Moved East & North

We are still trying to out run storms but not having complete success. A beautiful sunrise in Borrego Springs and an early morning walk to an oasis to look for the mountain sheep was rewarded with them high on a hill, but the photo shows only more dirt colored specks on the hillside so we won't bother.

We decided to head out before the high winds and moved past the Salton Sea. We were curious about it and while there were lots of birds we quickly found out why. We did not realize that the Salton Sea was a 'mistake' that was made when digging irrigation canals in the early 1900's and then some unfortunate flooding that year broke through and the entire Colorado River ended up emptying into this basin. It took them several years to 'fix' this mistake and route the river back into its normal path. In the meantime .... there is a huge an inland lake that has turned incredibly salty because of the soil and evaporation. It will be a long time before this ever gets fixed. Kind of a stinky place so we move on.

We had intended to go to Palm Springs to

see the famous mid-century architecture but we got within 50 miles of it and stopped dead in our tracks. Malls, gated communities, famous golf courses, BMW's, heavy traffic, full blown suburbia at it's worst. It was as close as we cared to get. We spent two windy nights (no rain) at a county campground outside Indio, re-supplied during the day and went to the famous Shields Date Gardens (since 1924) where we had lots of free samples and our first 'date shake'. It was delicious but nearly put us both into a diabetic coma from the sugar load.

Winds calmed down and we headed east into Arizona and Quartzsite. We had heard this place was famous for free camping in the desert and lots of gems and minerals. We are not impressed. Mostly flea market stalls selling all kind of trinkets and trash and the place is full of ATV's racing around the desert. And this is where all the really old RV's go to die. We spent the night a ways out of town but it was COLD. Got down into the 30's.

Have moved up the Colorado River above Parker and drove some of the back roads exploring the area. Lots of wild donkeys roaming the area.









We are in our cozy campsite at a place called River Island on the Colorado River this late afternoon with a beautiful view out the window. Wishing for a little warmer nights.