Monday, January 19, 2009

Today was another beautiful sunny warm day so we decided to do a bit of a road trip. We headed into California and took a highway up the east side of the Imperial Sand Dunes then picked up a highway that would have eventually taken us right across California to the ocean north of San Diego (we didn’t go that far west). We crossed the sand dunes and even though it was a week day there were a lot of people out on their dirt bikes, ATV’s etc. racing around the dunes. There were a lot of trailers camped out there, sorry but I just can’t imagine camping in all that sand and having it tracked all through the trailer – it has to be really hard on a RV. We passed more huge motor homes towing trailers with their toys and RV Toy Haulers in a couple of hours today than we have seen all winter – recession – where!!!

Driving West Towards the Imperial Sand Dunes



The Sand Dunes





We stopped at a lookout part way through the dunes and there were a few trailers pulled in there and this little guy was running around on his ATV. The sand was so soft in there we were worried we would get stuck!



After the sand dunes we were in the Imperial Valley where a lot of Canada’s winter vegetables come from, we also came across a huge feed lot, I could smell it long before we got to it!

Just a Small Part of the Feed Lot



We drove through Brawley and stopped there at a Carl Jr.’s as I just had a sudden craving for one of their milk shakes - they are the best. John had a chilli burger then it was on our way again.

We drove up the west side of the Salton Sea, which is a huge inland saline sea but it is totally grungy, looks beautiful from a distance but up close it is dirty and smelly!

Here is how the Salton Sea was created according to Wikipedia:

“The creation of the Salton Sea of today started in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell and breach an Imperial Valley dike. It took nearly two years to control the Colorado River’s flow into the formerly dry Salton Sink and stop the flooding. As the basin filled, the town of Salton, a Southern Pacific Railroad siding and Torres-Martinez Indian land were submerged. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea.”


We turned west again and drove about 30 miles through scrub country with pretty mountains around and again lots of people camping on the BLM lands. For the life of me I can’t see what is so nice about camping out in the desert dirt with no amenities, but to each his own!!

We then headed north again and went through the pretty town of Borrego Springs at which point we headed back to the Salton Sea. We also passed a lot of vineyards and date plantations on our tour.

Christmas Circle - Borrego Springs



Driving out of Borrego Springs



Looking East to the Salton Sea



Some Rock Formations



We drove through the city of Salton, a pretty pathetic place where there isn’t much happening but we did see this fellow flying around.



This is typical of the landscape outside the Imperial Valley.



At the top of the Salton Sea we turned east and picked up a road down the east side of the sea. We had heard of a RV park called Fountain of Youth and knew it was around the Salton Sea somewhere so when we saw the sign for it we decided to drive through and we weren’t impressed. The lots were crammed together, certainly no privacy to be had there, it was an old park, and the closest town to do any shopping, dining out or find a doctor or hospital is 50 miles away; but with all these drawbacks it was full.

From the Salton Sea we drove down to Holtville where we picked up the Interstate back to Yuma. Going to Holtville we drove through a lot of farm land and saw about 10 different flocks of sheep grazing in the fields.

We decided to go Daz Boys and have a pizza for dinner as it was 6:30 by the time we got back to Yuma.

And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.