How did we get from San Jose del Cabo, Mexico to Indio, CA you ask?
Well, we left Buena Vista Beach Resort on Monday to go to the airport.
Had a lovely breakfast overlooking the ocean on the outside deck before we left.
Listening to the waves on the beach and drinking fresh squeezed orange juice.
We gave our topper to the lady at the desk where we got hugs and kisses and headed down the road.
(A topper for the bed is a must when we travel to get a good nights sleep).
On the drive to the airport we saw all the birds we hadn’t seen while driving out, but of course, we couldn’t stop as we had a timeline.
Handed in the car and when we got to the airport it was free and clear sailing through security.
The plane was a little late but finally arrived in San Diego in the early afternoon.
After experiencing the traffic we headed out of town rather than explore the city and… as I wanted to go to the Salton Sea down the road we went following Hwy 8 east.
We ended up in El Centro for the night and found a Golden Corral for dinner and went to bed early.
It is always interesting travelling with no GPS or map but we manage to stubble along somehow.
As the Salton Sea was on the menu, I forgot to look to see what road to take out of town, but we lucked out.
Then we were going to go up the east side of the sea but missed the road and ended up on the west side.
Along the way, we passed green fields with snowy egrets and white-faced ibis in them. They had flooded the fields and the birds were having a feast.
Arrived at Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge which was the first stop of the day and I’m amazed we found it.
The fields were white with snow geese by the thousands with a few coots thrown in.
There was a couple of viewing stands in the mash and there were some sandhill cranes off in the distance. I love the sound they make. It sounds like a purr.
We walked down a trail to a photography blind but it was a little late in the day for photo’s as the birds were out in the middle of the water.
On the way back spotted a meadowlark, flushed a killdeer, spotted a red-tailed hawk and saw a shrike on the power line.
Arriving back at the car there was a black phoebe and Rob spotted a green heron.
It was right across the canal from us and I was able to get some good shots of it.
Leaving there we headed up the west side of the Salton Sea trying to find a way to get down to the water.
There were lots of side roads heading towards the sea but most petered out in gravel roads.
We figured that Salton City would have water access, but it took us some time before we found an old campground and boat launch.
The water level had dropped at least 10 feet and the boat launch was nowhere near the sea anymore.
We walked out on what looked like a moonscape until it got a little muddy. Made me think of a review I read that say in capital letters. “WHATEVER YOU DO DON’T DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ON THE SHORELINE”.
Seems like they had to get a tow truck to pull them out and it cost a bundle. 🙂
Rob kicked some salt around before we left and soon he was feeling some breathing discomfort. He’s fine today.
Did some research and found that people who live around the Salton Sea are now experiencing breathing problems due to the contaminated dust from the exposed shoreline and kids are having to take exhalers to school.
Back on the road looking for someplace to have a late lunch and spotted the Red Earth Casino so we heading in to earn our dinner.
Had a lot of fun and came out with $100 to the good, so lunch was basically free.
We end up in Indio for the night with no other plans than to get a good nights sleep.
See you tomorrow.
