As I spend my time traveling around with my camper, I'm finding that I'm becoming just a little bit obsessed with postcards. I guess it's sensible enough... anytime I travel, I do tend to collect memories and memoirs of my trips. And postcards are a very cost-effective, and easy-to-stow-away sort of collectible. Plus, they're totally analog- and we all know how much I adore anything "analog"...
And surprisingly (to me, at least... maybe, it's not so surprising to you), they're becoming harder and harder to find in this increasingly disposable-digital, instant-gratification, too-busy-to-care world of ours. Where buying stamps at the post office, and chucking something in the mailbox has been almost entirely replaced with quickie texts and iPhotos... (sigh).
So, yeah. Postcards, man. I'm an addict...
In any rate, I thought it'd be kind of fun to share my increasingly ridiculous postcard collection with my readers, as well as the stories behind the cards.
These are from my Salton Sea trip last month. Hope you like 'em...! Because, at this rate, there will surely be more to come...
The first stop on our trip, was at a bunch of "tourist boutiques" over in Quartzsite, Arizona, where I found this fancy "Arizona" postcard, with a die-cut cactus up in the corner...
And, this "state map" themed little gem. I don't normally like these sorts of kitschy postcards, but this one was kinda fun...
This is the Quartzsite General Store, where I actually bought some of these postcards...! How convenient, huh...?!
Yup... sunsets... got it. It's sort of what Arizona is famous for...
Quartzsite is known worldwide (apparently) for it's annual rock-and-gem flea market/exchange. I believe that this aerial view is illustrating how many hundreds of campers and RV's descend on Quartzsite for the festivities. I never would've guessed that there's this many rock collectors in the world...
Ehrenberg, Arizona is the last town on the I-10 before crossing into California. It's well-known among truckers for it's port-of-entry scale, which makes Ehrenberg a place to avoid at all costs, not a place that any quick-minded trucker would go out of his way to visit. But being on the Colorado River, it's also a recreational oasis out in the middle of the desert- as this postcard goes out of it's way to emphasize.
California...! You have no idea how excited I was to get this one...! "My first-ever California postcard...! Woooo...!" I'm such a dork, sometimes...
Blythe is the first town that you experience on the California side of the Colorado River; this aerial view illustrates just how close to the river (in the foreground) it really is...
Energy-producing windmills are everywhere in the Southern California desert... as are solar farms, and other "green" energy producing projects. There might be hope for us after all...
California girls...! It might be cheesy and cliché... but I am a dude, so I just had to get it.
The I-10 took us just past Joshua Tree National Park. We didn't go in, but I bought this postcard to remember just how close we came to it...
Although I normally eschew these sorts of "craptastic attempts at potty humour", cheeseball postcards... considering that we were in the middle of the arid California desert... I thought that this one was pretty damn funny. It definitely fit the vibe of the trip, that's fersure...
Chiriaco Summit, California. A small, gas-station oasis nestled in an I-10 mountain pass. Named for Joe Chiriaco, who built the site back in 1933. Chiriaco Summit consists of a gas station, a couple of small restaurants, a quick-stop grocery store... you know, all of the "traveler's essentials"... plus, the General George S. Patton Memorial Museum...
... so, "Why here", you wonder...? Well, George Patton picked the area just west of Chiriaco Summit for his desert training grounds, to prepare his armies for the African Campaigns during World War II. Chiriaco Summit was the supply center of this camp- including General Patton's private airfield. After Patton's death in 1945, the Chiriacos established the museum on their property, to honor his memory. This is Joe Chiriaco, standing in front of the earliest version of his memorial...
Once we came down Box Canyon Road into the Salton Sink, we were splendidly surprised to find spread out before our eyes, miles and miles of citrus groves- including thousands of beautiful date trees...
By looking at the postcards, you'd never guess that the Salton Sea is a cesspool of mass abandonment, sunken squalor, and decadent destruction. It looks more like a shimmering jewel, nestled between rugged desert mountain ranges, and beautiful sunset backdrops. That's the power of suave marketing, I suppose. In my case, it totally worked...!
The Salton Sea is also a haven for migratory birds- and every year, tourists do descend on the Salton Sea to watch their favorite species make their annual stopovers. Again, the postcard doesn't tell the whole story; like all marketing-and-sales truths, it's a half-truth at best. After all, a photo of botulism-infected bird carcasses wouldn't have quite the pull among the traveling-tourist population, that this pretty photo-postcard does, now would it...?
