More of the Salton Sea/Niland area

The Salton Sea is about five miles from our KOA homesite, but is highly visible as we look to the west. The town of Niland is about 10 miles south of us, and four miles east of Niland is Slab City, also known as "the Slabs". It was at one time a training base for General Patton's troops. Long since abandoned and now an area of the desert that is open to free camping. No utilities or management, just a free area to park in and enjoy desert life. As we have more time and opportunity we'll explore this area in more detail and report such things as the mud boils and bat caves.

On the right is the former sentry outpost at the entrance to Slab City.

Slab City is the home of Salvation Mountain, which is a whole story in itself. Great example of "religion" having run to the bizarre.

You really have to see this to believe it and appreciate it.

A typical full-time resident of Slab city. You won't find this in any KOA.

Leave your unwanted clothing; take whatever you need. Residents of Slab City know how to share.

The mark on this grain elevator shows sea level. The Salton Sea is a couple hundred feet lower.

One of the pretty little birds frequenting our seed feeder.

Wherever you go, well, there you are!

Our home for the winter is at Niland, California. More specifically, Glamis North KOA. This KOA is like none other in the KOA system. It is almost exclusively dedicated to off-road, ATV type campers - and there's lots of them in California, and they are different.

This round pool in the foreground is a storage pool for some of the natural, hot-spring water. This geothermally heated water comes out of the ground at about 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

Our KOA has a restaurant. That's a pretty practical thing as we are remote from just about anything. Niland is 8 miles away and has a small grocery store, but no restaurants. The nearest cities would be Brawley, about 40 miles south, and Palm Desert, about 40 miles north.

Can you tell from the landscape that we're in the desert?

One of the swimming pools in operation. Three others are under construction.

The desert version of a KOA "hay ride". Things are the same all over, even while being different.

Part of the Halloween parade.

Many of the snow birds here have some sort of a golf cart for getting around. Such vehicles are needed because the campground is quite large.

Pat and Dave with our employers, Cal and Roslyn Loewen.

Pat working one of the games at the Halloween party.

Lots of area for walking. This lake, which is fed by a HOT spring, is only a few hundred feet north of our homesite. The water coming in is hot, but the lake water feels a lot cooler.

The water is not too hot for fish. We saw several large catfish and tons of tilapia.

This is a defunct tropical fish rearing pond just north of our homesite. There are several of these ponds.

Discharge pipe from one of the hot springs. Water is way too hot to touch. Its presence here has fostered at least two other hot spring resort spas within sight of the KOA. We might be in the middle of nowhere, but there is a huge tourist destination business plan at work here. And here, of course, is where we are.

Salton Sea, a quick look

Our homesite is about 4 miles from the Salton Sea, on the east side, but it looks a lot closer. As we look to the west, we can see the sea and its surrounding mountains. The Salton Sea is about 260 feet below sea level.

Check this out on a map of California. The Salton Sea is a pretty large body of water. There are fish and other wildlife present, but the water is quite salty and not very pure. We saw lots of dead fish along the beach. The waterbirds, gulls and pelicans, don't seem to mind.

Pat, looking to the southwest across the Salton Sea. American White Pelican  swimming by.

Some of the many California Quail near our homesite.

Here is a bird we have not previously seen. I believe we have id'd it as a Black-Crowned Night Heron. It's rather stout, not at all long and graceful like the blue heron. Active mostly at dusk, dawn and the early hours of darkness. Rather noisy, and they roost in palms just north of our homesite.

This is a part of the Chocolate Mountains, just east of our homesite. On the other side is a U.S. Navy bombing range. We hear the bombs falling (exploding) frequently. Sure hope the pilots always make their drops on the OTHER side.

More to come soon. Check back often.