Winter in Wisconsin was getting old so we decided to jump in the car and head west, no pulling the teardrop RV as it was buried in snow, we would be staying with friends this time. Four days and seven states later we arrived in Southern California. There is a lot of desert, mountains and canyons to explore in the Palm Spring area, so exploring we went. First stop the town of Borrego Springs, located approximately 86 miles south of Palm Springs.
Ricardo Breceda Gallery and Sculpture Garden is located near Christmas Circle in the center of Borrego Springs. At the gallery and sculpture garden you can view or purchase the amazing metal sculptures. We left with a few SMALL pieces and the prices were very reasonable.
Sprinkled throughout 10 square miles of desert is the Galleta Meadows Sculptures, near Anza-Borrego State Park. The sculptures include horses, camels, elephants, sloths, farm workers, a prospector, tortoise, dinosaurs and even a Jeep. These amazing sculpture are easy to spot in the desert and are free to view. Some of the sculptures are close to the road while others are off in the distance. You may drive up to the sculptures just stay on the well worn paths to avoid any deep sand.
A map of the sculptures can be found here. These sculptures are such a wonderful addition to the desert landscape. Don't just drive through the area, get up close and discover the details of each of the pieces. You will be amazed, with some creative placement of yourself or your vehicle you can capture some very remarkable photos.
The Salton Sea Visitor Center is just an hour from Borrego spring via CA-78E and CA-86N. CA-78E is a very scenic drive so we recommend you look for places to safely pull off the road and marvel at the canyons of the Borrego Badlands.
The Salton Sea was created by a series of events that allowed the Colorado River to breached an irrigation canal and flood the basin for 2 years years. The resulting 15 by 35 mile lake became a tourist destination through the 50's and 60's attracting millions of visitors yearly. This short lived oasis in the desert slowly began to die as the salinity of the lake increased due to irrigation runoff and the absence of an outlet for the lake to discharge into.
As the fish and the birds died so did tourism and businesses. What was once a booming sport fishing and water skiing destination is now an environmental disaster. You can sometimes smell the toxic algae and dust as far away as Los Angeles. Stopping by to see this icon of days gone by is interesting and disturbing at the same time, just stay out of the water.
Just up HWY111 from the Salton Sea Visitor Center in Niland, CA is Bombay Beach. This former resort town sits at 223 feet below sea level and can reach 120 during the summer. The decaying homes and trailers along with the art installations give this town an artsy ghost town feel. You are free to explore the beach and town but please respect private property and watch where you step, there is a lot of broken glass throughout the area.
Park your car and walk up the berm along the abandoned beachfront that was visited by the likes of Sonny Bono and Frank Sinatra. The berm was installed in the 70's to protect the town after torrential storms caused massive flooding to the area. Some of the debris from the flooding can still be seen today. The receding sea has over time exposed the desolate dry lake bed and artists have used the backdrop to installed quite the eclectic permanent art exhibit.
Bombay Beach once referred to as the French Riviera of California experiences a population growth during the winter as snowbirds leave the colder climates of the north in search of warmer weather. The town and surrounding area has also been used as a filming location for TV shows and movies.
Before leaving be sure to drive up and down the streets and avenues of Bombay Beach. My favorite art installation is the Bombay Beach Drive-In. This collection of vintage cars lined up facing the big screen are interesting relics. Walk up to get a closer look at the car models and creative details adorning them.
Continue on HWY 111 and turn left on Main St, located right past Buckshot Deli and Diner and before the grocery store in Niland. Follow Main St for 3 miles to Salvation Mountain it will be on your right, you honestly can't miss it. On a side note the Buckshot Deli and Diner is a nice place to stop to get a bite to eat and use the restroom during your adventure.
At one point the local government tried to have the mountain torn down by hiring a company to test the soil for lead and declaring it a toxic waste area. Thinking the company had its own interest in mind, Leonard ask that the soil be retested by an independent company and no lead was found.
Leonard Knight passed away in 2014 but his message of, God is Love, is here for everyone to see. Leonard was featured in the film "Into the Wild"and the mountain has been entered into the Congressional Record and recognized as a National Treasure. The site is currently maintained by friends and fellow artists.
Five minutes up the road from Salvation Mountain is Slab City or the slabs. The slabs are the concrete pads of the former military base Camp Dunlap. Camp Dunlap housed artillery units from 1942-1949, after the World War II the base was demolished.
Recreational vehicle owners looking for free camping, survivalists, retirees and the homeless have turn the former marine base into a ah hoc community. Those who live here are called slabbies while visitors are called normies. The area is divided up into "neighborhoods, like East Jesus, The Ponderosa, West Satan and the snowbirds Class A and Class C RV's area. There is also a makeshift library, internet cafe where slabbies can charge their electronics and connect to WiFi , "The Range" which is the entertainment district, lots of trash and art installations. There is no running water or electricity, residents use generators or solar power and there is a water source, interesting enough there is also a hot spring.
I found this plane very interesting, it was in the center of the art circle in East Jesus and made me wonder how it even got there. Was it flown there, did it have engine trouble and needed to make an emergency landing or was it dragged here? Who knows, usually the internet or my phone knows but I could not find any explanation of where the plane originated from. Guess we will never know.
One final stop for these adventure seeking souls, the Calipatria Mud Volcanos and Mud Pots. To get there continue on HWY 111 to MacDonald Rd turn right, then left on Davis Rd. The volcanoes are located on the corner of Davis Rd and Schrimpe Rd near the power plant.
These mini volcanos are the result of carbon dioxide burping up into the mud field, they are not classified as volcanic in nature so you don't have to fear a catastrophic eruption. The neighboring geothermal power plant is capturing steam from magma a mile below the surface, this is also where the carbon dioxide originates. Please be advised that the mud field is private property and no trespassing is well posted, it is a very interesting feature but you need to marvel at them from a distance.
On our way home we did stop at an interesting roadside art installation west of Amarillo, Texas. Cadillac Ranch stands on Route 66 off of I-40 exit 60, in a large field. Parking is along the frontage road (Route 66) and the attraction is free to view and spray paint. The field can get quite muddy after it rains so be prepared with proper footwear. Please also practice "leave no trace", which means drop your empty paint can in the dumpster near the gate or take them home to dispose of.
Cadillac Ranch was erected by a group of hippies called the "Ant Farm", from San Francisco with the financial backing of billionaire Stanley Marsh the 3rd. The public art is a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac. Ten Cadillacs are half buried vertically to emphasize the iconic tail fin.
While most art is intended to be merely viewed this is an interactive piece that is constantly changing. Visitors with spray paint in hand add their own flair while covering up additions of those who came before. Make sure you snap a picture of your work because it definitely will not be there long.
Some interesting side notes, Stanley Marsh 3 preferred to use the number 3 after his name rather than the traditional Roman numeral III (Stanley Marsh III) as he thought III was too pretentious. His grandfather made the family fortune in the panhandle of Texas with gas and oil.
The original location of Cadillac Ranch was off of exit 64, in 1997 the cars were relocated to make room for business development.
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