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Since my campground at Wiest Lake near Brawley, CA is so close to Slab City, within 18 miles, we dropped things off at my rig this afternoon, then drove out there. The friend who gave me the ride from the Desert View Tower had never been out there so I played tour guide for a while. We had a 4X so were able to go a few more places than in the RV.

We first went to Salvation Mountain. Leonard wasn't there, but we looked around a little and I noticed the glass windows at the top for the first time. We climbed up the Yellow Brick Road, then back down the other side, and took off by foot up to the painted water towers. The artist hadn't left, as he hinted last time that he might. In fact, his little MH is now parked right next to the WAR tower. and it looks like he's still working on that tower. Lots of painting materials laid out.

Drove around Slab City a little, then headed out the dirt roads behind the main part. We found these enormous hills of what I assume are fresh water clam shells. The whole area has been bulldozed up, so who knows how far down the shells were buried.



We also found part of a C-Ration meal. Makes sense as this whole area used to be a military base.


Check out the view of the mountains in the distance about an hour before sunset. Beautiful.


On the way back into town, the car turned into the desert toward some bunkers. This one was occupied. The dog came out to meet us but didn't seem very friendly, so we didn't get out of the car. When we drove by, noticed the back door was open, but no one seemed to be around.



These particular bunkers looked like they might have been occupied at one time but no more. Interesting graffiti, though.




When we drove back into Brawley to find some Mexican food for dinner, the sun was just beginning to go down. I love this view of the sunset with steam from Plaster City at the bottom.

Lots of dark clouds, but they made for a beautiful sunset.


Excellent Mexican food in town at Fuentes Restaurant, then back to my RV where I'll stay tonight and tomorrow night before heading into Yuma. Tomorrow I'll explore the lake a little. And the coyotes sound like they're out in full force here tonight.

those sunset pictures are really neat also the rest but really enjoyed the sunsets
makes you wonder who lives there huh?
sheila

Interesting pictures. It looks like the West may still be a bit Wild in some places.

After reading this and looking at the pictures...I have the song "Bad Bad Leroy Brown..meaner than a junk yard dog" in my head and now I suppose I won't be able to get rid of it all day!

Looks like such an interesting place to visit, I had to google it and see what I could
find out, lots of links for Slab City but the one I enjoyed the most........
http://www.desertdutch.org/slabcity.htm
really made me say.."gonna have to go there!"

What a neat site, Ava. And yup, it makes you want to go there too.

That is a fun site. I didn't see a lot of those things but the site captures the feeling of the place. The LOWS (Loners on Wheels) have a permanent place there. Soos, your comments about sharpening your rifle skills might not be so far off, judging by where those bunkers are located and the comments we made while checking them out. Many of the people in Slab City itself are fairly near other people. However, the bunkers are out in the middle of the desert, away from everything. Don't think I'd like to be out there by myself.

very interesting,... those bunkers are creepy, though.

Cedar518 wrote:very interesting,... those bunkers are creepy, though.

Yes, they are. The one with the dog even had a newspaper delivery tube at the side.

Nasoosie wrote:More great pics, Chris!

Stories about Slab City have always intrigued me. It's nice to know that there are still a few places to live, under cover, other than beneath abandoned overpasses in the cities! This could influence my retirement thoughts! (Note to self: sharpen up rifle skills, buy amunition, get a couple of young, strapping guard dogs, store up a year's supply of non-perishable foodstuffs, and there I am!)

Oh Oh....what about water? What do people who squat in the Slabs do for water?

They've arranged for water delivery several times a week, for a price, of course. There's also trash pickup twice a week. It wouldn't be too hard to live out there for a while, at least during the winter, but I'd want to be fairly close to other people and get to know them pretty well. The area isn't that far from Niland - only a mile or two - so there's access to a laundromat, a couple of cafes, a weekly swap meet, gas station, etc.

Not sure I'd really want to be out there in those bunkers, though. Too far from everything.

A lot of folks go into Niland for water....it used to be free behind the grocery store. There's a dump and water at the flea market grounds operated by the Elks or something across the road from the grocery store. It's actually a pretty good place to spend the winter, you see a lot of big coaches there with their solar panels and windmills. Must be honor among thieves, I've never heard of anyone being robbed or bothered there. There's a library and entertainment at the Grange on weekends. I've spent the night there by myself a few times and always felt safe. 'Course I don't do anything stupid like announcing to the world I'm a single lady, either! LOL!

That's a place that doesn't appeal at all, and I'd wonder what had been stored in those bunkers during the war particularly since they are located quite a distance away with nothing around. A friend of mine worked at a munitions plant doing inventory, which included going into similar looking bunkers on the property. Shes had health problems ever since.