Jan 13, 2013 - FOY

Jan 6 - Stayed here at FOY for 4 days in the dry camp area. Mid afternoon we would go down to the pools and have a dip, hot tubs of all temps, steam rooms. After our swim we would shower, very CLEAN shower rooms. Our tour guides(Dave and Marguerite) show us the "mud pots - pools", aaaah the smell of rotting eggs, so good. Then on to the Famed Salvation Mountain and the "slabs. Salvation Mountain is really difficult to describe, Hippies, yup, Hippies alive and well paint the hillside in honor of the biblical scriptures. the painted surface...

Jan 4, 2013 - Fountain Of Youth resort

Fifth day, on to Fountain Of Youth, FOY, arrived at 1300 after shopping in Indio. Visited with Dave & Marg Brook's, Great Reunion !! When the sun goes down, watch out, brrr, it the desert,it really cools off quick. it cools down From 22'c to 7'c in about 1 hour. We still chatted and caught up on this past year, for an hour after sunset, fantastic..

Mar 24, 2012 - Niland at "The Slab"

Hi All, Well, here we are at Slab City, CA. I hate to keep repeating myself, but here again great weather. We spent time here with another friend we had met in Bend last summer. Her name is Charlotte, she is 80 years of young and has been traveling and living in her motor home for over 20 years. Charlotte spends 3 to 4 months at the Slab. We are glad we went because we met several nice people there but it is a weird place. You take as much land as you want and do what you want with it for free. Many homeless people end up there because of...

Mar 25, 2010 - The Salton Sea Area - A Very Interesting Place To Visit

Today we are going off to explore the Salton Sea area. According to Wikipedia, the "Salton Sea is a saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault in California's Border Region. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside Counties in Southern California. Like Death Valley, it is located below sea level, with the current surface of the Salton Sea at 226 ft (69 m) below sea level. The deepest area of the sea is 5 ft (1.5 m) higher than the lowest point of...

Mar 19, 2010 - Day 7 - The Slabs and Salvation Mountain

Well, I had read about Slab City since the beginning of the century and had it on my list of places I wanted to see. It is an old abandoned Navy out-base with concrete slabs (hence the name) that has been adopted by hundreds...thousands?...of RVers. From what I read over the years, I think at one time it was a pretty 'cool' place to visit. It still could be if it weren't strewn with litter. Horrible. And everywhere. I had planned to stay two nights and it is just too depressing/gicky to stick around, so I have decided I will leave in the...

Mar 13, 2010 - Salton Sea

Love this Salton Sea!!! Oh my goodness, quel surprise! Apparently this was THE area for recreation in the 50s and 60s and now it lies all but forgotten, except by the lucky few who still remember, or who stumble upon it. What an interesting area. After a night at the Fountain of Youth we woke up looking no younger than when we went to bed, so after a quick trip around the flea market, we packed up the wagon and headed back up the way we'd come. Fortunately we found a lovely campsite, right on the water at Mecca Beach, part of the Salton Sea...

Feb 1, 2010 - Reverend and the Crack Dealer

Another glorious morning, Steve and I are chewing the fat, they are on their way down the road this morning, we’re saying our goodbyes. I look up as a sedan pulls up with two suits in it. Now I was begining to think I’d see it all on the slabs but what could be weirder than two guys’ decked out suit and tie. Steve figures the tax man and I guess JW. I win, over they come Susan ducks into the escape module with Rosy. I’m just in my robe and mention to Steve I can let it fly open and I’m sure that would put the run on them. Undaunted over...

Jan 31, 2010 - Peg Leg Mine

Found a mine on my mapping software called the Peg leg. GPSed a track and off we go into the Chocolate mountains to find the mine. The desert is starting to green up and some flowers are starting to show. Al sorts of cacti along the way. Now you should not confuse cactus with our Parliamentary caucus. Your cactus has the pricks on the outside. The trial into the mine is through the barren and beautiful chocolate mountains, you travel along gravel washes and arroyos. Spotted a muley doe, lizards and gecos. We found the mine and a desert...

Jan 30, 2010 - Range Raunch

New friends that we met at a bird sanctuary showed up at the slabs and camped beside us. They are from Vermont but are Vagabonds and live a gypsy lifestyle. They were living on a sail boat but sold that and bought a land yacht. No home just drifting. Another couple next to us from Victoria have a ATV so we spent the afternoon riding in the desert. Saturday night it’s music at the range. It’s raw and wild, takes me back to my teens. The music was actually pretty good and toss in the eclectic slab residence mixed with all manner of contraband...

Jan 29, 2010 - The Prophet

The prophet in the desert and our quest gets serious This post is brought to you from another world, my dream world. In the morning when you drift from your dreams to the dawn of another day, when both worlds are still mixed together. When you have a lucid dream and some revelation or insight is revealed and you strain to remember the dream as the new day tries to wash it away. I had such a dream, a dream like none I’ve had before. In this dream true happiness and nirvana were given to me, a gift from my inner self I guess. I say happiness...

Jan 28, 2010 - Skip this it's boring!

Even on a holiday you have to wash! Out of the desert and into town to do laundry and dump the escape modual. Niland is the town closest to Slab City. General Patton created this now deserted base, Camp Duypont I think it was called. which has become a odd collection of hippy’s desert rats, crack heads, RVers and all manner of misfits. Al the time we have been in this area there is guy who carries on an unending dialog with himself as he wanders around eyes closed. Too much sun and crack my guess. We may hang around a day or two go south....

Jan 27, 2010 - Hollywood Comes to Slab City

Two young sisters blew into “town” to do a music video. They are singing and doing takes at Salvation Mountain and at the Range. Salvation Mountain is very, well lets say, interesting place. Lenard an old crusty guy who has over the last 40 some years built Salvation Mountain out of hay bales and anything he can get his hands on. Which he then paints into a very bright sculpture. He asks for nothing and gives you a tour and a short sermon. A very sincere guy. The rain has damaged much of his mountain so many areas are off limits. The...