May 15th – we left Indio and headed south on state road 86S which goes along the western shore of the Salton Sea. We didn’t get close enough to get a good look this time but the Salton Sea is about 35 miles long – North to South – and about 15 miles wide at it’s widest point. According to the stuff we found on the net it is having a pollution problem. The sea has no outlet so water flows in from the surrounding mountains and evaporation is the only way out. What that means is that all of the contents of the water – contaminates that is – are left behind in the lake. Since most of the contaminates are from agricultural fertilizer the pollution encourages algae growth and it causes fish and other creatures to die because the algae consumes all of the oxygen in the water. In October we plan to go North on highway 111 along the Eastern side of the sea where we can get closer to the water and see some of this for ourselves.
Everything ran great – the air temperature got as high as 94degrees and the engine got as hot as 205 degrees without any perceptible fan noise – and gas got back to $3.69 per gallon as opposed to the $4.29 high that we paid several times while in California.
Now we plan to spend some time catching up on lots of chores and friendships. We may take a short trip – a week or so – up to the Show Low area since Carol’s brother Scott has now moved up there. Spending a little time with Scott and getting out of the heat this summer are good reasons to go there and Scott has space in his yard for our coach.
I am planning to add a “between trips” post category soon. This will give me a place to track miscellaneous activities and maybe keep you reading. See you soon.
