When most people think of Coachella, it's music, celebrities, and bohemian vibes that come to mind. But there is so much more to this desert area than a music festival. I took another trip south into the desert to try to catch a few things I hadn't seen before.
This is actually the part before the other part of this quick road trip. Check out the beautiful DESERT SUPER BLOOM from my last post.
This leg of the adventure takes us from Yucaipa, where I spent part of the night in my car and my toes nearly froze off, East on the 10, and then South on 111.
The sun was rising as I came down into the valley from Yucaipa and it was glorious.
One reason I had taken this quick trip was because it had been raining in California pretty much nonstop and severely for the last few weeks. I needed some sun! To be honest, I was starting to worry that it was still raining pretty steadily all the way through Yucaipa. Maybe I wasn't going to get the sun I wanted! Maybe I picked one of the 4 days a year (possible exaggeration) that it rains in the desert!
But the sun rays breaking through the clouds and highlighting the windmills was SUCH a welcome sight! And a breathtaking sight as well!
So much so that I had to include a black and white, color, and square version of this scene. lol
One of the main draws of the Coachella Valley (besides the music festival) is palm trees. All kinds of palms, but for me, I had really wanted to stop by one of the date palm farms I had seen on my last trip. So I pulled off 111 and headed into a neighborhood to see what there was to see around one of the most prominent stands of palms off the highway.
I parked my car so I could change into some cooler clothes and walk around a bit. There was a huge kettle of turkey vultures (that's what a group of vultures in flight is called...I Googled) circling the tall palms in the field next to my car.
I didn't see or smell anything dead, so that was a relief. I continued my walk toward the date palms and saw something bright and wonderful.
Oranges? And cows.
Honestly, I couldn't tell what these fruits are. I know some palms produce orange fruit, but I think (from Google) that they are smaller than these...about the size of grapes where these are like oranges.
I know citrus - including oranges - is a common crop in SoCal, but why would they just be rotting in a field of palms and cows in the desert? I have no idea and neither did Google.
BUT! I know one thing...I will be going back so that I can try their dates and shakes. Unfortunately, they were closed when I drove by as it was shortly before 8:00 a.m. and they open at 9:00. And since I was making a big circle through Anza Borrega, I knew I would have to plan another trip. :-)
But back to the beautiful palms at Oasis Date Gardens... I did park and walk around the front to try to get some cool photos of the palms, but honestly, I couldn't do them justice. It's a very cool and majestic site that you have to experience in person.
Then it was time to continue on in search of additional interesting Coachella Valley sights. I didn't have to go far...in fact just down the road and I had to pull over again because there was the coolest dead palm tree and I just had to have a photo of it.
Then I hopped back in the car and headed to my next destination, the Salton Sea. Specifically, there was an art installation (or three) that I was hoping to find. The art is part of the Desert X which is a biennial art festival designed to bring art to the Coachella Valley to increase awareness of the Valley.
I knew where one of the installations was so that's where I was headed and hoped to maybe find a couple more. The art was titled "Halter" and was by Eric N. Mack (check out his Instagram). I was excited to see it and perhaps put my own art fingerprint on it.
The art was woven, knit fabric draped on an abandoned gas station.
Surrounding the gas station and other abandoned buildings beside it, the desert bloom was in full force.
I was really glad that I made it down there to see this really cool art in the desert. Unfortunately, the art was vandalized and stolen about 10 days after I had seen it. :-( They found charred bits of fabric and the rope that had held it in place and the rest was missing.
The rest of the photos are sights around the East and South shore of the Salton Sea.
Behind the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club - Purplified!
Obsidian
Farm fields burning
That's it for today's post. There are so many cool areas around the Salton Sea that I didn't get to on this trip. But here are a few from my last trip that are really cool and worthy of a revisit:
I love this awesome area!
xoxo
