I didn't have any major trips planned during my winter and spring quarter at UCSD--the furthest I traveled was a visit home to Ohio during spring quarter. I did manage to get out of San Diego occasionally, however, so I decided to create a separate post for those excursions.
After the winter break trip to Europe, I was content to stay in San Diego the rest of January. But by February, I was already itching for a change of scenery. We had President's Day off on February 18th, so me and three friends from the same program drove out to the Salton Sea that weekend. I can't say that the Salton Sea was really the scenery that I was craving. I can say, however, that it was one of the most interesting places in Southern California I'd visited.
Prior to visiting, I had never even heard of the Salton Sea. Few people in San Diego or LA have been, and it's far off the typical tourist radar. The Sea was actually dry lake bed until the beginning of the 20th century, when engineers dug irrigation canals from the Colorado River to increase water flow to the area for farming. During a flood of the river, the water overwhelmed one of the canals, and for the two years before it was repaired, part of the Colorado spilled into and filled up the lake bed.
In the 1950s, resorts sprouted up and the lake became a getaway and recreation spot (I guess from people in the LA and San Diego areas?). The boom was short-lived; due to pollution from agricultural runoff and increasing salinity, many of the resorts were eventually abandoned. My friend from California on our trip said that one day back when the resorts were still operating, thousands of dead fish appeared on the shore, because the salt and/or pollution levels reached a tipping point. Imagine waking up to that smell outside your hotel!
Today, the Salton Sea has a surface area of over 300 sq miles, making it the largest lake in California--but only by surface area, because the maximum depth is only 43 feet! We stopped in Bombay Beach, a former resort town which isn't completely empty. Back in 1990, over 900 people still lived in the town; today, less than 200 do. The abandoned houses and trailers were creepy, but it was moreso sad to think that people still live there. At Bombay Beach, we also checked out the lake shore, which has noticeably receded. The banks are also full of fish bones--they're almost ground down to soot, but you can still see them.
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| Former Salton Sea docks by Bombay Beach |
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| I wouldn't advise taking a dip |
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| Many of the homes in Bombay Beach are abandoned |
On that same trip we stopped at the International Banana Museum, a tiny but amazing collection of banana-related paraphernalia. Before anyone packs their bags, that may be an overstatement. But what's not to like about a banana-themed shop with tasty milkshakes run by a quibbling pair of siblings in the middle of nowhere?
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| Lucas posing at the Banana Museum |
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| The owner's car |
We also visited Slab City, a community of snowbirds, squatters, and hippies a few miles off the Eastern shores of the lake. The site is known for its off the grid living and anything goes atmosphere, although when we went there were a surprising number of tourists. Salvation Mountain and a walk around the sculpture garden were worth a stop, but you won't find me camping there any time soon.
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| Salvation Mountain |
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| Part of East Jesus, a sculpture garden and open air art workshop |
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| Yes, I was creeped out too |
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| More from East Jesus |
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| Lucas and Matt riding high |
Speaking of camping, the previous night we camped near the north end of the lake (as the lake recedes it supposedly exposes toxic chemicals from the lake bed, but I think one night is fine, right?). Our plan was to head back that evening to San Diego, but when we checked the radar it was snowing in the mountain pass, which was the most direct route. My buddy Johnathan was on his motorcycle, so that was a no-go. Instead, we planned to drive north and loop around the mountains. It was actually a good thing that we didn't try for the pass, because Lucas's Saturn--with over 300,000 miles--hit the fritz around Palm Springs. It wouldn't accelerate past 10 mph, so we had to get a hotel for the night and take it to a mechanic in town the next morning. Luckily, after a relatively quick spark plug replacement she was good to go and we were on our way to San Diego.
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| View going into the mountains near Palm Springs |
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We tried to avoid the snow for the sake of Johnathan and
his motorcycle, but still hit some west of Palm Springs |
Aside from the Salton Sea adventure, I drove up to LA for a night at the end of February to celebrate my best friend Andrew's 30th birthday (and came back with a bad hangover). Another weekend I went to Ensenada, a town south of Tijuana along the Pacific Coast. I had been to Ensenada once before, but this time was for a classmate's birthday. We rented a big van in Tijuana to drive down, and stayed in an Airbnb overlooking the ocean for one night before driving back to the border. The Airbnb and view were amazing. The downside, however, was that we had to drive 45 minutes south of town, along an unlit, uneven dirt road to reach the house. It was definitely a fun experience, but I'd rather stay in Ensenada, where you can get a big place within walking distance of bars and restaurants for less than 50 bucks a night.
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| The van we rented in TJ to drive down to Ensenada |
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View from our Airbnb kitchen (also from the deck
at the beginning of the post) |
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| Picked this up in Ensenada for less than $7 |
At the end of winter quarter we took a second short trip to Mexico--for a night in Tijuana. TJ is right across the US-Mexico border, less than 20 miles from downtown San Diego. Over my two school years I went across to Tijuana probably half a dozen times, in addition to several trips around other parts of Baja California. I'm always amazed when I meet someone who lives in San Diego and has never crossed the border. Tijuana does have a reputation as a violent city, but I've never had any issues. The food and nightlife are great, plus the prices are a fraction of what I'd pay on the US side. And the beers aren't all water and suds--Tijuana has its fair share of craft breweries. I'd recommend checking out an area called Zona de los Zapatos, which is a series of pedestrian alleys lined with bars.
Spring quarter we also crossed over the border, this time to go further afield--to a small town called San Felipe. Every year San Felipe hosts the Baja 250, an off-road race with trucks, dune buggies, dirt bikes, and other vehicles. Spectators line the course route and post up with tents to watch the action. The center of town--normally a quiet community with a few retirees from north of the border--fills up with excitement. We went in spring of 2018 and had such a fun trip we decided to double up this year. There are few hotels in town, so to save money we pitched tents (like the year before) at a campground on the beach.
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| Main beach in San Felipe |
This time around the course was reversed; we saw the racers as they were coming back toward San Felipe. That meant the trucks, bikes, and buggies were more spread out, but we still got our fair share of dust and dirt. I'm not a racing junkie, but there's something exhilarating about a massive off-road truck barreling down a dirt path and whizzing by you at 40+ mph. Especially since there aren't any barriers--you can literally stand in the middle of the course (which several idiots drank up the courage to do). Fortunately, we didn't see or hear of any accidents, but I assume injuries are fairly common.
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| The line-up at the start of the Baja 250 |
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View from the race course...nothing stopping you from a stroll
to the other side (which more than a few people did) |
After two nights on the beach we drove back north, through Tecate and across the border into California. The San Felipe trip was my last excursion planned before graduation. I had a lot of work on my hands running the simulation for my TA class, so I didn't want to stretch myself too thin. Before I knew it the quarter was nearly over, and my parents were coming into town for the ceremony. As a last hurrah in San Diego I had planned a West Coast road trip with my grad school friends, but I'll save that one for its own post.
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