November 13, 2012

Oasis Palms RV Park

Thermal, CA

We are so close to the highway that I expected to have difficulty sleeping but I actually slept very well.  The first order of business this morning was to settle up in the office.  We had only paid for one night because we weren’t sure if we were going to like the park.  Other than the highway noise it is very nice so Monte inquired about a weekly rate.  Ryan, the office clerk, applied the night we had already paid for to the weekly rate and we paid the difference.  He also told us that we were welcome to stay beyond the first week at the PA rate if we wanted to. We might take him up on that offer.

After packing a lunch we set off at 11am for the Salton Sea State Recreation Area.  The Visitor Center is located less than 15 miles from our campground.  There was no one at the entrance booth so we deposited the $5 daily use fee in the envelope provided and followed the directions to the visitor center.  The first thing we noticed was the campsites along the water with full-hook ups.  We discussed the possibility of staying for a couple of nights until we found out it would cost $30 per night plus $5 for my car.  That is definitely not in our budget.

 

At the Visitor Center we learned that the Salton Sea is a landlocked extension of the Gulf of California.  At 35 miles long and 15 miles wide it is California’s largest lake.  The lake has no natural outlet flowing to the ocean.  Whatever flows in does not flow out.  The Salton Sea provides sanctuary to a diverse collection of wildlife.  Millions of fish feed millions of wintering birds along with the year-round residents including quail.  Some of the vegetation includes desert shrub, creosote bush and fan palms.  The sea’s rising salinity threatens its vital importance to more than 400 bird species.  Because there is less than three inches of rainfall a year the sea is now 30 percent saltier than the ocean.  In 2003 the California legislature passed the Salton Sea Restoration Act to find effective methods to save the ecosystem.  The Salton Sea State Recreation Area offers such activities as camping, kayaking, bird watching and hiking. 

We stopped at one of the many water-front picnic areas to eat our lunch and watch the pelicans take off and land in the water.  It was an absolutely picture perfect day due in part to the extremely blues sky and to the magnificent colors of the nearby Santa Rosa Mountains. 

 

After lunch we decided to explore some of the areas listed on a flyer we received at the Visitor Center entitled, “Ten Things To Do In An Hour Or Less.” The first item listed was the Bat Cave Buttes.  The instructions of the flyer was to park at an old abandoned café and hike a mile to the buttes that offered, “nice views and a new perspective.”  We were kind of tired and feeling a little lazy so we opted to skip the hike that appeared to us to be more than a mile.

The next item listed was a place called Bombay Beach, the lowest city in American located 223 feet below sea level.  We drove the outer perimeter of the town and then on the man-made berm to view the destruction caused by the fluctuating sea levels.  We learned that the ruins of Bombay Beach attract photographers and also that a documentary about some of the residents won first prize at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011.  As we drove up and down some of the streets it was difficult to determine the houses (mostly prefabs) that were abandoned from those that still have inhabitants.   I cannot fathom why anyone would choose to live in a town, most of which has been destroyed.  I was relieved when we left as the experience had left me a little depressed. 

We skipped the next item on the list, a visit to Hot Mineral Springs Road because it was getting late and there were other places on the list that we were more interested in seeing.  As we were crossing the Burrowing Owl Territory, the flyer instructed us to check out the irrigation pipes as we drove by the agricultural fields because we might see owls.  We didn’t. 

Our next stop was the most interesting one of the day.  After turning at Main Street, in the city of Niland, we crossed the R/R tracks, rounded a bend and there it was.  Salvation Mountain an art installation covering a hill made from adobe, straw and thousands of gallons of paint. 

 The numerous murals and areas painted with Christian sayings and Bible verses were created by a Leonard Knight, a local resident.   Leonard, a Vermont native born in 1931, accepted Jesus in his heart in 1967 while sitting by himself in his van.  He arrived in Niland in 1984 where he began work on his mountain that he kept expanding.  In 2002 the mountain was proclaimed a national treasure.  In 2011, Leonard was placed in a long-term care facility when he was diagnosed with dementia.  As we walked in the structure I couldn’t decide if I felt like I was inside a Dr. Seuss cartoon world or getting a glimpse of someone’s LSD-induced dream world.  In any case it was a weird and fascinating experience.

 

Just beyond the shrine is another very weird place called Slab City.  It is a snowbird campground used by Rivers and from what I observed, mostly SQUATTERS.   The “city” takes its name from the concrete slabs that remain from the abandoned WWII Marine barracks of Camp Dunlap.  According to Wikipedia, Several thousand campers, many of them retired, use the site during the winter months. These "snowbirds" stay only for the winter, before migrating north in the spring to cooler climates. The temperatures during the summer are unforgiving (105,110 and as high as 120 degrees F); nonetheless, there is a group of around 150 permanent residents who live in the Slabs all year round. Some of these "Slabbers" derive their living by way of government checks (SSI and Social Security and Social Security Disability) and have been driven to the Slabs through poverty. Others have moved to The Slabs to learn how to live off the grid and to be left alone. Still others have moved there to stretch their retirement income.

The site is both decommissioned and uncontrolled, and there is no charge for parking. The camp has no electricity, no running water, no sewers nor toilets, and no trash pickup service. Many campers use generators or solar panels to generate electricity. Supplies can be purchased in nearby Niland, California, located about four miles (5 km) to the southwest of Slab City.

What struck me the most about Slab City is that it is essentially a DUMP.  I was really surprised to see very expensive RVs parked next to deteriorating skeleton remains of old Winnebago’s and Airstreams.   Unwanted items are just discarded anywhere evident in the numerous trash piles scattered around the city.  There also appears to be a division in the city between the snowbirds on one side of the (dirt) main road and the squatters on the other side.  There is a sense of community present evident by a posting listing weekly events including church services on Sunday and structures such as the “Library” and “Internet Café.”    Although staying at Slab City is FREE, we would not camp there because I would feel like I was living in some Walking Dead apocalyptic world.

We had wasted too much time driving around Slab City and it was too late in the day to visit what I am sure would have been a much more interesting place, the Sony Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.  Perhaps we will visit it later in the week.

Our last stop of the day was in Salton City.  We drove along Marina Drive and turned onto a road that dead-ended at the water’s edge.  We didn’t stay long because as the sun set behind the mountain the temperature plummeted.

During the course of the day we had traveled almost 100 miles having been awed, dumbstruck, entertained, fascinated and horrified.  I consider any day that I experience that much of a mix of emotions, a good day and I can’t say it enough-we are blessed to be living this lifestyle.