As I drove along the east side of the Salton Sea, I came upon a museum -- a banana museum. And this isn't just any banana museum, it is the International Banana Museum.
The small museum is packed full of every time of banana themed item you can imagine -- from food to ceramics to MP3 players. Admission is $1 per person, but if you buy something, admission is free. Proprietor Fred Garbutt bought a banana collection in eBay in 2010, and over the next couple years transformed the bar next to his liquor store into the International Banana Museum.
Fred was looking for something appealing to get travelers passing by his property to stop. A banana museum in the desert alongside a dying salty sea that was created by accident seemed just crazy enough to work. Fred opened the museum in the fall of 2012, and has since continued to add thousands more bananas to the museums collection. Fred told me he has unopened packages of eBay banana purchases piling up at home, waiting to be added to the museum.
I took in the bananas. I played a round on a banana-themed slot machine. I chatted with Fred and his daughter as I enjoyed a chocolate ice cream cone. (They were sold out of banana ice cream.) The museum provided a nice air-conditioned stop on my travels through the desert. If I pass this way again, I'll be back for more banana fun.
California's Salton Sea was created by accident, became a thriving resort area, then became too salty and polluted to support life, and now threatens coastal Southern California cities.
This cycle from dry desert to freshwater lakes, to saltwater lakes, to dry desert appears to have happened many times in the past.
The current instance of the Salton Sea came about after heavy rains and snowmelt in 1905 caused the Colorado River to flow down and overrun newly created irrigation canals -- redirecting the flow of the Colorado River into the Salton Sea.
The Salton Sea then became a vacation destination in the middle of the 20th century. However, increasing salinity due to evaporation being the only outflow from the sea progressively made the sea less attractive to visitors. Salt and pollution killed the fish. Changing water levels flooded communities. And to top it off, the odor of decaying fish helped keep city folks away.
The current California drought and many upriver taps into the Colorado River make saving the Salton Sea difficult. There isn't water to send into the sea. However, many fear that letting the sea dry up may lead to toxic dust blowing into the cities to the west and kill off the millions migratory birds who pass through the area each year.
Paradise lost in California drought: The old man and the Salton Sea
Once a resort to stars such as Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx, the Salton Sea now shrivels as California gasps for water. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2015/09/25/as-river-runs-dry-salton-sea-california-drought/32525541/
I spent much of a day exploring the area as I drove home to Arizona from a visit to California. This started with exploring beaches just north of Desert Shores on the western shores of the Salton Sea.
I venture out onto the beach
Taking chances as I try to not get stuck in the "sand" or mud as I drive on the beach
Birds line the seashore
When I approach, the birds relocate
Have a seat
The "sand" of this beach is made up of barnacles and bones
I start to question whether or not I can get the car off of the beach
Maybe squinting into the sun will help me remember the way back to the highway
