Quote of the Day Sunday June 28

Operator, give me the number for 911!
- Homer Simpson

Quote of the Day Saturday June 27

Food labels that say "no fat, no cholesterol" might as well say "no taste, no fun."

- Julia Child

Quote of the day

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
- Paul Valery

Quote of the Day

Whatever I feel like I wanna do. Gosh!
- Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Our home away from home

Salton City

In 1955, on the Western Shores of the Salton Sea, the east three fifths of Section 9, Range 9 East, Township 9 South, was chartered by the State of California as the Desert Shores Community Services District. In 1957, M. Phillips and Holly Corporation of Dallas, Texas began development of Salton City.



Throughout the 1960's and early 1970's the area was all a bustle with tourists and winter vacationers enjoying the areas many recreational opportunities such as fishing, speedboat racing, kayaking, hiking, bird watching, and golfing. The permanent resident population stayed below 3,000 and its further growth was stymied by back to back once in a 50 year type record rainfalls in the late 1970's and mid 1980's. The resulting rise in the seas elevation and its' increasing salinities toll on the fish stocks made the area non-conducive to further real estate speculation and the areas population growth stagnated.

Starting in 2003 the effects of the ever increasing cost of real estate in California was beginning to be felt in the area and residential development began to blossom. By the year 2010 the permanent population may be as high as 10,000. Because of attractive pricing, we were able to purchase a home that bordered the Anza Borrego State Park and Ocotillo Wells SVRA. We are huge desert nuts and enjoy
4x4ing, 4 wheeling and dirt bikes. (depends on who you talk to in our family) The development we are in is nearly sold out. We are fortunate enough that several of our friends bought houses in the same development and of course we've made many new friends as well.

The Salton Sea



The Colorado Desert is a very arid region in southwestern North America. Extending from the San Gorgonio Pass in the San Bernardino Mountains in southeastern California to Baja California in northwestern Mexico. Several mountain ranges, including the San Bernardino and the Chocolate, separate the Colorado from the Mojave Desert. Much of the region, about 200 miles long and 50 miles wide, lies below sea level. The depressions include Salton Sea, the Imperial Valley, and the Coachella Valley. The area, where irrigated by canals from the Colorado River, is noted for the production of fruits, cotton, and vegetables. Temperatures change suddenly from 32° F to 115° F with a mean of about 90° F. Precipitation rarely exceeds 4 inches annually.

The Salton Sea is was formed between 1905 and 1907, when the Colorado River broke through an embankment at Parker, Arizona, and overflowed into California. The lake at first covered an area of approximately 450 square miles and had a maximum depth of 67 ft, but its area has since decreased by at least one-third through evaporation. The floor of the Salton Sea is approximately 280 ft below sea level. Currently the lakes salinity level is about 25% greater than that of the Pacific Ocean.



The Salton Sea is in the Pacific Flyway, which sustains numerous migratory bird species, particularly the waterfowl and shore birds. Nearly 400 bird species have been observed at the sea, about half of the known bird species existing in North American.

Quote of the Day

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K"

- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

I don't know why, but love this quote. It's a classic!

Geocaching; one of my hobbies

I have a hobby called Geocaching. I absolutely love it when I have time...but seems like lately, I haven't had the opportunity. Maybe when Kevin graduates from high school (1 more year) and things slow down just a bit. I particularly enjoy doing it out in the desert. My boys used to do it all the time with me when they were younger. To them it was a big treasure hunt. ...and literally it is!

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (usually a tupperware or ammo box) containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.

Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica. There are over 820,000 active geocaches in the world right now. I have a few out there I have placed myself, including a couple in the desert and three here in Escondido.

I have geocached all over the United States and in Turks and Caicos in the Carribean. Here are the states I have found caches in.


It's amazing to see the creativity that goes into the containers and disguising them so that regular folks can't see them.

Please see our Youtube video on the right side of this blog. Fox 6 news had come out and interviewed us on the hobby, they did a great job.

Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Geocaching in Hawaii - This is Makapuu Point on Oahu.




This is "The Breakers" Summer cottage for the Vanderbilt Family in Newport, Rhode Island. Cache is located very near where I took the picture



This is in San Antonio, Texas along the Riverwalk. It was hot that day!



Julie and I went caching in Turks and Caicos. It's a BEAUTIFUL island in the Carribean. We found this big starfish during our adventures



This is a cache right here in the Anza Borrego Desert off of Split Mountain Road in the Fish Creek area



And a cache right here in Escondido at Lake Hodges. We started caching in 2004, and this is one of our first finds. So my boys look young!



One of these days we'll find time or make time to get out and do the wonderful hobby again. I'm sure there a bunch of BRAND new caches that have popped up within a 5 mile perimeter of my home. In fact I am positive there a bunch of brand new ones.

If you are interested in more information, check out the website:

http://www.geocaching.com