welcome to slab city

"
as we were discussing where to go for our next road trip, the hub said "let's go check out the salton sea!" i really didn't have any idea what to expect, but it's always nice to get out of the house and take a drive.  this one took us out in the palm springs area, and based on a recommendation from the old lady and her special friend we stopped at TKB bakery and deli in indio for lunch.

as we waited for our sandwiches to be ready we walked over to the kiosk set up right next door for some caffeine.

because i was starving i never did stop to get a picture of my sandwich, but it was really delicious.  and huge!  luckily we'd been forewarned, so the bean and i shared one and it was more than enough to fill us up.

it was a really pretty day, perfect for a drive.

the salton sea was...nothing to write home about.  not even to take any pictures of, really.  just a big ass lake out in the middle of the desert that smelled terrible.  we stopped for a potty break at one of the deserted campgrounds and i forgot to grab my phone to take pictures and it didn't even matter.

we did stumble across something else that ended up being the highlight of that daytrip, though.  salvation mountain is a permanent art installation made of adobe, straw and paint with messages of love and peace, created somewhere around 2000ish.

although amongst all of those loving and peaceful sentiments, there were lots of these signs too:

super welcoming, huh?  and the bean swears she heard some woman yelling at us to keep moving.  heh.

as we continued along that street, more interesting sights popped up.  there were RVs everywhere, areas that were fenced off using old tires, other artistic pieces using recycled items.

 i'd never heard of slab city before, so i looked it up.

i guess the area is occupied by some folks year-round who've decided to live off the grid, be left alone, and not have the responsibilities of living in a regulated town or city.  they don't have any official electricity, running water, trash service, post office - what you see is what you get.  it was bizarre and fascinating and weird, and we drove around pretty much the whole "town."

slab city.  huh.  you learn something new every day.