WhereThehellisMurph, 3 Wheels, 7 Continents, 7 Years

[Ray Hyland]

Great to see you back on here Murph!

Looks like a heck of a trip for you and mum.

Can't wait to see the Europe pics!

Cheers

Ray

 

[WheresMurph]

Great to see you back on here Murph!

Looks like a heck of a trip for you and mum.

Can't wait to see the Europe pics!

Cheers

Ray

Hi Ray,and thanks.
I'm not used to multiple Ride Reports going,organization is not my forte .
Yea,the Mum trip was fantastic,for her and myself,I had a great time with her.We kinda bonded a little more,it was just a great fun trip.
I'm looking forward to EU too,can't wait for the sidecar conversion.Not looking forward to $8-$9 a gallon gas prices though.
How are things with you?.Winter in BC going ok?.

Thanks for stopping by,

Murph.

 

[WheresMurph]

So after Mums Road Trip 2011 and after I got her settled in Boulder and I headed for Bonnevile UT,for the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials,held every August,right after Speedweek.
This event I usually work to make some extra money for gas etc.,and this year I was lucky enough to be able to actually camp out on the Salt in the pit area,5 miles up from the boat launch(where the asphalt ends and the salt begins)They call it the boat launch because every time it rains it floods right there,looking like a boat launch.
I was working as nighttime security,as sometimes there can be a few million dollars worth of motorcycles and equipment left overnight.Not easy to access,but one night a few enterprising(drunk)individuals on 4-wheelers made it to the pit area via the dirt road that runs along the Silver Island Mountains and made off with a few expensive items.

Jim Moshers absolutely stunning Twin Engine Indian Scout LSR bike.I got to spend a few days with him and photographed his bikes in his secret location somewhere in NM.

A view of the Salt Flats from the Silver Island Mountains.We had to climb up to place the repeaters for the 2-way radios that the officials use during the event.You will notice that the distance from the dirt road to where the salt begins is getting greater each year,as Intrepid Potash is apparently not living up to their obligation of pumping back the salt each year.It's rumored that the life of the Bonneville Salt Flats for LSR(land speed racing)is numbered.

As soon as BUB was finished I was on the bike and riding east to NYC.Normally I stay in at Bonneville for the rest of the speed events as I can usually
get some work pit crewing or as event staff.Camping there is free as it's BLM land,but there's nothing out there,so you better be a good survivalist and a bit of a McGuyver to boot.
There's another 3 speed events after BUB,the USFRA World Of Speed,the Mike Cook FIA-FIM Shootout and the SCTA World Finals.Sometimes Cook will have an extra event at the end but typically thats the schedule.
This year I had a photoshoot in NYC for Team Red,White and Blue,my cause that I donate my time,gas and photography to.It's an organization that I got involved with through
my friend Mandy Miller from Fl who is an ultra-runner.TRWB is a non-profit organization set up to help reintegrate wounded veterans returning from combat into society.
More here:http://www.teamrwb.com/team-rwb/vision-mission

The Special Forces guys were running the 5 mile loop with a 45lb pack.

To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Sept 11th,Maj. Mike Erwin,founder of TeamRWB,put on a Memorial Run from Westpoint Cemeter in Upstate New York starting at 9pm Sept 10th,running through the night and finishing in Liberty State Park at 7:30 am Sept 11th 80 miles and nearly 11 hours later.
You can view the whole gallery of my images on my SmugMug page here: http://wherethehellismurph.smugmug....-Sept/20021393_tZdsC2#!i=1578704346&k=8nkKjGs

I used to live in NYC back in the 80's for about 10 yrs,and thanks to an old friend got to stay in a great apt down in Chelsea for the week I was there.Again,on my SmugMug page:http://wherethehellismurph.smugmug.com/, there is a NYC gallery to peruse,but here are some of my favorites.

Steve McQueens Indian on display at Kiehls on 3rd Ave in NYC.

That's it for now.I'm starting to get caught up a bit here on the portal.
I'll have some more images and stories in a week or two.

Murph

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Wow, just found this thread...incredible photos Murph. I'll be checking back in for more

 

[WheresMurph]

Wow, just found this thread...incredible photos Murph. I'll be checking back in for more

Thanks RA.
I'll be over in your neck of the woods,Austin Feb 18th-20th,photographing the TeamRWB marathon.Keep an eye out for the bike

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Thanks RA.
I'll be over in your neck of the woods,Austin Feb 18th-20th,photographing the TeamRWB marathon.Keep an eye out for the bike

Damn...we'll be long gone by then.

 

[WheresMurph]

Damn...we'll be long gone by then.

Well,good luck with the trip.

 

[WheresMurph]

So I just added these this evening on my website,here's the scoop:
I just picked these up from the printers today,so they are now available.

I thought long and hard about how to distribute them,so this is what I came up with:
As many of you know,my "give back" organization is Team Red,White and Blue,a non-profit organization set up by Maj.Mike Erwin to help reintegrate returning vets from the war back into "normal' life again through the medium of exercise.I was introduced to them by my friends Mandy Miller,who is heavily active and a huge part of the TeamRWB organization.
She also is the friend responsible for getting me into re-hab 3 yrs ago and helping me to become a sober and productive member of society.

Over the last few days i've been seeing a tremendous amount of support for TeamRWB in many forms,and yesterday I saw the Paula Broadwell Video.
Not only is Paula donating 25% of the proceeds of her new book "ALL IN" to TeamRWB,but Jon Stewart jumped in the fray and donated $20,000 and put a "Donate to TeamRWB" button on the The Daily Show Page.
So I got to thinking about how I could contribute to my cause,TeamRWB,and I decided to donate to them from the proceeds of the sale of my stickers.

So,pictured above is the sticker package that is up on sale.

WHAT YOU GET:you get 1 large 5" wide by 3" tall sticker,1 medium 3" wide by 1 3/4" tall sticker(the one that is blank,not finished printing yet)and a 5" by 1/2 sticker,all mailed TO YOUR DOOR.
You don't even need to get in the car for this one,I mean JUST HOW EASY does it get PEOPLE !!!!.

30% of the proceeds are going to be donated to TeamRWB,and 20% will go to an as yet undecided cause.So basically i'm going to donate 50% of the proceeds of the money I get from the sale of the stickers.
The package is priced at $10,which includes shipping anywhere in CONUS.
My goal is to get TeamRWB at least $1200,and $600 to another cause(as yet to be determined).
Once I get my printing costs covered i'll be happy,if not,i'll still be happy.

I never set out to try to make a profit on these stickers,but now i'd like to try and make a profit to help some others,as there are many many people who make regular donations to help me and continue to be a constant source of support.
I may need to make an extra run of 500 if they take off and sell,I really hope so.
I do intend to make a WTHIM World Ride sticker each year,with just the year on it changing,who knows,they nay become collectible!!!.

So there you have it,I hope that you all find this a worthwhile reason to spend $10.
I have a very limited run of these made,I couldn't afford to get 1000 made,but maybe if this batch all sell,i'll get some more done.

SO C"MON people,show TeamRWB some support.......pretty please.

Murph.

TO PURCHASE PLEASE PAYPAL $10 GIFT PER SET TO WHERESMURPH@GMAIL.COM
Please include your Ship To address in the notes.

 

[WheresMurph]

Hi all.
So first i'd like to thank all who purchased my 2012 RTW Ride decals.
Unfortunately I didn't sell as many as I had hoped,only about 77 sets,so I decided to donate all of the money I made from them to my 2 causes,www.TeamRWB.org and Scott D'Angelo's 300 mile self-supported run from Boca Raton up to Jacksonville in Fl.In total I gave TeamRWB $425 and Scott D'Angelo $350.
I still have over 300 sets left for sale,and I will be donating half of the rest of the sales to TeamRWB,and the rest should cover my printing costs and help put some gas in my tank when I ship the bike to Rotterdam in the Netherlands this March.
If you would like to purchase they are $10 for a set of 3,but i'll make it 4 to add incentive.Paypal $10(includes shipping) to Wheresmurph@gmail.com and don't forget to use the "Gift" option please and include your ship to address.

Meanwhile,I will try to get my thread on here up to speed before I leave,as when I get to EU i'll prolly be too damn excited about my trip and the adventure I'll forget to post !!!!.
Nah,not really,but I am pretty psyched about it though.
I stopped by the OJ offices yesterday(March 1,2012) just to say hi to Scott and Stephanie,and Ray Hyland too,and in the process met Brian McVickers and Matthew Scott whom I had not met before.
I bumped into Jeremy of Expedition Ops returning from his Baja California trip( we seem to have a habit of bumping into each other at different intersections of whatever trip we're on ) so it was nice to catch up with him,as last time it was Overland Expo 2011 in Amado.Speaking of OE,thats one of the things i'm not so happy about missing this year,as i'll be gone for about 3 yrs or so on this RTW ride/trip,and I was really looking forward to the new location as well.But I hope to return in 2015 or 2016 to it with a really nice slideshow of my travels,so i'll feel good that I'll be returning and bringing something to the event.

Meanwhile,I recently connected with some old friends from last years NORRA Mexican 1000,and looking through th images,I thought they would look good in Black and White,
so I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking the shots at the event....





















Best to all and thanks for stopping by,

Murph.

 

[WheresMurph]

The Final Leg of my Travels in the U.S.

So it's down to the last few weeks of motorcycle riding for me here in the U.S.A. before I drop the bike off at Schumacher Cargo in Gardena CA, and onto a ship bound for Rotterdam in the Netherlands.


As of this writing,Thursday March 4th,2012,I have left my friends Alan and Felicia Sean's house in Prescott Valley AZ and am making a pit stop at the Overland Journal office which is close by as I head to Quartzite AZ and then the Salton Sea for the weekend.

Meanwhile,I received an email from my friend Garth down in Fl after he read the Austin TX post,so I thought i'd share it here with his permission.It's nice to know that my posts and writings are not all just for myself,that they do reach some others too.
I like how Garth writes,he conjures up some great images.
Garth,thanks for taking the time to write,and I'm happy that my images brought back good memories for you.

Murph,
I liked the Austin TX pictures.Like all good images, the picture brings up my own memories which gets me thinking.I guess a picture is worth a thousand words, but in the spirit of editing myself I will only give you a few hundred words of my own…

Pictures of Austin reminds me of a great Springsteen story.Springsteen toured in 2002 and 2003 in support of his album The Rising which had songs that were about 9/11 and all the feelings that many of us had about that day.It’s an absolutely amazing album (if you don’t have, then I will send to you!).I saw several shows that tour and was an avid follower of the various blogs and other fan sites where set lists were discussed and debated.As most folks know, Springsteen is reknowned for mixing up his set list based on the city, the feeling and the mood, often calling audibles in mid set to keep the band engaged and the audience inspired.

Anyhow, Joan and I went to Austin TX for a show in 2002.It happened to be the day that George Bush had told Sadaam that we were going to attack within 48 hours if he did not leave.So, we were in Bush’s hometown state of TX on the eve of war, getting ready for a Springsteen show that was sort of about 9/11 and our ambigious feelings about it.We were psyched as we got very close to the stage in the GA section and anxiously awated the start, even if only to be diverted from the awful proclamations on the news.

The consistent pattern of the springsteen show in those years was that Springsteen lead off the show with the haunting “The Rising” before breaking into different songs. After all, why not start a show with a song that says “come on up for the rising tonight…” So, all the crowd fully expected the opening chords for that song to start off the show, lights dim, to take us on a rising…..

Instead, the band walked up, well lit, and pounded out the classic anthem “war” (what is it good for?).Luckily there is a version of it on youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAX5H8K3bVo

That was friggin awesome ,and captured the feeling of the crowd.Of course,Springsteen was early to the “anti-Bush” view of the world.Maybe more of us should have listened – after all, what was it good for?.

So,the other springsteen note of interest is that he is releasing his 17th album on March 6th and once again touring. He is over 60, but is still pounding out the rocker,s and still making comments about our times.His new song is especially appropriate for our times, signing ironically that “we take of our own” which he juxtapoes with lyrics that seem to say otherwise.It’s obvious from viewing his new video (below) that he wants us to understand what he is saying so we are not confused by the seeming patriot chorus of the song. (remember that his anti vietnam diatribe “Born in the Usa” was coopted by Reagan as if it was a rah rah song…)

Anyhow, as you drive across the country, “wherever this flag’s flown”, I figured you may want some good thoughts and music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkEU3JjNARs

Garth Graham

Back at the Overland Journal offices in Prescott AZ,I bumped into Jeremy from Expedition Ops returning from a Baja trip.Jeremy and I seem to just "bump into" each other as we travel from place to place.Last time it was the 2011 Overland Expo in Amado AZ,in 2010 it was at the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials at the Bonneville Salt Flats,both of these events I will unfortunately miss this year,and probably the next year also.
It was good to see Scott and Stephanie Brady too,and to know that I have their full support and that of the Overland Journal and Expedition Portal staff as I embark on this multi-year adventure.Scott has already traversed the globe many times over by now in a multitude of vehicles,so it's great to have him on my side.
I also caught up with Ray Hyland at the Journal,Ray is the Director of PR and Marketing for the Overland Journal,and another invaluable friend who has offered me his full support on this journey.Thanks Ray,I appreciate it.

I had just returned from Datil,New Mexico after photographing the Very Large Array,a series of 27 antennas,82 ft wide in a Y shape configuration on the plains of San Agustin in New Mexico.

This little trip from Scottsdale AZ to Datil NM started out all nice and pleasant,but as I pulled into Datil NM as the sun was setting,the temperature started to plummet rapidly.At an altitude of nearly 7000ft,it gets quite chilly at night,so as I had already missed the golden ally of sunset to run off a roll or two of film,I decided instead to try to figure out where I was going to set up camp for the night.

You hit the entrance to the Datil Well Campground on the right as you come in to the town from the weston Hwy 60,and at this time of the year,the BLM campground was empty,too cold for most I guess.It did get cold that night,it got down to about 19°F,I had a -10°F rated sleeping bag that wasn't doing it's job,I was freezing all night long.
But after I had thawed out with my morning infusion of turkish ground coffee,I made my way over to shoot the VLA........

Regards to all.....


Murph.

 

[WheresMurph]

The Left Coast.......Road Stories Pt I.

Datil,New Mexico,the Very Large Array,a series of 27 Antennae on the plains of San Augustin.


I spent 2 days there in February this year photographing the 82ft wide dishes,the second day being pretty much of a wash out weather wise,clouds rolling in ahead of 55mph wind gusts coming up from the SW.Cold,cloudy and windy.It made for a challenging shoot and a cold night of camping.

Out in the middle of New Mexico I stumbled upon Tommy Padilla's Rito Quemado Convenience Store in Quemado NM,just west of Datil on Hwy 60.
Tommy's convenience store is a neat little gas stop with motorcycle parking out front.Most of these small town stores can be pretty shoddy at best,but Tommy's was immaculate,especially the bathrooms,hence the reason I write of it here.Tommy even offered me the use of Wi-Fi if I needed to do some work.
When I come across a great spot like this I like to spread the word.

Don and Murph,Quemado NM,2012.
Photo courtesy Nick Steever.com

This is Don from Alaska whom I met as I rode past him on the way to Quemado.I saw his Alaska plate as I overtook him,so I pulled over ahead of him,we stopped and chatted but it was cold,so we said we'd meet up ahead at Tommy's gas station.While there,Nick Steever,a photographer from NY happened to be gassing up his vehicle and asked if he could take some shots of Don and I.
I remember I was putting something I had just bought at the store into one of the panniers at the same time Nick asked to take a shot of us,and hurriedly closed the lid of the pannier,but forgot to pull over the cargo net(which holds my H-D mess kit bag on).

Heading west on Hwy 60 and riding 10 or so miles I took a look in my mirrors and saw this really great straightaway behind me,so I pulled over to grab a camera and run off a couple of shots.


As I threw my leg over to dismount I noticed something was missing from the back of the bike,a soft bag,my mess kit bag where I keep my my coffee and kitchen items,a black Harley Davidson cool bag that was a gift,given to me by my friend and Bonneville brother "TR".

Bugger it,the cargo net,I forgot to tie it down.​

Bugger it,the cargo net,I forgot to tie it down.


I looked around,back,sideways,no sign of the bag anywhere,so without taking the straightaway picture I had stopped for to begin with,I hopped back on the bike to ride back east the way I came from Tommy's gas station to try to see if I could spot it on the side of the road somewhere.The 10 mile ride back to Tommy's store yielded nothing.
"Bugger it twice" I mumbled,I have to find the bag,this bag HAS to be found,it has sentimental value to me,and my next port of call was Quartzite AZ.And guess who I was going to visit in Quartzite?.
Yep,my buddy TR.

Needless to say that the bag needed to be found,one way or another.I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to show up at TR's place without the bag,end of story.
So after reaching Tommy's convenience store with no bag in hand,I turned around and went back again to check the other side of the road.

Nothing,not a sign of the bag anywhere.


So I ride back again to Tommy's store,go inside to ask if anyone found it and dropped it off,but alas,no luck.At this point,I was starting to get a bit dejected.Bugger.
After a cup of coffee I head back out again for the 4th time along the same stretch of road,40 miles of back and forth all told,looking for the bag.


As I rode back the way I came,I kept checking the roadside anyway just in case,but as I had run this route already with no sign of the bag,I started to resign myself to the fact that it was lost,another casualty of my negligence.


So here's the part where this story get's interesting.
Now,I'm not a religious person,agnostic bordering on atheism if you want to pigeonhole me,years of catholic double standards,being taught in my youth by sadistic Nuns and Christian Brothers in Ireland had shaped my beliefs,or lack thereof,and disdain for the Catholic Church.
My old man was spiritual himself,not religious,even though his two brothers were both priests.Go figure.
Back last year when I was camping in Sedona,I lost my iPhone up in a remote area of brush on the top of a mountain.No way to find it,I tried,walked around for an hour,no joy.
I rode down to the bottom with my laptop and logged on to FindMyPhone,got an approximate location on the top of the mountain where I thought I lost it,rode back up there,searched,but still no luck.
So for whatever reason that I don't understand I said to myself,Hey Dad,how about a little help here,I could use it.I just figured it was worth a shot,right?.
10 paces later I walked right on top of the phone,there it was on the ground in front of me.


Ok,so fast-forward to today and here I am riding to the same spot on the bike in New Mexico where I was going to take the long straightway shot before I realized I lost my mess bag,and a couple of miles before I get there,I decide to ask my old man for help a second time,just a straight "Hey Dad,I could use your help again,how about it",that was it.
I get to the part where I had stopped to take the picture and was going to keep going,keep riding because I was a little miffed at myself,but something made me stop and say,"Oh well,may as well get the shot while i'm here".
So as I come to a stop on the side of the road,there on the top of the 1/8th mile marker post I see:

Thanks Dad.​

 

[MiniGene]

Wow! Awesome lost and found story.

 

[WheresMurph]

'THE LEFT COAST AND JAY LENO.......................Road Stories Pt II.

Jay Leno,host of the The Tonight Show and owner of a very diverse car and motorcycle collection,as seen on the website JayLenosGarage.com,taking time out of his Saturday to speak with me at his Big Dog Garage in Burbank CA.


Go West young man.
That's what they said back in the early eighties when I came over here to America from Ireland.I should of listened.Jay Leno listened,and now look where he is.
I've always had a thing for the Left Coast,especially California,the climate,the mountains,the laid back attitudes,the interesting mix of people,the car and motorcycle culture,the mountains(I know,I already said the mountains,but they deserve a second mention they're so beautiful).There's a flavor out in Southern California that's hard to put a finger on,
Since I arrived in LA 10 days ago,I've been caught up in a whirlwind,a series of interesting events and happenings,thanks to some really good friends that I have out here,and also being in the right place at the right time.That's how I ended up at Jay Leno's Big Dog Garage in Burbank where my friend Chuck(who I was staying with) talked to George(who works at the garage) who then called Robert(who's the VP of Production for NBC),and the next thing I know I'm sitting down on a Saturday morning with Jay being interviewed by him for a segment on his Jay Leno's Garage website.

BOOM....​

​

Directly behind Jay,next to the car with the yellow hood is Jay's Silver Buick,a 1955 Roadmaster he purchased in 1972 for $350.
It was his first vehicle he owned in California,the car he used for his first date with his wife,and the car he drove for his first appearance on the Tonite Show in 1977.
It was also the first vehicle in his now very extensive and eclectic collection,and he still say's it's his favorite car to drive.
In Jay's own words,"You gotta love the look in the eyes of a guy driving a Porsche who sees you coming up on him,but he just can't seem to shake you going up a canyon.He's thinking 'how can this old Buick do this to me?".With a ZZ572/620 GM crate motor with 620 HP under the hood,it's not really much of a problem.


I'd like to extend my thanks to all involved in my interview with Jay,Robert Angelo,VP of Production,the camera crew and Jay Leno,for taking the time to make this happen.


And of course the whole garage crew who are a really great bunch of guys,Bernard,John Pera,George Swift,Pear,Jim,Dirk and Bob.
Dirk,thanks again for the 'Killer' cappuccino's.
​

​

This forward momentum and being in the right place at the right time vortex all started when I called David Hamilton,whom I bought my motorcycle from,a 2004 BMW 1150 GS Adventure,back in November of 2008,as I rode out west to LA from S.Fl in Feb this year to ship my bike to Europe from the port of Long Beach CA.
San Luis Obispo,a beautiful town just north of Santa Maria in CA is where David calls home,and though up to that point we had never met,we stayed in contact with each other,since David works in the publishing business for Source Interlink Media,who have under their umbrella such publications as Hot Rod , Petersons 4Wheel and Off Road , Motor Trend and about 60+ other magazines,so we both share a love of shiny mechanical things with wheels that make lots of noise and go fast or look really cool and break down.
I mentioned to David that I was going to be over on the Left Coast to ship the bike from the port of Long Beach to Rotterdam for my 3 yr Round the World ride,so why don't we get together and have lunch.
Well,David said he was going to be working at the Tierra Del Sol 50th Jeep Safari the same time I was going to be out there,so why don't I come down to meet him there.Good idea,I had never been to the Salton Sea,even though I had spent time camping close by in Death Valley,so after photographing The Very Large Array in Datil NM,I headed for Salton City and the TDS Jeep Safari.

​

This is Super Dev,I caught her attempting to ride off on my bike,but fortunately she couldn't reach the handlebars and the footpegs at the same time.Luckily Super Dev's Dad was there so we were able to apprehend her just in the nick of time before she figured out how to start it and ride off into the sunset.I see a future motorcyclist here,another world traveller perhaps?.
Super Dev,if you're reading this with Dad,it was fun meeting you at Salton Sea,and I hope you both follow along on my journey around the world.See you in 4 years or so.

So as David and I were chatting and catching up,another one of those "right place,right time" moments happened in the form of Scott Timberlake,an ad exec with Source Interlink Media.

It was late in the evening and I was talking with by the bike with David when this guy walks up,well,it was more of a meander with a definite swagger,looks at the bike and then at me and say's "are you sponsored?".
"No,say's I".
"Well,you should be,come down and see me this week,we'll have lunch and see what we can come up with,no promises".
This chance meeting with Scott out in the middle of the desert in Southern California led to lunch the following week at the offices and photo studios at Source Interlink and two days of video being shot of me about my story and travels for the Motor Trend Youtube Channel.
I know,the hit's just keep on comin.......
​

While at the Source Interlink photo studio,Randy Lorentzen(R) Director of Photography for the Performance Automotive Group,had a little fun on the set.
And as a PS,the car is an absolutely beautiful 1940 chopped 4 Door Ford,mostly owner built,unusual in that as any car customizer knows how difficult it is to chop a 2 Door,not too many people bother with putting the amount of time,money and effort into chopping a 4 Door.
This car feature will be out in Street Rodder in the coming months.Keep an eye out for it,it's worth it.​

IMG]

So,last Wednesday,March 21st,I dropped the bike off at the Schumacher Cargo offices in Gardena CA,and there it awaits consolidation to be loaded on to a container bound for the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
I received an ETA from Schumacher of an arrival May 1 in Rotterdam,so the weeks will go by real fast I'm sure.I will be posting a 'How To' video in the next article here on the blog about everything you need to know if you want to ship your bike from the US to Europe,from the paperwork you will need to exactly how much you will be charged,both here in the US and when you go to pick up the bike at the Freight Forwarders in Rotterdam.
​

Thanks again to all for stopping by

Murph​

 

[WheresMurph]

From my latest post on my blog http://www.wherethehellismurph.com,this one on passing through the Salton Sea en route to the Port of Long Beach to ship my motorcycle to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
I hope you enjoy.

So it turns out that the Salton Sea was an accident,a man made accident in 1905 stemming from a canal that diverted water from the Colorado River to the agricultural area of the Imperial Valley.
There was an overflow,an unplanned change of course,and an inland sea was born.

​

The Salton Sea used to be called the 'French Riviera of California',it had Yacht Clubs complete with celebrities.Jerry Lewis and the Marx Brothers kept boats there......

.......That was then.

By the seventies,salt heavy soil from the desert(a prehistoric ocean leftover)began infiltrating the Salton Sea.
Add some industrial waste and some toxic run-off from Mexicali and pesticides from the Imperial Valley agriculture fields,and the salinity of the sea began to rise.
​

Add it all up and it was a poisonous brew,resulting in the death of millions of birds and fish.
The sea became nearly 30% saltier than the ocean,it rose,and pretty much swallowed up homes and businesses along it's shores.

Traveling through the area as I left the TDS Jeep Safari,I noticed that there are pockets of reclamation,but due to the sea's salinity,the Salton Sea will never again see anything near the boom it witnessed in the 50's and 60's.
The main problem is that the Salton Sea has no out-flow,so the salinity just stays.
You can still fish there,Tilapia being the fish able to survive the salinity,and you can swim there also,but it's going to be salty.
There is a museum there also,the old North Shore Yacht Club,which I didn't have a chance to visit,but efforts are underway to try to reclaim some of the Sea's former glory.

I leave you with Captain,a super cool German Shepard,BIG dog too,that I met at the gas station as I left the TDS Jeep Safari.

Thanks for stopping by,

Murph​

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Cool story about your mess bag, and especially the parting shot with it hanging on the mile marker. You can tell someone found it for you and put it somewhere you'd easily see it...perhaps it was Dad answering your pleas for help