I awoke around 3:00 when J told me I was snoring. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got out of bed around 4:10. I worked up a blog entry then did some computer work. J got out of bed around 6:35. I made instant coffee to go, then we left in the Jeep at 7:00.

A school bus was stopped to pick up high school students in the middle of Slab City — something that really surprised us! I had Clif Bars for breakfast as ...

We went to look for some burrowing owls that our friend S from San Pedro had told us about near the Salton Sea. We found them and two more active burrows along the same block! Two of the burrows had at least one of the owls completely out of the burrow, so we were able to get some good shots of individual burrowing owls. The other burrow had both of the owls peaking up over the berm in front of their burrow, and they earned the name "The Peepers."

Our most exciting images of the morning were of white-faced ibis. That species is usually very skittish, but the large scattered flock we photographed was fairly accommodating (below left). :) Right across the road was a very cooperative white egret that we enjoyed photographing (below right). I just love the curve of its neck!


Because it was getting late in the morning, we didn't do our normal driving loop by the Salton Sea through the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge and instead went to the Post Office in Westmorland to pick up our mail.

We returned to the RV at 10:55. I downloaded the images I took and went through my mail. Then I downselected the images I took this morning in iView.

I had lunch around 11:55 then downselected the images from this morning in Capture One (C1). I processed images for a stock submission. J's daughter E called, and after J and E talked, I talked with E for a while. It was nice. :) J and I left in the Jeep around 5:00.

Slab City

We drove around Slab City to photograph the sites. Slab City, or The Slabs, gets its name from the concrete slabs that remain from a former World War II Marine base. It's a popular place for squatters to live and for RV owners to camp, and it was made popular in the book and then movie Into The Wild. The book was influential in J's desire to live full time in an RV, and she came across this quote recently by Chris McCandless (Wikipedia article), the main character of Into The Wild. What he said is so true!

The welcome sign to Slab City is a painted reinforced sentry box from the former Marine base. I think it was painted by Leonard Knight of Salvation Mountain fame — more on that below. We had a blast driving around and photographing the various living quarters. They ranged from really old trailers and old busses converted to RVs to modern luxury RVs. Of course, we focused on the units with character, not those that are a dime a dozen at RV parks. We just love converted busses, and the one below right is very unusual. It's set up with semi-permanent accoutrements: large external water tanks and a shaded living area under the camo netting out back.

Salvation Mountain

Then we drove over to nearby Salvation Mountain. To put it kindly, it's a colorful art installation created by Leonard Knight that covers a whole hillside and is made of adobe, straw, and thousands of gallons of paint. It's covered with text and Biblical quotes to convey the message that "God is Love." J just loved meeting Leonard who took us, and some other visitors, on a tour. The area under the cross and in the center of the image below left is what Leonard created first. It includes a yellow brick road that leads up across the waterfalls to the top of the mountain and the base of the cross. The area to the right is under construction, and it's fascinating! It's a hay-bale dome/cone supported from the inside by trees made of old tires, telephone poles, and tree limbs — all covered with adobe and various shades of brightly-colored paint. Everything Leonard owns is covered with paint and Biblical-inspired text — remarkable! The Chevy dump truck below right is the truck that brought him to the desert in the mid 1980s. He now lives in a slightly more modern, and very similar, truck nearby.


We returned to the RV at 6:45 after making a few more circles of Slab City to photograph more of the living arrangements. I downloaded the images I took this afternoon then took a shower. It's hot down here! It got up to about 80°F (27°C) this afternoon. Fortunately it's a dry heat, but it was still uncomfortable to be in the RV doing work on our computers (read "heat sources"). J took a shower then prepared dinner.

We had dinner around 7:40 of grilled chicken Caesar salad with no grilled chicken and no Caesar salad. :) J used leftover chicken Marsala and romaine lettuce with no egg or the traditional Caesar dressing. I had Golding Farms Creamy Vidalia Onion Vinegarette Dressing and J had Kraft Catalina Dressing. It was topped with the last of our Extra Special Country Trail Mix from WalMart-Canada which has soybeans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower kernels, raisins, almonds, and dried cherries. It was a delicious salad!

After dinner, I had some Asbach Uralt while downselecting images from this afternoon in Capture One (C1). I selected six images for the blog and processed two in Photoshop before going to bed.