Post-apocalyptic wonderland

The Salton Sea has been called a post-apocalyptic wonderland. A weirdly beautiful landscape shaped by a man-made inland lake (California's largest!) filled with salt (saltier than seawater) that once was called the "Riviera of the West" and is now a place of ghost towns, abandoned by humans and full of dead and decaying fish.

I am now in Palm Springs, waiting for the kids to wake up and have breakfast so we can head over to this place about an hour south of here.

Why are we here? What the above descriptions and the video documentary don't bring out is that the Salton Sea is also considered one of the best places to look for birds in California. Right on one of the main migratory highways, it is said to be host to nearly 400 species of birds over the course of each year.

The pure desert air outside is chilly and crisp. I'm excited.