The Salton Sea and Joshua Tree

We left the state of Arizona and are now in sunny California!  Our first stop was in Desert Hot Springs.  We stayed here for around one week and it was just beautiful.  We had amazing mountain views all around us.  Our RV park was very nice too, with a heated pool and a mini golf course.  Ada even got in the pool with her cast all tied up in a grocery bag!

One of the days that we were here we drove down to the Salton Sea.  There were some mixed reviews on this stop!  There is some interesting history about the Salton Sea which you can look up if you are interested.   But pretty much it is a lake in the middle of the desert that is getting smaller and saltier every year.  This had caused most of the fish in the lake to die and be washed up on the shore, and the booming towns that were once on the shores of the lake to become almost ghost towns.  We walked around the shores of the Salton Sea and explored some of the abandoned houses.  The smell was not great, and we were walking around on fish bones, hence the mixed reviews.

I thought the view of the lake with the mountains in the background was really beautiful. # Salvation Mountain Just a short drive away from the Salton Sea was a place called [Salvation Mountain](http://www.salvationmountain.us/).

Definitely an interesting stop!

Joshua Tree National Park

On one of our days here we drove to Joshua Tree National Park.  The park is huge, and there were tons of cool places that you can get out and explore the neat rock formations and do some rock climbing.

And we are a family that likes to climb on rocks!

We even saw a rattlesnake go slithering by 10 feet in front of us. Scary but cool!  We brought a picnic and enjoyed it while taking in the spectacular views.