Salton Sea State Recreation Area (SRA), 148 mile jump
Bound and determined to make this blog live online, I worked until 12:30AM last night and started again about 6:30 this morning. And I finally pulled the trigger; today is the day. I feel like an expectant dad giving birth to a baby! God, that feels good! I told a few friends and family to test drive the baby carriage and give me feedback. Then, I’ll do an official announcement.
Checkout time was 11AM and we hadn’t a firm destination. Turning from blog work to important stuff like where to sleep tonight, we weighed varied pros and cons. But, basically it was obvious we wanted to be warm, i.e., we had to find a lower elevation. I remembered being attracted to the Sultan Sea because, according to California state parks, it was below sea level and the photos were awesome.
We had tentatively planned to camp at Joshua Tree National Park, but its 3000′. However, it’s just NE of the Salton Sea, so we can day trip it. And, there is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is just SW of here. So, consensus! We have a plan; now let’s see if our plan lines up with the energy force that has the final say.
What a drive! The barren vastness was stunning. The rock formations looked like something out of a Fred Flintstone cartoon. Seriously, it must get super hot here in the summer; there is no grass, no trees, no weeds, nothing. Compare that to the fecundity of the rainforests of the Pacific NW. What a dichotomy!
Portions of the ride felt like a roller coaster ride; we’d climb a steep grade that would quickly become a steep descent, so steep we couldn’t see the road below at the top of the arc. A number of descents had signs warning, “Watch downhill speed!”. When you weigh 7 tons, you don’t want to get going too fast, for sure! In one instance, as we were returning to populated areas, a long 4 mile descent ended at an intersection with a stoplight. Trailer brakes are a must!
Arriving at the Sulton Sea was a real treat. I was tired and crabby; Penny and I had trouble getting the trailer set up. Actually, it took about three tries and two different sites before we got it level and hooked to utilities. But then, we discovered Pelicans and all sorts of sea birds vacationing here. I wasn’t crabby after that! I’ll let the photos show you why:
Penny’s fried chicken legs, steamed carrots and broccoli, and a beer for dinner found us exclaiming our blessings! It is all good in our universe tonight!