Out of LA, into the Salton Sea.

I just got into Las Vegas and will write about today later, here is what I wrote last night. The pics should be good when I get them up.

8:24 PM, Sunday, June 18

I am now in the California Desert. I am in Salton Sea State Recreation Area, a state park that lies on the shore of the Salton Sea, a body of water that was never meant to be. When I did my first cruise through the park around 4:30, there we no campers here nor any sign there might be campers later. I counted 13 people in the park, most of them fishing although I can't imagine eating anything from this place.

The day started in Manhattan Beach still at Rob's place, after a relaxing Saturday we went out for some drinks last night. After Rob gave his dog, Duchess a bath, we met up with a friend of mine from San Francisco that had recently relocated to LA, Binks. It was great to see him and we all had a great breakfast at the Local Yolk.

Driving in on Friday Afternoon I was reminding myself why I hated LA, I was so hot, sitting on my motorcycle, and stuck in traffic - it was miserable. And every time I've been to LA I've left thinking that I could never live in that horrible place, that overcrowded, strip-malled city. (And I incorrectly call everything between Malibu and Camp Pendelton out to just about Palms Springs, LA. People correct me but it's just not worth my time to get it right. If there were a handy way to say "Los Angeles Metropolitan Area" I would use that, but for now I'm sticking with "LA") But after a weekend in Manhattan Beach, I have a much better impression of the region. It was so nice to be blocks away from the beach, where you can just walk around the corner to get some food (instead of driving) and everybody seemed to have a much better attitude that I've seen in LA in past visits. So LA has earned back some points in my book via the "beach communities"

So I hit the road today around 2pm, not too bad considering I only had to go about 150 miles. I got almost no traffic going through LA and out to Rivierside (about 50 miles) although I do hate driving in LA, all the expressways and merging - not my idea of fun. But once I got out toward Palm Springs things started looking up, there were fewer cars on the road an just a much more enjoyable drive. It was hot though, VERY HOT. At times it felt like someone was taking a huge hair dryer and blowing it all over my body and even though I ditched the riding jacket and gloves for a simple t-shirt it was still darn hot. I put on sunblock 3 times in my 4 hour drive and still got sunburned on my arms, I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with this since the thought of wearing long sleeves in this heat pretty much makes me want to throw up, I think I'm just going to have to keep on with the SPF and let it take it's course. I remember thinking the heat was really bad when I was driving but now looking back on it, I don't recall it being so unbearable. I'll certainly have some more time to refine my thoughts on the hot, hot heat of the desert.

The first time I'd heard of the Salton Sea was in a movie by the same name that wasn't really about the Salton Sea, just that parts of it took place there. The movie was pretty decent but lets just say it's not a family film. Then my friend John tells me about a documentary he saw about the Salton Sea, how it's such a strange place that was never meant to be but still exists for some reason and how the people who live near it are very strange. I haven't seen the documentary and I can't even remember what it's called but the idea intrigued me. the Salton Sea used to be an arm of the Pacific Ocean hundreds of years ago and then dried up by the time while folks started settling California. In the early 1900s some people had the wise idea to divert some of the Colorado River this way so they could irrigate fields and grow crops, they built a bunch of canals and then a few years later the canals burst and the Colorado started flooding the area. I guess it flowed for 16 months before they could get it to stop flooding the valley, and that created the Salton Sea, which was then fresh water. But there was no fresh water to replenish the Sea so it became salty from the runoff from the mountains, which is its only source of water. It's now evaporating water faster than it's gaining water and thus getting more salty. So, it has issues. The excess saltiness leads to fish dying quite a bit, which makes me wonder why people were fishing. I saw dozens of dead fish lying on the banks of the Sea today and took a picture of a few.

So, then there is my visit today. It's hot and I'm pretty much in the middle of nowhere, it's very desert-y and the two lane road I'm on is far from crowded. I wasn't able to reserve a campsite for this night but something in the machine I listened to made me think it wouldn't be a problem. Not only was a able to get a campsite but I have the whole thing pretty much to myself. When I pulled in there was no one at the ranger station at the front gate and there were instructions on how to pay for your campsite by putting it in a envelope and dropping it in a slot. I cruised through the park to pick out a campsite and it turns out, they were ALL available. It was eire, lots of parking, boat slips, a mini-marina, a boat launch, a playground and it was all empty and being pelted by the hot sun - I kind of wondered if staying here was a good idea. After taking some pics of the space, which failed to capture the strangeness of it all, I drove down the coast a little bit to check out the other campsites, and check for signs of life. The other sites were more vacant than the original and some were even behind a locked gate. I did make it down to Bombay Beach, (on a tip from my friend Mona) which was still more bizarre. Trailers and manufactured homes occupied what might have been a "normal" subdivision if not for the fact that every other house was empty and poorly maintained and it was adjacent to a lake in the middle of the desert. There was a store and a restaurant but both were closed by the time I got there. I'm just struck with the feeling that there shouldn't be anything out here and when there is, and it's got such a strange flavor to it, I'm totally baffled. Then I drove down another 30 miles to a town where I bought some water and gas, on the way back I had to go through a border and immigration check point but they guy just waived me though. I've never seen anything like that before, I understand from my New Mexican friends that it's quite common within a hundred miles of the border or so (I'm now about 75 miles from Mexico). I got back to the original camping place and paid my $12 (it was actually only $11.94 since all I had else was a 20) and by the time I got there it was bustling - two other camping parties! One in an RV, one a tenter like myself. I have to admit it was a little comforting to know that I wouldn't be the only person sleeping here tonight.

Since it's now past 9pm and there are bugs crawling all over my screen, attracted by the light, I'm going to end it here. I have my longest day yet tomorrow, about 300 miles to Las Vegas, mostly on 2 lane highways through the desert. It should be fun but it's going to take a while so I've got to get an early start.