What's up with the Salton Sea area? (San Diego: sales, prebuilt)

[Gandalara]

Use to water ski on the Salton Sea as a teenager back in the late sixties and early seventies. My sister and her husband had a vacation place at Bombay Beach - her property is underwater now.

Wouldn't go there now, but it sure was fun back then as a teenager :-)

[IloveOC]

Our family and friends used to go there alot back in the early '60's. We had alot of fun - the water was always a comfortable temperature - a few times it was too warm and we would have to get out to cool off. But we hand the dying fish there also. I would like to find a book or blog about the Salton Sea back "then".

The one memory that stands out in my mind is that it was very warm there and hard to keep things cold, as we needed ice and coolers. And the ice just didn't last very long. Our mom thought that we had to have milk everyday, so she would take powdered milk. Mix that with water that even if "room temperature" makes for some very nasty tasting powdered milk. And if we ran to one of the little stores we would get an ice cream bar and because of the heat it would melt faster than you could eat it.

I have tried to find stories and photo's of when that area was so popular but haven't come across any.

[Gandalara]

Well, there's a free Google book called The Salton Sea: an account of Harriman's fight with the Colorado River‎, by George Kennan.

But it was published 1917, so I think it's a little before our time

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by IloveOC

Our family and friends used to go there alot back in the early '60's. We had alot of fun - the water was always a comfortable temperature - a few times it was too warm and we would have to get out to cool off. But we hand the dying fish there also. I would like to find a book or blog about the Salton Sea back "then".

The one memory that stands out in my mind is that it was very warm there and hard to keep things cold, as we needed ice and coolers. And the ice just didn't last very long. Our mom thought that we had to have milk everyday, so she would take powdered milk. Mix that with water that even if "room temperature" makes for some very nasty tasting powdered milk. And if we ran to one of the little stores we would get an ice cream bar and because of the heat it would melt faster than you could eat it.

I have tried to find stories and photo's of when that area was so popular but haven't come across any.

I just bought a book at the Palm Springs Air Museum that is all aerial photos of the Coachella Valley, which includes the Salton Sea and surrounding cities. It is photos and history. The book is called Coachella Valley Above All by Richard J. Soltys. I am not finding a copyright or publish date n the book, but it appears to have been published in 2006, The ISBN is 0-9726856-1-1 and there's an email address to get this book, it is www. rjspub@verizon. net. Hope this helps.

[Bluesmama]

Originally Posted by GoodbyeCalifornia

The Salton Sea's heyday was in the 1950's and 1960's. Developers moved into the area, promoting it as a sort of "Desert Riviera".

Unfortunately the boom never really materialized. By the 1980's, the area was in decline.

Does this explain the unfinished infrastructure that we saw there several years ago? There is what is obviously the start of the ground work (foundation for a subdivision and possibily utilities) that were obviously left ignored for a long time. That really baffled us.

[Des-Lab]

The Salton Sea, while being scenic and serene-especially from a distance, is actually a cesspool when you get close to it. No sane person I know of would dare stick a finger in that water let alone swim in it. It's sad that it fell into its present state of decay. It had so much potential.

Now. It would be just best if the Colorado River Delta could somehow be fractured and let the Gulf Of California retake the Imperial/Coachella/Mexicali valleys the way it did in antiquity.

[Gandalara]

And don't forget the crazy artist, I think his place is called Salvation Mountain?

He's been around for years and years.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

Now. It would be just best if the Colorado River Delta could somehow be fractured and let the Gulf Of California retake the Imperial/Coachella/Mexicali valleys the way it did in antiquity.

Why?

[marshallnoise]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Why?

Yeah, that is a crappy idea.

My grandfather owned some land out in the Salton Sea too.

[jaada]

salton sea is a nasty dead lake. it smells and is polluted with raw sewage.