Giving Thanks Y’all

We decided to become anti-capitalists for the week. Yes, it was Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday time of year over here. Its a sad fact that ‘consumption culture’ is all over the westernised world these days, and thus, we didn’t want to observe or be anywhere near Walmart for a while! We know we are lucky, and do give thanks, but we also worked very hard all our lives to live in a tin can, for now 4 years…. We’re sure plenty of Americans do know what Thanksgiving is about too, but the ones in our small survey said it was about eating, drinking and the discounts in the stores… again, the same the world over. So off we went, to Salvation Mountain! A build of passion by Leonard Knight, it’s his tribute to God and a gift to The World, a simple and powerful message ‘God is Love’. It is resplendent with scripture but also many trees, flowers, waterfalls, suns etc. At 50ft tall, 150ft wide it is truly unique and thankfully the painted adobe structure is maintained.

To get to Salvation Mountain involves heading to another unique and alternative place, Slab City. Also known as the Slabs, it’s an unincorporated, off grid lifestyle community in the Salton Trough area of The Sonoran Desert. Originally built in 1942 as a Marine Corps training facility during WW2, all the buildings had been dismantled by 1956 leaving just the slabs. Drifters settled there for the free camping outside Palm Springs and after it was featured in a magazine, 100’s of people flocked there (c. 2000 in 1988) Populated by people from all backgrounds, some Snowbirds but mainly those seeking an alternative lifestyle, many artists, eccentrics and many impoverished. Numbers vary as folk come and go. Either way, we continue to be shocked (through our lens) but appreciate that for some its a conscious choice and for some it’s not.

Within Slab City is an area known as East Jesus. A compelling art installation – junk art. It is continually changing as pieces are added, decay or fall down. With a ‘salvage punk’ ethos, there are some brilliant exhibits, fascinating and so creative. We wandered around for ages, it was such fun, the surreal humour of the ‘Rock the Boat Barbie’s’ on a car to the wall of TV’s to the giant robots. Too many pictures, quite a few below. We came away thinking about alternative uses for the paddock when we do our build… I’m thinking a Frome version of the Dolls Head Trail (from Atlanta) as dolls heads are easy to find, or maybe we learn to weld junk too? Can we re invent ourselves as anarchic bohemian travellers?!

Slab City is on the South East part of Salton Sea. The ‘sea’ is 223 ft below sea level and the site of one of the US’s worst, man inflicted natural disasters. In 1905, while trying to relocate the path of the Colorado River to create irrigation canals, water broke through a canal wall diverting a portion of the river into the dry Salton Basin for two years. This created the Salton Sea, covering over 500 sq miles. From the 1940’s and onwards, it became a popular tourist destination (hey day, 1/4m p.a.) for water sports and fishing and massive tourism infrastructure was built at Bombay Beach to support it, huge marinas, boat ramps, hotels, restaurants etc. However, it was short lived. With no outflow and massive inflows of dissolved chemicals and salts in the run off from all the agriculture around there, the eco system began to collapse. Tourists left in their droves as the lake became evermore toxic and the dead fish piled up on the beaches. Health concerns and a flood sealed the towns fate. The sea continues to recede, evaporating rapidly, leaving smelly, salty, soggy residues.

Akin to Slab City though, a counter culture has grown at Bombay Beach. Places once frequented by Frank Sinatra and his fishing pals are now crumbling, graffiti’d ruins. As ever, there is some brilliant graffiti, some real talented artists. The businesses closed and the homes deserted, it became a near ghost town. Now, people are moving back into the abandoned and discarded, windowless husks of properties, an odd re birth of a place. A very hippie vibe now exists, ,with colour and artistry, however shabby it may be. It feels post apocalyptic, driving around, abandoned cars, including an old Jaguar XJS, litter the streets, but there’s plenty of life there. There’s even a UK double decker bus! We loved the drive in cinema, full of rusted old cars, the fake Sotheby’s Real Estate and the TV’s get a google marker flag.

Credit to the creativity though, the shrinking sea has resulted in an area of the beach now becoming an artists playground. Numerous installations pepper the sand, a fun wander around in the crunchy, toxic sand with a not so pleasant aroma. Hard to imagine Bombay Beach’s future but given that more people in the US are seemingly forced by circumstance into a different way of living, it may have one.

Leaving the Salton Sea area, which was actually pretty stunning, in the foothills of the Santa Rosa and Coyote mountains on one side and Chocolate Mountain on the other, we entered Arizona again, turning South towards the Mexican border, and stopped at a fabulous small town called Ajo. Talking to quite a few people about the place it was fascinating how the town has taken ownership of its post copper mining decline. The townsfolk recognised that quote “the American nation may be divided and the Government can’t even operate so we see that the responsibility lies with us. We know what needs to be done and can’t wait for someone to come and save us”. That’s what they have done, and continue to do. Its vibrant, with a great central hub, good cafes, small artisan shops and an ‘Artists Alley’. The art work is incredible and has attracted world renowned artists such as Harriet Wood (from UK) We realised we’d seen her work in Bristol. Very close by is the fantastic ‘3 Nations Market’ (Tohono O’odham, Mexico and everyone else) We even chatted to a lady who was 105, sitting in her front yard while walking around, taking in the buildings and very Spanish architecture.

On the edge of town near the old mine is a great town museum (should be in the centre of town really!) that tells the story of Ajo. It dates back to mid 1800’s when the area was Mexican but after the US/Mexico war, swathes of land were sold to the US for $15m. The founder of the mine, Greenway, knew that workers would strike if conditions were bad so resolved to design and build a town that uplifted spirits hence the wide roads and elegant Spanish revival architecture, public spaces and parks. The museum does a great job of bringing it to life with lots of exhibits.

Since being in The Sonoran Desert, one of the 4 defined deserts of the US we’ve been seeing lots and lots of Saguaro Cacti but Organ Pipe Cacti are unique to this area in the US (lots in Mexico, a stones throw away) Organ Pipe look like their namesake and genuinely make a sound as the wind blows through their pipes. We arrived at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument camping and after a short visitor centre stop, pitched up to watch nightfall and the stars.

The best way to see these areas is on foot or bike, we opted for the latter and 40km later were glad we did. Cycling the Ajo Mountain Drive on unpaved rubble roads we had the suspension on full! We saw the domination of Saguaro and Organ Pipe cacti over the landscape, in the valleys and on the mountain sides. Every single one is different, some, sentry like, standing to attention, others with numerous limbs reaching for the sky or waving at us as we rode past. Some were quite humorous in their contorted shapes. We spotted a couple of the rare Cristate forms (of Crest), which to us looks a bit like a fan. In the rocks, primarily volcanic rhyolite, there are two arches, the upper one looking pretty precarious and fragile. Other cacti of note were Jumping Cholla (jump if you get too close!), Chain Fruit Cholla (looks like a cactus wearing dangly earrings), Fish Hook Barrel Cactus and Teddy Bear Cholla (that you certainly wouldn’t cuddle). Also loads of birds including Red Tailed Hawks. A dried up and collapsed Ocotillo looked like a giant squid.

Leaving the wonderful Organ Pipe we stopped at the visitor centre again as we needed to see if we could be accepted as Junior Rangers. We’d gone through the exam and passed, so we took our oath, scout style hand up, and were proudly given our badges. A highlight for us and actually, joking aside, we learned a lot. We also spent far too long chatting with the staff there who were brilliant. A discussion about the Berlin Wall coming down and The Mexican Wall going up, gave cause for reflection on the state of American affairs. Some, (not all by any means) of the attitudes to people fleeing cartels etc for not just a better life, but for survival, and the wall recklessly being put through a Native American Tohono burial site was appalling. So coming full circle, we give thanks for what we have, and stay grateful.