Mountain_Man_79
Enjoying Cameraderie
There are a lot of weird places out in the desert, but this one takes the cake. It’s almost too weird to describe, so let’s start with these -
https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/slab-city-california-desert/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California
Essentially we have a community of 300 or so “slabbers“ who live more or less entirely off the grid, and are made up of artists, drug addicts, anarchists, and folks evading the law. These probably aren’t mutually exclusive things either. The “city“ has its neighborhoods, like East Jesus or West Satan, and each neighborhood has a leader. Even with that said, there are still plenty of instances of lawlessness in this “last free place”, like when actual pirates took over the local “Internet cafe”. As one slabber said to me, “what are you gonna do about it...they’re pirates!”
Anways, upon the drive in, you’re greeted with Salvation Mountain -
Now most folks come out to visit Salvation Mountain, and turn around and head back the way they came. Venturing into the slabs though is well worth it.
Art? Junk? Someone’s house? Both?
Although not unaffected by the pandemic, the Saturday night outdoor concerts and shows have been on pause -
This nice man in a dress showed me around his mostly outdoor home -
He had a stripper pole in his outdoor living room, which he thankfully only demonstrated briefly. Also, thankfully I noticed the sign warning me that if I stepped on stage, I would be required to dance for a full song!
It’s not all pretty though -
There is at least beer and shots available at the local bar. Proceeds go mostly to feeding slabbers that don’t have enough to eat. But be warned, although drinks are only a dollar, they don’t really bother to wash the glassware between customers. Or the communal pipe folks smoke funny stuff out of.
A wild place to visit.
https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/slab-city-california-desert/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California
Essentially we have a community of 300 or so “slabbers“ who live more or less entirely off the grid, and are made up of artists, drug addicts, anarchists, and folks evading the law. These probably aren’t mutually exclusive things either. The “city“ has its neighborhoods, like East Jesus or West Satan, and each neighborhood has a leader. Even with that said, there are still plenty of instances of lawlessness in this “last free place”, like when actual pirates took over the local “Internet cafe”. As one slabber said to me, “what are you gonna do about it...they’re pirates!”
Anways, upon the drive in, you’re greeted with Salvation Mountain -
Now most folks come out to visit Salvation Mountain, and turn around and head back the way they came. Venturing into the slabs though is well worth it.
Art? Junk? Someone’s house? Both?
Although not unaffected by the pandemic, the Saturday night outdoor concerts and shows have been on pause -
This nice man in a dress showed me around his mostly outdoor home -
He had a stripper pole in his outdoor living room, which he thankfully only demonstrated briefly. Also, thankfully I noticed the sign warning me that if I stepped on stage, I would be required to dance for a full song!
It’s not all pretty though -
There is at least beer and shots available at the local bar. Proceeds go mostly to feeding slabbers that don’t have enough to eat. But be warned, although drinks are only a dollar, they don’t really bother to wash the glassware between customers. Or the communal pipe folks smoke funny stuff out of.
A wild place to visit.
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