THREE-TEN TO YUMA

Three-Ten To Yuma was a great movie about a train bringing prisoners to the Yuma Territorial Prison.  My 3:10 flight to Yuma had some similarities.  You are strapped to and trapped in a seat just like the prisoners. Yuma flights are special transports because  big planes don’t go there. These small puddle jumpers do. Actually better, less hassle, less people,  and comfortable enough. We won’t be visiting the Territorial Prison this trip, though. I blogged it in 2009.

Sitting by the window presents a rare opportunity to take aerial photos.  Interesting if you can recognize some of what you are seeing as in the once controversial California Aqueduct near the bottom right of the photo.

Which gave way to desert…

…and the Salton Sea.

After being met at the airport by my Sweetie, we went out for an early dinner and celebrated back in the motor home with a bottle of Cooks.

The weather in California is expected to turn stormy and cold. Winter at last.  I got out just in time. Back on the road, with temperatures in the 70′s.  We’re living the good life.

Why I No Longer Read Or Watch The News…

I last listened to or read the news back in 1998. I just got tired of all the negativism. I’m not sure why journalist find it necessary to look for the negative and ugly things in life…but most seem to do.

Here’s a great example I stumbled upon a couple of days ago on the Slab City Yahoo Group. I arrived at Slab City yesterday. Before reading on see my Blog post from yesterday at http://wp.me/pDCku-2XZ

Slab City is a deserted military base from World War II. It’s one square mile on the desert floor, three miles east of the small town of Niland on the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea. All the structures had been removed and only the concrete slabs remain…hence the name. RVers discovered this place back in the late 1960′s.

When I first came here in January of 1996 there were about 5,000 RV’s within the one square mile. Because of difficult economic times in recent years…the numbers have fallen off. Last year there were perhaps only about 500 RV’s.

My rant against the news media today is because of the following recent video about Slab City from CBS News…

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7391717n&tag=strip&mid=5538

My complaint is that the correspondent found it necessary to emphasize the trash and danger, rather than the good things to be found at Slab City.

Here’s the link to my Picasa Web Album photos showing Niland and Slab City during my visit in 2006…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/NilandSlabCityCA

This CBS video totally misrepresents Slab city. The truth is that it is like a small city. Three miles away in downtown Niland, RVers have access to water and a dump station.  Some folks live there year-round despite the 120 degrees in the Summer. Some RVers spend from October to March there. A water truck comes by with deliveries…a propane truck does likewise. You can get a newspaper delivered…heck…UPS even delivers there.

Many of the people who live at Slab City actually choose to live there and actually like it! I stopped here to visit friends on my way to Yuma, Arizona. I only was there for one day this time, but in the past I’ve spent weeks at a time here.

HOWEVER…I must confess that this year the Slabs seemed to have more trash than I’ve seen in recent years. In talking with my RVing friends there, they tell me a of true “homeless element” appears to be settling in at the Slabs and that some appear to be inconsiderate of others regarding trash disposal. What some regular RVing Slab folks do is…when going in to Niland for groceries, is put their trash in the trash cans outside of the grocery stores (there are two grocery stores in town). There is even a Slab City resident who will pickup your trash and haul it to the landfill a couple of miles away for $0.50 a bag. Perhaps the economic times will bring more of a “homeless element” and the Slabs will further change. That remains to be seen. I can even see how a CBS news crew…with their good paying jobs…can look down their noses upon the unfortunates. I still do not forgive them for accentuating the negatives instead of the positives that can be found at Slab City.

Thank you CBS News for reminding me of what I’m not missing by reading or watching the news any longer. It’s a good thing you do not have to rely on me for your livelihood. GET OF OUT THE GUTTER CBS NEWS…LITERALLY!

Regardless of how CBS News chose to present Slab City…I really like the place. As a matter of fact many folks do! If you have the chance to visit there…you should not pass it by. You’ll especially like Salvation Mountain. Click this link to see my report on this unique piece of Americana that I wrote on December 18, 2010…
http://wp.me/pDCku-106

Late breaking news about Salvation Mountain…click this link…

http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com/2011/12/is-this-life-well-lived.html

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I’m At One Of The Most Unique Places In The United States…

Yesterday I drove the about 75 miles from Thousand Palms, California to arrive at Slab City. It’s located about three miles out into the desert from the small city of Niland, CA on the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea which is about 35 miles long.

The Slab City area in Southeastern California as see by Google Earth.

Known as Camp Dunlap during World War II, RVers found it in the 1960′s. I’ve been stopping here for the last 16 years.

Here’s a couple of links to help you get a better understanding of this most unusual place!

http://www.militarymuseum.org/CpDunlap.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City

Here’s everything you could want to know about the Salton Sea…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

The afternoon temperature was 65 degrees under partly sunny skies!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I’m at Slab City!

Yesterday I drove the about 75 miles to arrive at Slab City. It’s located about three miles out into the desert from the small city of Niland, CA on the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea which is about 35 miles long.

The Slab City area in Southeastern California as see by Google Earth.

Known as Camp Dunlap during World War II, RVers found it in the 1960′s. I’ve been stopping here for the last 15 years.

Here’s a couple of links to help you get a better understanding of this most unusual place!

http://www.militarymuseum.org/CpDunlap.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City

Here’s everything you could want to know about the Salton Sea…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

The afternoon temperature was 74 degrees under sunny skies!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com