Imperial County road trip, Part 1. East Jesus, Slab City (Niland, CA)

On September 29, 2013, I took a short road trip (200 miles) to Imperial County, with my primary destination being Salvation Mountain. I ended up finding some cool surprises, which resulted in lots of photos. So many, that I’m going to make this a 2 part post. My friend and I had been at Salvation Mountain in the morning and were having lunch at the Buckshot Cafe & Deli in Niland before making our way back to Los Angeles. The restaurant owner was chatting with us and told us about East Jesus in Slab City. He suggested that we check it out since we were on a pursuit to find interesting art.

We found it easily enough, but didn’t want to trespass, so we were looking at the art sculptures from afar. That’s when Flip noticed us and kindly invited us to come in for a closer look. He gave us a tour and told us about his friend Charles Russell, the creator of “East Jesus“. We got to check out his totally tricked out Volkswagen Westfalia bus, named Cinnabar Charm. Charles passed away in 2011, but his legacy lives on through this community of art, music, creativity and sustainable living. The sculpture garden is open to the public and has more eye candy than any place I’ve ever been! If you ever find yourself near Slab City (Niland, CA), I highly recommend checking it out!