February 15-18: Prior to continuing on our Lower Colorado River exploration we spent three days with family dog-sitting in Loma Linda California and doing some shopping in nearby Redlands California where we once lived. It was nice to see some of the new developments in Redlands, including the progress on building a new Museum of Redlands. And we saw a few other sights around the downtown (see below).
The new Museum of Redlands which is progressing nicely.
The beautiful SDA Church in Redlands California on Brookside Avenue
The famous Corner Bakery Cafe in downtown Redlands and the Old Railroad Station.
We also attended church services on February 19 at Loma Linda University Church and got to see old friends as well as some of the new building additions, e.g. the William Loveless Fellowship Hall and outside amphitheater. See below some pictures. We also revisited the Memorial Walkway leading to the Centennial Complex on the University Campus where there is a memorial plaque to my grandparents who got basic medical training here in the early 1920s before returning as missionaries to Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
Below - the Centennial Complex and Memorial Walkway at Loma Linda University
The Centennial Complex at Loma Linda University Health Memorial Walkway.
The Memorial Plaque to my Grandparents (Orley & Lillian Ford) who got specialized medical
training at LLU (then called the College of Medical Evangelists) in the early 1920s before
returning to serve as missionaries in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
Part III - Continuing our Winter Road Trip - February 19- March 1: Exploring sights around the Salton Sea, the Coachella Valley, Joshua Tree National Park, as well as Anza-Borrego State Park. Much of that exploration during this phase of our trip was based from the lovely Sky Valley Resort in the outskirts of Desert Hot Springs and Palm Desert, California.
Sky Valley Resort and some of it's permanent modular and 'tiny' houses as well as
swimming pool & spa.
Some Excursions while Staying at Sky Valley Resort in the Palm Springs Area
Day-Trip to Yucca Valley and Wind Turbine Farm
Wind Turbines Below Mt San Jacinto in San Gorgonio Pass
Day-Trip to Joshua Tree National Park
Cut rock formations in Joshua Tree and Valley of Fire
More Pictures from Joshua Tree National park
Cholla Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
The Park's Landscape is Changing due to Climate Change and Human Action - from a poster in
the East Entrance Park's Visitor Center
Visit to Sights In Palm Springs / Palm Desert area - including where Gerald Ford (President) lived and
where Karen attended a Memorial Service for Him after his Death
St Michael's Episcopal Church where President Ford Attended and Where Memorial Service held that Karen Attended after his death
Side trip to the Thousand Palms Desert Preserve near Palm Desert
On our Way Back to Pat's in Loma Linda stopped for a Date Shake at Hadley's--it was years ago
since we had such a treat!!
Below - Golf course in Borrego Springs and below is the
sign at the entrance to Anza-Borrego State Park...another "day-trip" from Sky Valley Resort
February 20 > 21:
Continuing our "road trip" down the Colorado River we first explored the Coachella and Imperial Valleys and some settlements on the Salton Sea. The agriculture in this valley is amazing but the poverty in some of the now degraded communities along the Salton Sea was disheartening and sad! As the Sea has dried up over the years, what used to be thriving beach communities are now rural ghettoes and hangouts for some of the poverty-stricken immigrants and laborers working in the fields of these rich agricultural lands. It's a travesty that these essential workers have to live in such squalor!!
We also saw some amazing attempts to create religious art in the desert at the so-called "Salvation Mountain" near Niland California in the Imperial Valley. In the late afternoon we found a place to spend the night at a "rest stop" near the Buttercup Sand Dunes along I-8 near the Townsite of "Felicity" and Winterhaven California and Yuma Arizona on the Lower Colorado River.
Even more disturbing was seeing rich agriculture in the lower Colorado River being cut-off from the Mexican side by the infamous 'border wall' seen south of Yuma Arizona near Somerton.
World-class irrigated agriculture in the Imperial Valley near Niland California.
Below: Some of the sad remains of former thriving beach communities on the Salton Sea
and beaches now abandoned and distant from former shoreline due to drought!
Semi-abandoned and degraded homes and facilities at the Salton Sea Resort
Receding shoreline and abandoned beaches at the Salton Sea Resort now covered in grafitti.
Below - Boarded-up former shopping center along the Salton Sea and in the Imperial Valley -
Once thriving communities now degraded and home for immigrants and agricultural workers
living in terrible rural poverty ghettoes.
Below: Salvation Mountain - Religious "found art" at Salvation Mountain near Niland California.
Salvation Mountain near Niland California in the Imperial Valley
Buttercup Sand Dunes near the California/Arizona Border on the Lower Colorado River.
The Town of Felicity and Museum of History in Granite near Winter Haven California in the early morning - very close to the Mexican Border.
Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Reserve in the Lower Colorado River - sign and flag at Visitor Center.
Below - the infamous "border wall" between Mexico and the USA near Somerton Arizona
Below - Beautiful agriculture in the Lower Colorado River around Gadsden and Somerton Arizona.
Part IV: Upcoming will be the conclusion of our "2022 winter road trip" exploring the Lower Colorado River. On this phase of our trip we visited the
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the famous town of
Ajo Arizona and then east to
Tucson Arizona to visit our younger son and daughter-in-law at the
University of Arizona.
Then our trip back home to Southern Utah took us on a side trip via Prescott Arizona, then through "Indian country" along US-89A to sights such as the Navajo Bridge, Echo Cliffs, Bitter Springs, Lee's Ferry, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Fredonia, Kanab, and Mt Carmel Junction at the eastern entrance to Zion National Park.
Thanks for coming along on our trip. Remember, I have many more pictures on my Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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