Salvation Mountain

Salvation Mountain 

Leonard Knight spent over 28 years crafting Salvation Mountain by splotching layer after layer of paint on top of adobe. Leonard originally used concrete but the concrete crumbled several years into the project. Rather than be discouraged, Leonard resolved to "do it with more smarts" and began experimenting with adobe -- a mixture of clay and straw. 

The mountain is an impressive work of folk art that proclaims a message dear to Leonard: God is Love.

Shoe Tree

Bombay Beach

Bombay Beach was once a vacation destination community on the shores of California's Salton Sea. Today it is about a quarter square mile of abandoned ruins and occupied trailer homes.

Lady or tramp?

Slab City

Slab City is a city in the Sonoran Desert in southeast California that has no electricity, no running water, no toilets or sewers, no refuse collection, and no city government.

The former Marine Corps is home to about 150 year-round residents and attracts thousands of RVing snowbirds each winter. This "last free place" in the United States is boondocking land. This place might be as close to the wild west as one can get today.

I find the possibility of living cheaply and independently in the middle of nowhere intriguing, but I think I'm a bit too attached to the amenities of suburban life to make such a drastic lifestyle change. As with many places encountered while roadtripping, I'd rather visit than live here.

The Slab City Pet Cemetery

The Slab City Skatepark