Thursday at Borrego Springs

For a change of pace I thought I'd start with a sunrise picture instead of the usual sunset shot.  Thats right, I said SUNRISE....If you know me you know that seeing a sunrise is a very rare occurrence and this one was superb.

 picnic table at the back of our site

Sasha relaxing along side Beluga

Lewis sitting on the front seat watching for Dave and Sasha

dashboard view

As I was taking pictures of our campsite, I kept seeing hummingbirds peering in at me through the windshield.  Turns out they were trying to get at the red balls on the Palm Springs Christmas tree on the dashboard!   Silly birds.  Actually, silly me because I went right out and set up our birdie spa in and under the mesquite bush on the side of Beluga.  Almost immediately the hummers started whizzing in for a drink, they almost knocked my head off as they made kamikaze raids on the feeder.  As soon as I found a good branch for the seed feeder, the rest of the neighborhood dropped by. A  cactus wren, tiny black throated sparrows, even smaller Berwin wren's, white capped sparrows, purple finches, a bevy of California quail, a white winged dove, a bright yellow headed Verdin and even a cocky antelope ground squirrel found their way to the "spa".   It was a busy coffee hour for us, alternating between the binoculars, camera, and coffee cups kept us busy for at least an hour.   Lewis sat quietly, very alert, until the ground squirrel came just a bit too close.  He couldn't help himself and would spring up and boof at it.  As soon as he sat back down, however, the little darling scurried right back.   Kept him busy too!

the shadow in the middle is the wire ex pen I was shooting through, sorry!

After lunch we had a great, long talk with Jesse about the essays he's preparing for MBA applications.
Then we drove out to the desert to where Nina and Paul (and, of course, the sweet miss Polly) are boondocking (free camping in a remote area of the desert).   We took the long way through the desert to find them, but eventually did.  What views they have, and what a wonderful back yard Polly has to play in.
We sat outside, had a refreshing rum and coke and watched the dogs romp and explore. (Lewis and Polly romp, Sasha explores every single bush)   When the sun set and the temperature started to drop, we gathered our black dogs and headed home for dinner.  Dave and Paul made a golf date for Saturday morning and we've been invited back to the "boonies" for a smoked rib dinner on Sunday.  Fun, fun, fun.

Paul and Nina's "beast" on the left

Polly and Lewis in a "mexican standoff" in the desert.
I know the picture is out of focus, but its the best I could do, seems they were always on the move.

Wednesday - Anza Borrego

We've been warned, twice, about the coyote's here.    Dave and Sasha are out for their evening walk in the dark, dark desert night.  When we pulled into Anza Borrego State Park this afternoon, the gate lady told us the coyote's move into the campground around 4:30 or 5:00.    Then the camp host stopped by (to ask where in NY we were from....turns out he grew up in Groveland!) and advised us to be careful with our dogs after dark... Hmmmm




We left Desert Hot Springs after lunch and had a fairly uneventful drive south, past the Salton Sea, date groves, farm land and then west on SR 22 through the  Ocotillo State Vehicular Recreational Area, otherwise known as the Borrego Badlands.

our little Palm Springs christmas tree was strapped in, and quietly  wondering where we were going....

 We had hints from other bloggers that SR 22 was bumpy, but bumpy was a huge understatement.  Beluga couldn't move any faster than 30 mph for miles and miles.  She bucked and bumped and jerked on this awful road, what made it so full of ridges and lumps?  

After a while (maybe 15 miles or so) the road calmed down a bit and we were able to get almost up to speed.  The scenery was dramatic and we passed a boondocking site with a few vehicles scattered around a large area of desert.  We recognized Paul and Nina's rig and another blogger further out, RV Sue and her canine crew.  So funny to recognize people we barely know, or have never met, from their writings.  What a world this is.

We arrived at Anza Borrego State Park about 3:30 this afternoon and quickly found out site. As we were jockeying into position, Dave discovered our front air suspension gauge was pegged at zero.....drat.  Not good.  After doing a bit of research, we're hoping that the rough road caused a  connection wire to break in the engine computer module.  No dire symptoms, just the dead gauge.  Mechanic Dave to the rescue again me thinks.

 This is a beautiful, pristine park in the desert at the feet of tall mountains.  We just got here, so I don't know which mountains they are just yet - I'll get acclimated in the morning.

view from behind Beluga

I'll post more pictures of our site tomorrow in the daylight.   It gets dark so early here, I'll never get used to it!

Tuesday - last day in Desert Hot Springs

Christmas toes.....

Today was our last day here in Desert Hot Springs.  I drove into town for a pedicure at Miracle Springs Spa.  Its always a relaxing hour and Kathy did a great job.  Dave stayed back at Beluga and got caught up on some routine maintenance jobs he'd been wanting to do.    We took some time for the hot mineral pools and a bit of soaking and jiggling.  We're so going to miss this place.  The warm, dry, sunny days, the incredible clouds and sunsets, the heavenly hot pools, the easy living, the wind - not so much... Tomorrow morning we close up and steam off for Anza Borrego State Park.

I realized Christmas is really on our doorstep so I started making lists.  Lists make me calm.  Tonight I'm going to work on taking care of some of the things on my Christmas list.  

as I was walking back from the hot pools, Beluga showed me the beginnings of tonight's sunset

Monday - second post of the day!

Two posts in one day.....it must look like I have nothing to do but type!  

Actually, the post below was in response to a number of comments about "Foof" and I realized not everyone knew who I was talking about, so, now you do!

Lewis really missed his little black pal today.  Dave and I were talking about her (Polly) this morning, about how nicely the two dogs played together, and how fun it was to watch them gently chide each other into a chase and chew session.  We noticed that Lewis had jumped on the couch and was looking out one window and then the next, right at the spot where Paul and Nina's coach used to be.....then he ran to the door and stood waiting for it to open!   Sometimes it opens and Polly bursts in....

Do I hear Polly at the door Dad????

We went into Palm Springs for lunch and a last walk around. Oh, and a last Wild Coyote Margarita...

gotta love that crunchy salt on the rim 

We've been here a month and there are still  things on our "to do" list that we didn't do.   One of them was to take the Architecture Walk with the Palm Springs Museum people.  There are so many wonderful examples of  Mid-Century Modern architecture here.  Just so we didn't leave without a single picture, we  drove down Vista Chino to at least  find the famous Kaufmann House.  It has been called one of the most important examples of Desert Modernism and was designed by Richard Neutra in 1946.  The house was commissioned by the same man (Edgar Kaufmann) who later contracted with Frank Lloyd Wright to build Falling Waters.

It is a private home, so we could only drive by, but I was happy to see it isn't behind walls and gates.  Its setting in the desert is beautiful, looks like it grew there.  Thanks for telling us about it Jess.

Speaking of Jesse, I spoke with him today and found out that he has a terrible case of Poison Ivy!  He has never had an allergic reaction to it in his whole life, but evidently one can develop an allergy at any time, yep...          He got it from Ruby no less!  So he's not a happy camper right at this minute.



Thats about all for today folks!

Monday - clarification

I'm sorry, I think everyone knows who Foof was....The perfect description of her came to me this morning from JoAnn...Foof was my "loving, dear, wild and crazy mother".  Everyone I knew called her Foof.  Her given name was Ruth but my little cousin Amy couldn't say Aunt Ruth, it came out Aunt foof, and it stuck.  It fit her personality to a T!

Sunday - a quiet day

Whoa!  We had too much fun last night.  Our normally quiet, routine life was interrupted by a great dinner, the aforementioned wild coyote margaritas and a really great parade.  A super way to kick off the Christmas season.  Marching bands, illuminated floats, huge balloons (think Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons), kids in reindeer antlers, horses with flashing lights on their legs, men draped with  tinsel and Santa hats and sweet little doggies working the crowd.

Unfortunately, my camera skills went out the window and I have few recognizable shots from the whole evening.  You'll just have to take my word for it!

can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man

Enough of those bad shots.    Before dinner we strolled down Palm Canyon Drive and did a bit of window shopping.    I walked into a small shop called  "Just Fabulous" and sitting there just waiting for me was the perfect little tree for inside Beluga.   Think,  Charlie Brown Christmas tree meets the Palm Springs "boys".

I thought I lost my Christmas spirit after Foof died, but I guess its still there, just a little bit warped, slightly off center.



Dave says his favorite times of our days on the road are the morning coffee hour and our evening cocktail hour.  He says it reminds him of our weekends at the lake, sitting on the dock talking about inconsequential things and enjoying our surroundings and each other's company.   Reminds him that nothing is really that urgent, life is to be savored, and reminds him what "smelling the roses" really means.

more wonderful skies

Another really really windy day here in the desert.  We ventured out to rent a few movies for the next few nights and to check out a nearby spa.  It looked interesting so I made an appointment for a sea salt scrub pedicure next Tuesday.  These dry dusty days have taken their toll on my little toes.   After lunch we did 6 loads of laundry (yuk) and enjoyed a good dinner compliments of mr. crockpot.

Paul and Nina are leaving in the morning, if the wind calms down, so we said our good byes and hoped we'd cross paths again this winter.  I'm sure we will.  Lewis and Polly had a rousing good romp and he shared some of his favorite toys (squeaky balls and croaky frog).  So nice.

as JoAnn says, "sky blue pink"

Saturday night - date night

Dave put together one of the new Christmas tree's we bought to replace the Palm Springs Christmas Palm tree, I think we'll keep them.   Lewis helped, Sasha slept.

We went into Palm Springs for an early dinner at the Blue Coyote Grill and a good seat to watch the Festival of Lights Parade.  Way fun, way good dinner, way too many Wild Coyote Margaritas, so I'll finish this post tomorrow morning (Sunday).  Good night friends.