Slab City California

One of my bucket list items has been to visit Slab City.  I have read lots about it and everything I read said go visit and maybe stay awhile.  Today we will head there and find out what its like.  I generally can tell whether it is safe in a place as soon as I get there.  If I get that bad feeling I will encourage everyone to move on, but if not, lets hang around and check the place out.  Lets see what happens today!

We hit the road after morning happy hour and headed through the country side.  Lots of vegetables and some sheep and cows along the way.  Really pretty country.  Lessie was in charge of navigation for this adventure and found some really scenic roads to travel on.  Some were a bit rough but the scenery made up for it.  We loved the drive.

Pat went for a quick ride on the yellow bike.

There is always pretty countryside to see.

Big Feedlots

Green fields and a flock of sheep way back there.

Nice to be bringing up the rear

We were at the back of the pack today because Lessie and Ed are leading the way for a while.  Lessie did an awesome job of navigating and lead us down some roads less traveled and because of that we got to see some interesting country!  We are so done with interstates if we have any other choices.  It wasn't long and we saw a sign that welcomed us to our next destination!!!

Slab City is like one of the last hang on's for the hippie movement.  Lot's of people won't even come here but I have done a lot of research and found that it is probably one of the safest places around if you respect everyone's space and offer up some hospitality to who ever you meet.  First sign is a hippie style school bus.  Yep, we are in the right place.

And another great old bus just to confirm we are here.

First stop, Salvation Mountain.  If you want to read the history of this you can check it out on the web -  Salvation Mountain.

We poked around the Mountain for a while but it was quite hot so 45 minutes or so was enough for us.  Here are some pictures we took.

The founder of Salvation Mountain apparently lived in this old truck.  Leonard Knight devoted his life to this mountain and the message he proudly displayed.  He passed away about 4 years ago I think.

I don't know if this was his motorcycle too but it has been painted and is on display now.  They even paint the paint cans when they are empty.

And of course a picture of my sweetheart.

We headed up the road about a half mile and there was the famous Slab City.

Now you have 2 choices as you drive in here.  Number 1 is to see this kind of scenery all around you and just turn around and hightail it out of here.

Or Number 2, you can drive ahead with a smile on your face, find a place to park and get out and meet your neighbours for the night.  We found a nice area near the entrance to Slab City and circled the wagons.

We met Jonathan and Alyshia right away. (sorry if I butchered the names) Harold and I headed over to meet them to see if they had any problems with where we parked.  Not a problem, they said, and welcome to the neighbourhood!!!  They have a couple of youngsters and live here a good portion of the year.  This couple is the type of people we often wish we had the time to get to know because they are probably a lot like us, however we have to remember that we are just visitors and they live here, so we have to be careful not to intrude on them.  There were nice enough to make us feel welcome and safe here.  Thanks you so much!!

We also met a couple more of the locals who were living around us, and guess what??  They were all the nicest people you ever wanted to meet.   So to everyone that says Slab City is scary, Phewfff to you!  If you mind your own business you will be fine.

We checked out some of the rest of the city.  One of the neat suburbs is East Jesus. This is where all the artistic folk go to express themselves.  I can not even explain what we saw, but I was surprised that in a lot of cases, I could pick out what the artist was trying to express.  I doubt I could do that in some high falootin art display in New York City!!!  Some of the expressions were a little off the wall but I will share a couple with you.  Before we even got there, we came across a terrible plane crash.  

When we walked in, there was a donation box.  I'm not sure what the donations are for, but if you normally pay for entertainment, this was certainly a good show and worth a few bucks.  The box said "Why throw your hard earned money down the toilet --- Put it in here, and I'll do it for you!"

Next the guy sitting at the gate gave us a brief overview of the display.  He said the blue carpets were not there to be followed, and that we must touch anything we want, and if it breaks then they blame the artist because it wasn't built good enough.  He was a neat guy and let me take his picture.

I will just let you see what you think of some of the sculptures we saw.  Enjoy.

What news headline do you want to see on TV

Someone lives in the crooked Motor Home.  

Dorthy and Toto are there somewhere

There was a three story tree house that I couldn't resist climbing.  There were no guard rails up top and the stairs were rickety and we joked about liability if someone hurt themselves.  I guess if you were stupid enough to fall off, who would you sue?  And how much would you get?  Maybe a bit of a lesson to people to think for themselves in a dangerous situation, and to use a little common sense and stay away from the edge.  Common sense??  Not very common anymore.  We have to warn everyone of every single impending danger in this world??  NOT!!   (another rant, sorry) Anyhow I came away unscathed so no worries!!

Looking up

Looking down

After the tour of East Jesus, we headed into town to pick up a few supplies for our wiener roast tonight.  On the way back we ran across these young guys who have rented a big Class C motor home and headed out into the desert to see the sights.  They have not quite figured out where they can go and not go, but I'm sure they will figure it out when they get the bill for the tow truck.  One has to be so careful out here because this sand is unforgiving. 

Right across the street from where we are parked is the shoe tree.  Lots of people stop here to get their picture taken.  We thought we had better get a picture too.

We enjoyed another nice happy hour which turned into a wiener roast.  We are all happy to be here for the night, and are so proud of Lessie and Ed for stepping outside what I think is their normal box and enjoying the experience of Slab City.  We are making some great memories.

Time for another gorgeous South West sunset.

The view of Slab City out our window tonight:

Our Location Today: Slab City CA. 33.2559213 -115.4885997