We returned to the Oasis via another road yesterday, hiking another 7 miles around and under the palm shade.

A short 5 mile drive to the east of our campground lies another world, a fresh water palm fringed oasis. We drove to Dos Palmas Oasis and hiked 5 miles into and around this ‘jungle’ in the desert. The generous supply of water results from seepage through earthquake faults at the foothills of the Orocopia mountains. The seeming instant transition from desert scrub to tropical palms was amazing.

The palms appear to be wearing thatch skirts!

A pathway has been cut through the thick growth of the nearby San Andres Oasis. We were dwarfed by the huge palms.

A closeup of the palmettos reveals the sharp saw teeth lining the stems. We expected to see more sharp teeth, in the jaws of alligators maybe, we had the feeling of being in the swamps of Florida!

We are now camped by the shores of the Salton Sea. We drove in to the Salton Sea State Recreation Area campground to see what it was like, expecting the worst from information we have heard and read over the years. We were surprised and pleased with what we found and decided to stay for the duration of the big storms that are pounding the west coast right now. We are just far enough to the east to avoid the rain and the worst of the wind. The history of the Salton Sea is amazing, from bone dry to flood, from boom to bust, from fresh to salt. Worth seeing, but only in winter!

We spent our New Years Eve at a comedy show in the restored Fox Theater in Bakersfield, California. We walked 1+1/2 miles through a nice neighborhood to the theater from the RV park where we stayed. We explored the little retro downtown area and found a great little restaurant called Momma Roomba where we had dinner and met some nice folks before the show.

In morning light the plants were just as bizarre! Many were in bloom, especially those from the southern hemisphere, perhaps because in their native land this time of year is the beginning of summer.

An Australian tree was in bloom with what looked like little fireworks explosions of red and yellow. A hummingbird was busy harvesting the nectar in the tiny yellow flower tubes. He stopped for a second, but the iridescence of his feathers couldn’t be captured.