RELAXIN'

Jeri, Terry & Duchess - chillin' out waiting for the sunset at Salton Sea.

INCREDIBLE SUNSET

I couldn't decide which of these pictures I liked the best for the blog so I'm going to let each of you decide.

SALTON SEA

History of the Salton Sea - About 2000 years ago the Cahuilla people occupied this land. When they first arrived the Salton Sink held a much larger body of water - the ancient Lake Cahuilla which was well above sea level. Tradition held that this enormous lake covered the entire valley. Historians estimate that as many as 10,000 Cahuilla once lived here. Their first encounter with Anglo-Americans came in the 1840's, when they permitted travelers to pass through their lands. By the 1850's the Cahuilla lands had been given to settlrs and the Cahuilla lost the resources they needed to survive. Finally, the introduction of diseases to which they had no immunity nearly decimated the Cahuilla. Today, about 3,000 Cahuilla live on reservations.

The Salton Sink is a landlocked extension of the Gulf of California. The Salton Sea is California's largest lake which is 35 miles long, 15 miles wide, and 227 feet BELOW sea level. The Colorado River would flood and fill in the sink and at other times it would bypass the sink, causing the lake to shrink or even to disappear. In 1905, the Colorado River broke through the poorly constructed canals and gates that the CDC had created for use for irrigation. For about 18 months the river's entire volume poured unchecked into the nearest low spot - the Salton Sink. This created the lake that we see today.

By the 1950's the Salton Sea had become a popular resort area with two yachit clubs. A large marina and a championship golf course attracted celebrities, but by the 1960's the increasing saltiness had marred the dream of a desert Eden.

The Salton Sea is one of the world's most important winter stops or birds traveling the Pacific Flyway. By January more than 400 species of migrating birds have made their way to this sea.

WESTWARD HO

Headed out of Q towards California this morning. However, we have one last memory of our boondocking days. This was the dump line this morning as we pulled out. Sure am glad it was them and not us.

Look at the snow on top of these mountains. Remnants of the terrible storm that passed through last week. We drove through the desert towards these mountains (sure wish I knew which mountains they were) and had planned on driving through Box Canyon. Jeri & Terry were ahead of us and called to let us know that Box Canyon was closed because of the storm last week. So we had to take the long way around to the Salton Sea. Lots of orange trees. I'm hoping we can find some fresh produce for sale somewhere around the area.

THE FINAL CAMPFIRE

Sunday was our last day in Quartzsite. Jim and I hit the Big Tent at opening time. We needed to get a Ready Brake ordered and this was the last day for the vendors to be in the tent. But this was a perfect time to go. We got a great parking spot, spent a couple minutes in line, got in the tent and talked to the brake guy, and were out of the parking lot in 30 minutes. That's the fastest we've done anything in Q.

We still had several errands to run but we met up with the group for our last dinner at the Palo Verde Restaurant. Linda and Ed had eaten here and highly recommended it. I must agree with them. The only thing I didn't like was that we could not be sat together at one big table. There were 17 of us so they put us at four different tables. The food was excellent - I had the chicken fried steak. This will definitely be a place we go back to whenever we're in that area.

By the time we got back home, Paul had the campfire going so we joined the group and had a wonderful final evening together. Good friends.

MORE 2008'ERS

I told you there would be more about Linda later because she was in the picture with Jeri & Terry. So now I'm going to introduce you to Linda & Dave. They full time in a Class C which, to me, is really interesting. It is quite small and you and your spouse have to really, really, really like each other to survive. So it's great to meet people who prove how great it can be. Thanks guys.

This is Bruce, Sue and Molly. Bruce posted on the Escapees forum that he was parked at near the kiosk of La Posa South and I knew he was in a Teton so Jim and I went looking for them. Knew them right away because of Mollie. Isn't she beautiful? They finally got smart and moved down to where we were so they could join the party.

MORE 2009 CLASSMATES

The Quiet Ones - Meet Jerry and Janice. They started out as part of the Class of 2008 but as with many people the economy put their dreams on hold until the latter part of 2009. So the 2008'ers loss is our gain. They were really ambitious and spent a lot of their time our exploring the area around Quartzsite. At the campfires, they didn't get much of a chance to say anything but they are going to the Salton Sea with us and I hope to get to know them better.

Dave and Millie the Mooch. Our very own River Rat. At least that's what he told me. Dave stayed even further out in the boonies than the rest of us. He wanted to be able to let Millie off leash some of the time and out there nobody would care. Millie is an absolute doll. He saved her from a kill center and I think he really got a great deal. He'd drop by and see us and he'd go to dinner with us. He especially liked going to dinner since he said he got tired of his own cooking. He's going to stay in Q until April so I'm sure hoping we get to meet up with him again real soon.