A New Year - Anza-Borrego Week One

Our new year officially started on January 5th, when we left Two Springs and headed for the true desert. Coincidentally, our first full day at Anza-Borrego State Park  also marked our six-month anniversary on the road.

It's interesting: five weeks into our time in the 26' Class C last winter and we were claustrophobic.  Now six months in the 34' class A and it feels . . . normal.   Comfortable.  If we were back at the stick house I would feel like we were bouncing around from (cold) room-to-room.  Of course we do spend a considerable amount of time in the outdoors.

We love this area in the winter.   The temperatures are generally hovering around 70℉.  We've had one day of light rain in two weeks.

The above may look like a painting, but in fact it is a phone picture made in the park during an evening dog walk.  Coyote Mountain in the foreground with the Santa Rosa mountains behind.

In the evening the mountains go from coral to magenta to violet in the changing light.

We've taken the trail from the campground to the visitor center (.6 miles each way) at various times of day.

The rain is bringing buds to the cholla and green plus red blooms to the ocotillo.

Views of Font's Point (above) and of Indian Head Mountain (below) from the visitor center trail. You can just see the RV campground in the distance.

Every year we find more of the sculptures of Ricardo Breceda as we explore. We need to pick up a map so that we can check them off one-by-one (not to mention find them all).  On a recent drive we found:

People working in a vineyard.

Some details of the vines and grapes.

And we found a scorpion and a grasshopper facing off:

Nasty-looking beast.

A family of mammoths:

A nursing baby camel.

And relatives.

And . . . ummm . . .

It's been our busy time of year so we've spent most days working.  It's ok: you don't have to feel too sorry for us.   On Saturday the 10th we finally got the jeep out for a little drive.   This was up Rockhouse Canyon Road, which takes you across the edge of Clark Dry Lake.

Warning: do not venture off of the marked trail!

We understand that the desert is not for everyone.   And those of us who love the solitude are fine with that.

Sometimes you have to leave the jeep and explore on foot.

And the best is yet to come.

December Retrospective - Part 2 - The Thousand Palms Oasis

We had wanted to visit the Thousand Palms Oasis and the Coachella Valley Preserve, so took advantage of the excuse of having guests to finally go.  We'll go back again when it isn't quite so cold and windy.

The oasis is created by water seeping up through the cracks created by quakes on the San Andreas fault.

A series of boardwalks takes you over the (sulfurous smelling) water.  We were told that the water is high in boron and in fluoride as well.

An endangered species of pupfish live in the ponds.

The native California fan palms have a small sticky fruit which grows in bunches.  The wind had it falling and littering the ground.

View of the Oasis from the north.

Obligatory group photo, at least what you can see of everyone all bundled up.  It's not usually cold like this, really it's not! 

The Vagabond house built from palm logs.

Carving is of the owner Paul Wilhelm.

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On December 28th, the family suffered a final loss for the year.  My sister Tammy's husband Carl Kirkpatrick succumbed after a long illness.   We had been close in our 30's when our children were young, but our paths had diverged in the years since.   There are always regrets when things don't turn out as they should.  Carl was only 61.

There is never enough time.  It isn't fair.