The Road Between

This morning we take I8 E to Rte 86 N towards Niland and the Salton Sea. We are traveling the road between San Diego and our next key stop Palm Springs. We are seeing a mixture of desert and agriculture. Most of what they seem to be growing is Barley and animal feed. We have seen what looks like Broccoli and Cabbage. As we drove up Rte 86 we saw a sad sign of the times - 'Cemetery in Foreclosure'. I had to wonder what happens when someone buys this land???

We turned onto Rte 111 N in Brawley. There are huge irrigation plants that pump water to all of these farms. The road is now lined with Palm Trees. Turning onto Sinclair Road we drove past two large Geothermal Energy Plants that were generating electricity. We followed the signs to the Red Hill Marina and County Park. The park sits at the south east end of the Salton Sea. The road soon turned to dirt and ran along heavy marsh areas loaded with several kinds of ducks and gulls sitting on what looked like a dry sea bed on our left. The road ended and we turned left following another dirt road leading up and around a large red rock formation. As we got out of the coach to get our site a gentle breeze was blowing across the sea and we could see some of the Chocolate Mountains in the sunny haze. This will be home for the next two nights.

The campground needs a some updating, and the electricity spikes so bad we decided not to use it. We settled in and decided to take a walk on the sea bed!

The Salton Sink is a landlocked extension of the Gulf of California and sits directly on the San Andreas Fault. The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California stretching 35 miles wide and 226 feet below sea level. There is no natural outlet flowing to the ocean so whatever flows in doesn't flow out! As we step onto the sea floor we can see hundreds of birds and waterfowl along the shore line about two hundred yards ahead of us. As soon as you get close they fly away. Walking on the sea bed was crunchy. There were barnacle shells and skeletons of dead fish - hope the breeze keeps up! The Salton Sea area is one of the hottest places in the US, but it's nice today.

We set up our chairs with a view of the Little Santa Rosa Mountains and injoyed a glass of wine with crakers and cheese. It's very relaxing and the birds are chirping away.

Note: yes we skipped a day - I picked up some kind of bug and slept most of the day.