Tuesday - getting settled in Santee

After such a quiet stay in the desert, it was a bit of adjustment for us sleeping in a more urban setting.  It certainly isn't noisy here, but by comparison there were more noises in the early morning than we've been used to.  Feel sorry for us?   Don't.

It was a beautiful, sunny morning after quite a cool night.  Our site is situated so that the morning sun shines along the passenger side, so our coffees were accompanied by some lovely warmth.  We set up a new birdie spa and watched a whole new group of birds (to us) visit and rustle in the tree overhead.  We've noticed a number of raptors flying overhead and sitting quietly in the branches.

Friends of Nina and Paul,  Lisa and Hans,  stopped by while we were arranging our outdoor mats and organizing things after coffee.  What a lovely couple!  They have just started full timing in their new fifth wheel and are loving life.  We hope to see a bit more of them while we're here.     Speaking of raptors, Hans told us that,  while he and Lisa were at the office, they saw a hawk select, grab and kill a coot - right in front of them!  Hope our little birds will be safe here at Santee spa.....

I didn't take many pictures again today.  We were out and about getting our bearings here.  Lots to do before Jesse and Erin get here Sunday.

One of the 7 Santee lakes

Christmas is everywhere....

We didn't get the outside Christmas trees up just yet, they are on tomorrow's list.  We did manage to drape a few strings of lights about inside Beluga (with the help of a little scotch tape and a few push pins).  It looks warm and Christmasy in here, nice....

A little box arrived for us today....from Judi.  Cookies!  She didn't frost them, but included little packets for us to decorate them ourselves.   What a thoughtful gift.  I hope we can save a few for Jesse and Erin, but I'm not putting any money on it.  We're having enough trouble staying away from the plain cookies, I can't be responsible for what will happen when they're frosted and pretty!

Dave grilled a couple steaks outside tonight....in the dark, with his head light on.     I must look for the lantern Jesse gave us a few years ago, I know its here somewhere.

Check out yesterday's post on Nina's blog for a couple of cute pictures of Lewis, Polly and old Sasha in the dirt!  Great shots, thanks Nina.

Monday - move to San Diego

Another beautiful morning in the desert, how can we go?  A campsite outside of San Diego is waiting for us, so we must leave, but we'll be back.

 We drove away from Anza Borrego State Park today about noon and pointed Beluga's nose upward.  County road 22 wound up and up, around and around til we thought we'd never get to the top.  Views of  Borrego Valley far below were beyond belief as we crawled along.  The mountains were rocky, cactus and yucca vied for what little space was left.    Paul told us this road was OK for us, so we drove on.   Beluga performed perfectly, the air gauge problem that plagued us as last week when we arrived at the State Park seemed to have disappeared.   Dave was not having any problems with the road or the grade, but I was, once again, trying to do anything to take my mind off the climb.

Once we passed into the high chaparal of  Ranchita, I was fine and enjoyed the greening scenery.  The desert was behind us, San Diego ahead.

 Nina and Paul told us about the Julian Pie Company (at a junction point on our trip) and you know we had to check it out!    Strawberry rhubarb pie was what I was after, but they were all sold out.....boo hoo.  I couldn't go back to Beluga empty handed, Dave was waiting with a tiny trickle of drool at the corner of his mouth.    The nice lady behind the counter suggested I buy a frozen, unbaked one....perfect.   Nice hot pie for dessert!

After a slightly wrong turn in Santee, we finally arrived at the Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve and site 132, our home for the holidays.  Dave jockeyed Beluga around a bit, per my walkie talkie instructions and I popped the pie in the oven while we sat outside for a sunset gin. (No pictures, this isn't the desert....)  Its cooler here and much more humid.   Plus, we aren't allowed to set up our ex pen for the dogs, they must be "on leash" whenever they are outside, so we'll have to get used to that.

Dave cooked the last of our hot dogs and we cut into that pie.....Mmmmmm.   We both agreed it was as good as my homemade!

Sunday - last day in Borrego Springs

Old Sasha girl enjoys the heat of the campfire

We all enjoyed a beautiful campfire last night.  The stars were so brilliant, the sky so black, the fire so warm. It was really hard to go back inside.



Today was our last day here in Borrego Springs.  This area is definitely going on our list of places to revisit.  There are so many things we haven't done or seen yet and our time is up tomorrow at noon.

 We had a near catastrophe at our birdie spa this morning.  Only Dave's quick reflexes saved a greedy white winged dove.

We were having our morning coffees next to the birdie spa and enjoying the antics of this particular dove.  It landed on top of the feeder, knocked off the lid, and then hung upside down inside in order to reach the seeds at the bottom.  Quite clever.  The other birds didn't seem to mind at all and continued to pick the seeds in the normal fashion.  Suddenly the big greedy bird slipped off the edge and fell right in.
It filled the entire feeder and was stuck fast, upside down!  Struggle, struggle, to no avail.   Dave quickly unhooked the feeder and turned it upside down.  Slowly, with Dave's help, the stupid bird worked itself right side up and squeezed back out the hole.  It flew away on both wings, phew...  All the excitement called for another cup of coffee!

Lewis thinks that the birds (and ground squirrel) can't see him if he stands real, real still in the shadows

After lunch we drove over to the Visitor's Center (yes, we should have done it the first day, not the last, but...) and checked out a few places for next time.   Its an interesting building, made of stone and earth, built right into a little rise.  When we parked in the lot, we thought we'd come to the wrong place, we couldn't find the building.

parking spaces in foreground, roof of the Visitor's Center in the background

another angle of the roof - the only giveaway is the small exhaust fan in the center of the picture.

the Visitor's Center from its entrance.  nothing to take away from your desert experience here...



The setting is perfect, nestled in the desert as if it is growing there.  A nice nature trail surrounds the center and I'm always fascinated with the variety of ways mother nature chooses to package her sharp edges...

this guy is called "Teddy Bear Cholla" but don't let the name fool you...

We had a bit of time before our dinner "reservation" so we decided to take the sandy road up to an overlook called Font's Point.  It was a four mile off road trip to a fantastic view of the Badlands.

parts of this sandy road tested Dave's abilities, and our jeep's capabilities

hints of the badlands to come

standing right on the edge....looking down a few thousand feet with no railing...gasp.

our dinner destination - "The Beast"  rib joint.

Dave chats with the cook.  wonderful restaurant and they even welcome dogs!

discussing the merits of dry rubs vs bbq sauce, Memphis vs Texas
  

Those ribs were knock your socks off good.   Lick your fingers good.  Slap your chest and fall back into your chair good (to quote Jesse).   Thanks so much Nina and Paul, and thanks Polly, for sharing with the other black dogs.   See you all soon.

not a bad sunset from this joint...and not a bad way to spend our last day.  

Saturday morning - Galetta Meadows

As I said in my last post, yesterday was quite a day.  We spent a wonderful magical afternoon exploring the desert by car and on foot in a place called Galetta Meadows (why "meadows" I don't know, but thats the name!).  It is a wonderland of enormous, marvelously strange and beautiful metal sculptures.  Their size and placement in the desert belies their intricate detail.   Walking around them, under them, behind them Dave was just muttering and shaking his head in amazement.  There are dinosaurs, giant sloths, camels, horses, a giant scorpion, a collection of vineyard workers tending to vines made of metal, a monk walking through the desert with his dog, a jeep climbing a pile of boulders, complete with its occupants hanging on for dear life, desert tortoise families, and a fantastic serpent snaking through the desert and UNDER the road.
I know there are others, but we were just overwhelmed with what we did see.  Perhaps later we'll do more exploring.

this monk and his dog really look like they are walking through the desert

can you see Dave?

Uh Oh

waiting our turn

hang on!

look at the detail in her hair - even fly away strands!

Ouch!  got to be careful walking around here

giant sloth with baby 

this serpent is the newest addition, it cost $40,000 to create and took 4 months
The whole thing is HUGE and looks like it is going under the road

After our exciting morning, and our delightful desert afternoon we finished the day with a lovely dinner at a real gem here in Borrego Springs, The French Corner restaurant.  What a day.

Friday - what a day

Today started off beautifully, sunny, warm and quiet.

Then the phone rang.....Business catastrophe.  Dave  spent the next four hours on the phone with Australia and who knows where else trying to get AIM's emails and website's back on line.  He ran his cell phone out of battery, used up the service on my phone, cajoled, pleaded, demanded,  raised red fraud flags with both our MasterCard accounts causing our credit to shut down, , dropped calls, tried to drink a cup of coffee, missed breakfast completely and  possibly straightened things out.  It was well after lunchtime before he closed down both phones, turned the computer off and took a deep breath.

Stress in the morning, a whimsical afternoon, and an absolutely lovely evening.  What a day. Time for bed, I'll finish this post in the morning.....

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.