Early start this morning with our first
stop today at Joshua Tree National Park.
We stop at the information
center and find out it is free entrance today as today is a training
day.
We entered through the west entrance
and right away many many beautiful Joshua trees.
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| Rock climbing is done here, not so many today |
We visited some
beautiful scenic spots. One spot overlooked the valley, it is a
beautiful view over the Coachella Valley. It is a gorgeous day,
really no wind, and nice and warm, we brought along sweatshirts for
this stop and didn’t need them. The lookout here is at 5,200ft,
compared to Palm Springs which is 150ft elevation.
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| John, I think the view is behind you, and you're making Gilles very nervous! |
We also did a 1 mile walk to
Barker Dam which was built in 1900 for water for the cattle, I can’t
imagine cattle ever being here in the Mojave Desert. There was no
water to be found now, but there were a few green trees, so there
must be some water around.
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| The dry dam, I'm noticing a trend of John in dangerous spots! |
Time for lunch and we visit a beautiful
picnic area Hidden Valley. Gilles and John have packed us a great
picnic lunch, and a great spot to visit. After lunch we explored the
area a little, lots of amazing rocks, how did they all end up stacked
like this?
After lunch we drove to skull rock, which
is a rock right along the roadside that looks like a skull.
Then
along to a Cholla Cactus Garden. These are nasty picky cactus. One
managed to attach to my cell phone, then attach to Johns finger when
he tried to rescue my cellphone. I didn’t get a picture of it
attached to his finger.
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| Cholla Cactus Garden |
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| Super sticky, attached to my cell phone, then to Johns fingers |
From here we drove for about another
hour to exit the park at the Cottonwood exit. This drive brought us
though some amazing scenery near the end where we were driving
through box canyon. Very amazing.
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| Driving through Box Canyon |
Along the drive to our next destination, we drove through farmland.
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| Looking for illegals, we will need to pass through this when we come back |
Our next stop is Salvation Mountain.
This mountain of hay has been painted over by one man for over 30
years. He passed away 2 years ago and the tradition carries on. It
has now been officially recognized as a Folk Art Site. A few people
stopping to look around with us. I count this as going to Church this week.
We then follow along the road a little
further to Slab City.
A school bus stops in front of us and about 7
children get off. This city is an off the grid city mostly made up
of campers. It is really a small village with a few roads through
the desert. Most places were fenced by a ring of tires. It looked
like you just pulled up your trailer wherever and set up your fence
and you are good to go. Saw a note for an Airbnb, not sure that I
will be renting there any time soon.
We now head home with our next stop at
Salton Sea as the sun is setting. The Salton Sea was created in the early 1900's when the Colorado River overflowed. When you look back at pictures this was once a vacation land, marinas, regattas etc held here. Now it is pretty much a wasteland, still under discussion as it has been for years whether something can be done with it.
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| Lots of fish skeletons along the beach |
Last hour drive home and we get back at
around 6PM. A long day for everyone, but especially Gilles who has done all the driving!
We meet up at 7 for a fantastic pizza then off home to
see what is happening in the US elections. A shocking night, not
sure anyone was expecting Trump to be leading when we went to bed
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We appreciate any comments/questions you would have or any stories about the places we visited.