Caitlin joined us Dec 20 to spend a week during Christmas – YAY! Some warm days, beautiful pink sunsets, and coyote calls at night made for a good start to her visit.
We did a day trip to the Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain, and Slab City. Salton Sea has a fascinating history – it is the largest lake in California, and was a thriving resort community in the 1950’s (Sonny Bono invested heavily here). The lake is now drying up and becomes increasingly more saline each year.
Salvation Mountain, a folk art site created by a local resident is one of the strangest things I have seen. Made of straw and paint it was his vision and philosophy of the ‘sinners prayer’. Visitor’s can follow the ‘yellow brick road’ inside and up to the top of the mountain to see the murals and christian sayings displayed. Many other objects have been painted with sayings and added to the site over the years.
Nearby is another very strange place called Slab City. An abandoned Navy Base is home to thousands of squatters and campers in winter months, but only a couple hundred in summer when the temperature are unbearable. There is no electricy or water source other than one communal hot springs shower area but we did see a hostel, pet cemetery (picture), and a library.