We woke up a bit earlier, not wanting to miss breakfast at the Inn this time so that we could get an early start. Arriving a bit before 9am we dug into a reasonably healthy breakfast. Michelle had oatmeal and tea and I had granola and cranberries and brown sugar. As we were finishing a lady started chatting with us. She was on holiday with a friend of hers from the UK. She was very much a free spirit and was originally from New Mexico but currently lived in San Diego. We talked about many things — she was able to out-talk me which is impressive! After an hour or so we excused ourselves and headed out for the day’s adventure. So much for that early start!
We headed south through Joshua Tree with a stop at the Cholla Cactus Garden as the last time we were passing through it was late and the light wasn’t great. Sadly the bees were still there but I was still able to enjoy seeing a lizard or two and got some better pictures. It was blazing hot, however, so I headed to the car in short order. Despite our precautions a bee got in the car. I opened to let it out but then I felt a slight vibration near my right armpit. I kept as calm as possible and got out of the car and took off my shirt, liberating the trapped bee. I put my shirt on carefully, leapt into the car, and we continued south.
We stopped at the Cottonwood Visitor Center right at noon and enjoyed the exhibits there a bit more than at the other two as these were focused more on the geology, fauna, and flora. We also picked up a shirt or two. Hitting the road again we exited the park, crossed I-10, and headed to the Salton Sea. The road to the town of Mecca (at the head of the Salton Sea) ran through a canyon and was quite pretty. As we approached Mecca we entered a region of concrete irrigation canals and cultivated palms.
Lunch options were slim and we ended up deciding on what I thought was a local burger / Mexican restaurant. As we pulled up and noted it was in a travel plaza we thought about going somewhere else but we were pretty hungry. We should’ve moved on and taken our chances. The place was called Chelo’s Burger. Michelle had a burger (with sauce that she had asked be left off) and fried zucchini sticks (that weren’t awesome) while I had some tacos al pastor with rice and beans. We shared some fries with carne asada and cheese (and massive slices of avocado — puke) that was middling at best. Not our best lunch, that’s for sure.
Back on the road at around 1:30pm we drove east and south along the Salton Sea. The sea had at various times existed and subsequently dried, its current incarnation actually a result of a failed attempt to divert water in the early 1900s. It was actually a popular resort destination in the 50s through early 70s and several towns with motels sprang up as well as sport fishing. The lake started to shrink in the 70s with more efficient irrigation keeping water from being discharged into the sea. That plus previously pesticide-laden discharges led to an increasingly saline and toxic sea. Fish kills happened in the late-70s and by the 80s Los Angeles, quite a distance away, was sometimes subjected to toxic dust storms from dry sea bed contaminate soil being blown that way. So, yeah, Michelle was like “why are we seeing this?”
May she was right — it was definitely barren, not super beautiful, and hot. Blazing hot. On the other hand the area attracted people that were a bit out there and there were some cool art things to be seen. We pulled into Bombay Beach, one of the more famous resort towns back in the day, and drove toward the sea. We passed the Ski Inn, the lowest bar in the world (Salton Sea is nearly as low as Death Valley’s Badwater Basin). We got to the beach and I got out while Michelle left the motor running. There was a pickup truck a good football field away but I could smell the weed even at that distance. As I took pictures he asked “Hot enough for you?” and where we were from. I told him and he motioned me toward the car. I’m like “I’m good” and got back in our car.
Next we drove back toward the highway, passing abandoned motels covered in graffiti and the odd art installation. One that stood out was a pile of TVs with screens spraypainted as if they were on to various shows. Saddest to me were the number of older people shambling around in 115F heat just surviving. Likely people that bought into the area when it was a resort area thinking it’d be a great place to retire. Yeah, about that.
We continued down CA-111 for a bit with only the long Union Pacific trains that paralleled the road to keep us company. Finally in the town of Niland we left the road and turned east into the desert a few miles to Slab City where Salvation Mountain awaited, arriving around 2:45pm. Thankfully they had port-a-potties which both Michelle and I were able to take advantage of. You’d think the shade afforded by them would be a blessing but it was actually worse. A port-a-potty at 115F may just be the closes to Hell-on-Earth we’ll ever see. Which is ironic as it was at Salvation Mountain, an art installation praising Jesus. The mountain itself wasn’t so much a mountain as a sandy hill covered painted in garish colors but it was still neat. In front of the mountain there was even the suggestion of waves and the ocean. Additionally there were several old cars decorated and painted. Somebody was taking a ton of pictures of a lady in front of the mountain but I have no idea how they could tolerate the eat. A few others chatted with one of the volunteers that watched over the place — she was sitting on a lawn chair under a bit of pre-fab roofing.
As hot as it was we didn’t linger — we got back in the car and drove towards our final destination of the day, stopping only to take a picture of graffiti of aliens in a saucer. Around the southernmost extend of Salton Sea, about fifteen miles from the border with Mexico, we passed miles-long cattle “farms”. It was almost enough to make me go vegetarian seeing them packed so tight in 115F heat. Sure, there were sprinklers misting them and such but they looked miserable. It was very sobering. We continued along the western shore of the lake and headed west on CA-78 through Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area — an area for ATVs, dune buggies, and the like. We stayed firmly on the paved road, however, but even there there was some fun to be had — big dips in the road from time to time. They did have a nice rest room area which was awesome. It was around this time that we hit our highest temperature of the trip — 118F. To be fair, however, Death Valley was even hotter that day but we just weren’t there to “experience” it.
We got to Borrego Springs around 4:30pm. It is known mainly for the hundreds of large metal sculptures strewn about the town and surrounding desert. I’d seen them referred to as the Galleta Meadows Sculptures as well. The sculptor’s studio wasn’t that far away and the person that owned the majority of the land back in the day bought many of his sculptures, scattering them about his land. Eventually it was donated to the public to enjoy. While some of the sculptures could be reached just off the paved road many required driving a bit off-road. While initially a bit reluctant we warmed up to it. The first ones we saw were T-Rexes fighting as well as Raptors, even one with little eggs. There were Ocotillo plants all about as well as lots of scraggly bushes.
We also saw impressive sculptures of massive birds hauling off livestock, horses, elephants, and the like. Further north in town there was a giant grasshopper fighting a scorpion that made my inner Ray Harryhausen very happy. Most impressive of all, however, was the massive serpent that was easily hundreds of feet long and twenty-five feet high.
Around 6pm we headed east back toward Salton Sea and continued to go around it via CA-66, coming upon Mecca once again and heading back through the canyon road, over I-10, and back into Joshua Tree National Park. Right around dusk we saw two Bighorn Sheep! Sorry for the blurry picture, at 30x a phone just can’t do the job. This was literally the only time on the trip that I missed having a “real” camera. We continued driving on and around 8:15pm the sunset was beautiful so I was able to snap a few pictures.
We left the park and were in Twenty-Nine Palms but sadly the restaurant we wanted to go to was already closed. So we ended up at a local fast-food Mexican restaurant called Castaneda’s that was at least better than lunch. Michelle had a chicken wrap and chips and queso. I had a carnitas burrito that, while good, didn’t live up to the one we had in Baker a few days back. Satiated we headed back and packed a bit before falling asleep.
