(Remember to click on picture to enlarge)
Today we are going to ride the trails east towards the Gas Domes. Interesting and varied desert landscape...
Another stop at an "interpretive display"...
There are two Interpretive Displays a short distance apart when we reached the Gas Domes. Amazingly, these weird waterholes stay wet year-round...an almost constant stream of bubbles come up through the muddy water. 
This is the second display...
We could see the Salton Sea from this spot...in the distance...
Time to carry on...towards the Artesian Well...
Can you see the spine of rocks we are parked on?
An interpretive display just before we reached the Artesian Well...The Well Casing...
Artesian Well...In 1919, a massive derrick (see info above) was built here to drill for oil, but hit geothermal water instead. The well was abandoned and has since become a local landmark. A plane fuselage holds water and recently, palm trees were planted...
The bees like it here...
Time to continue on...
These military helicopters flew over us when we had stopped for lunch. We forgot to mention that on our first ride the other day a jet fighter flew by in front of us just a couple hundred feet off the ground...however there wasn't enough time to get the camera out...they're pretty fast you know. We stopped at another interpretive display about the Anza Trail...
San Felipe Wash is the historic route of two epic expeditions led by the Spanish officer Anza in the 1770s. Anza guided about 200 settlers from Mexico to San Francisco Bay. Apparently there are wayside displays all along the wash detailing the experiences of the explorers...San Felipe Wash is huge, so we only touched on a small portion of it.
We were close to the highway now...and Steve took this picture of a very unique house across the way...
Now for a little hill climbing...the pictures don't really show how steep some trails are...
Great view from up here...
There are trails all over these hills...it's an awesome playground!
An RV set up down there in the valley...
A dirt bike rider having some fun on the hill across from us...
Our camp is way off over there in the distance...
This is another camping area...Holmes Camp...
Steve playing in the sand...
When we got back to our camping area, we took a drive around the area before heading home. We even went up Blowsand Hill...okay, I made it up here...
...hmmm...now I have to go down...
I think I will let Steve go down first...
No sweat! We actually went up and down it a few times. Here is Steve going up...
We got back to the trailer at about 3:30...another great day! It was a warm day but a layer of clouds had come in. While we were sitting outside relaxing, several Apache helicopters flew by...it's kind of hard to see them but the mountains sure look pretty!
That foam dome house belonged to my family. My grandfather built it and I spent many summers there as a child. Thank you for posting a picture. I've always wondered what happened to it and exactly where it was located.
ReplyDeleteWow...that's amazing! We didn't remember the dome house so had to review our blog...LOL! Thanks for tagging along!
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