Salton Sea, Slab City and a shake!!
Yesterday we set out to see the visitor centre and visit a date farm.  We had a lot of things we wanted to do and have only a week to do them all so were trying to plan our week.  There was a shooting involving a drunk driver and the police (no police were injured) so the road was all blocked off and we ended up missing the visitor centre.  So we decided to just take a drive through the area.  For the most part the nearby cities and towns are in the Coachella Valley.  They all sort of run together like Phoenix and area.  We are staying in Indio but 1000 Palms, Palm Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta and others are all really close by.  We got on the freeway and ended up in Palm Springs.  It was very windy and dusty.  We walked around the downtown area in Palm Springs and it is really quite pretty.  There is a lot of grass which seems really strange in the desert.  I know they have lots of programs in place to conserve water so I was trying to research why they have so much grass which requires constant watering.  Most of the articles were a little dated and I am interested in finding out more about that.  After a couple of hours of wandering we decided to try to see the Tahquitz Canyon which we read had a spectacular 60 foot waterfall.  The walk was about a mile uphill and we were excited about seeing the waterfall. We stopped in at the center there and the fellow told us that the waterfall is all dried up and has been since July.  He said that it has dried up on occasion but in all his years of living here it has never been dry that long.  It is basically mountain run off.  They truly need some snow in the mountains!!  We decided not to walk up the hill so we went for a yummy late  lunch at the Yard House.

 Some kind of little ground squirrel close to the Tahquitz Canyon entrance.

 There are lots of palm trees in this area and they are amazing.  The only palm native to California is the California Fan Palm which is the one in these pictures.  Many other varieties, as well as date palms can be found in the area as well.

Today we went on a road trip to see the Salton Sea, Slab City and area.  Slab City, which is close to Niland is about an hour away from Indio.  It was an interesting drive.  Along the way we saw date palms, citrus, grapes and fields of lettuce  and a few others I could not identify.  There was a lot of irrigation going on as well.

Slab City is about an hour drive from the Mexican Border.  There was a huge border patrol presence here and we went through a road stop area as well.  It used to be a WW2 military base.  Now it is home to about 1000 people in the winter.  Mostly people who want to live off the grid.  I read some can live there for about 100.00 a month.  Not sure what they do for water and showers but some of the homes had big water containers. They are fairly close to a town called Niland which had some interesting homes as well.  Most of them had fences all they way around and signs that said keep out.  One had a big sign that read "everyone, stay away."  That one sort of made us giggle.

 I guess you just park your home wherever you see a spot you like.

 coolest visitor centre I've ever seen

 And if its hot, just pull up a seat under that shade tree right there

 Looks like some of those "leaves" have fallen off the tree.

 My nieces came her last year and Sydney sang at this "clubhouse"/community centre??  they call it the Range

Better watch out for Papa Jimi.   It was a friendly place however, everyone who rode past on their bike or motorcycle  or just out and about gave a friendly wave and smile.

 this is Salvation Mountain.  It was created by a fellow named Leonard Knight.  He settled near Niland in 1984 and created the mountain out of cement.  It crumbled and the current one is made out of adobe clay covered in paint.  In 1967 he had a life altering experience and discovered God which is pretty apparent if you can read - LOL.  You can walk up the mountain if you stay on the yellow brick road the sign says.

 He makes all the flowers out of window putty.  Most of his paint and clay are donated.  The colors are really pretty.  I walked up the back of the mountain as it is still dirt and clay and not as slippery as the yellow brick road.

 Around the side of the mountain is an area where there are a few little rooms.  No idea why there was a duck decoy hanging in this room.

 It was fascinating as well as a little spooky for some reason.  There was a strange fan above one of these rooms and it made the strangest sound.

We then drove back along the Salton Sea .

 the Salton Sea is a very important bird area.  Over 400 species visit the area or fly through on migration

The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline lake (the biggest lake in California actually).  It is located on the San Andreas Fault and is 234 feet below sea level.

 The Salton Sea was accidentally created in 1905 when irrigation canals were dug to increase water for irrigation.  Long story short, the canals overflowed the canals and the Colorado river flooded the area for 2 years.  Due to high salinity very few species of fish can live here.  These are mostly tilapia and they die off every year due to fluctuations in water level, increasing salinity and fertiliser runoff results in increased algae and elevated bacteria.  The beach you walk on is crunchy dried fish parts.  In some places I bet it is 8 inches or more deep.

The area was once a resort area and deserted towns are still there. It is a very strange area to visit and it is kinda smelly too!

I very much enjoyed all the birds!

 Very cool to see a snowy and a great egret beside each other.  I watched and heard one of these egrets peck at another bird.  They make quite a honk!

 There were tons of pelicans.

 Most of the pelicans were the American white ones but there were a few of these pretty brown ones mixed in.

I annoyed the heck out of this poor heron.  I wanted to try and get him in flight so kind of kept getting a little too close for his comfort.

And last but not least -

A date shake!!  I had not had one for over a year.  I do believe I will be having at least one more while we are here.  One day we are going to another date farm that you can walk around the garden and learn more about the dates.