Rte 191 is a viewing station for migratory birds that winter in the area. Our daughter Tracey has been there a number of times with bird watching groups to watch the sandhill cranes. It was reported that there were around 30,000 cranes this year so we were anxious to see what we could see.

It was an easy drive over I10 into Arizona to Willcox. Just past Willcox was the cutoff for 191 and we headed south and found the viewing station. Tracey's directions were good and we found it right away. It is just across the street from a large Arizona Power generating station and was funded and built by the power company. You drive back a gravel drive about a half mile to where a raised platform about 100 yards long is located along with a large parking area. They have also mounted large telescopes for spotting animal life in the open water areas that attract the birds. The search was on for cranes but we couldn't find any. To the right of us was a body of water that had 2 or 3 white swans but no cranes. We did spot a hawk perched on a fence post

Soon after arriving there began a steady stream of people coming and going to look also. We chatted with a couple (we think father and daughter) and they confirmed that this was the spot and said the cranes actually blackened the sky there were so many. OK - where are the cranes? The couple said the cranes come into the area between 11AM and 2PM to rest after feeding in the morning in grain fields in the area and then go back out in the afternoon to feed once again. It was about 1:15PM. Maybe these birds are on Central Time.

The gentleman we were talking with said there was another area further south at Whitewater Reserve and gave us instructions on how to get there. We after hanging around there with our eyes peeled for about an hour we decided to move on and continue our adventure.

As we continued south on 191 we went through a border patrol station but they were only stopping traffic going north. As we headed south we programmed Bisbee in the GPS which we have named Amelia, as in Amelia Earhart. She does a great job but at times we confuse her when we don't turn when she tells us to. Today we followed her instructions and considering the out back area we were in she led us on some interesting roads. Mostly small two lane roads through cowboy and farming country. Again some real interesting country. A lot of pecan and Pistacio orchards here in southern Arizona.

We gradually made our way to the Lavender open pit and Queen shaft copper mines. We found the Queen RV Park at the edge of the open pit mine practically with the back end of the trailer hanging over the edge. We plan to tour the Queen mine tomorrow.