As I Promised

Whenever I chatted to anyone before we flew home, there was a common request - "bring us some warm weather".  Well, we did exactly that as the temps were slightly below freezing - a far cry from when we arrived a week earlier.   We had a great trip back with all flights right on time.

As we prefer, we are camping out in the desert. The powers that be decided that we need a bathroom in this area.  That resulted in the excitement of the day as it arrived and was placed on the vaults that had also been installed.  It's not that we require it but I guess someone thought that we did.

We had heard of a very nice hike called Cool Canyon.  As we started, we were mostly in the shade and thought that perhaps the name came because the temperatures were cool.  It wasn't long before we decided that wasn't the reason, but instead it was because it was definitely cool (as in impressive).  It was incredibly beautiful, rather challenging as we had to crawl over several dry waterfalls (going back down we slid down them) and gave us quite a workout.  Although it was only about a mile each way, there was an elevation gain of abour 700 feet.  Yes, I felt it the next day!!

Part of the trail

A healthy group of Agave

Some of the scenery, with desert apricot bush

more scrambling

This plant is called Dudleya arizonica, and is amazing

This was probably the toughest one to get over

Wonder what made these unusual marks

From here, we took a drive over to Pinyon Mountain to an area known as the squeeze.  The space for a vehicle is six feet wide and then down some rocks.  We stopped, looked at it, and said "maybe another day"!!  On the ground there was evidence that vehicles don't always get through unscathed due to the broken glass.

And we always love seeing some interesting birds or wildlife - this time it was birds with both of them sitting on some dead century plants (Agave).

It's been a fun week, the weather has been great.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week

Hello BRRRRR

At the start of the week we were still at Borrego Springs enjoying the sun and pleasant temps.  We went out on a drive to Vista Del Marpais in the Anza Borrego State Park.  Here is a high point where you can overlook the badlands area of the park.

The area where we are camped has some of the greatest folks - old friends and new friends.  One of them now has prepared a pancake breakfast for a group of us.  They provide us with a terrific breakfast with pancakes, homemade huckleberry syrup, sausages, bacon, etc.  What a great treat.

Then comes taco Tuesday where you can buy a taco for $1.25.  The group of us decided we would go as it was at a topless bar. In the centre is a huge roaring bonfire (which got missed in the photo).  And as you can tell, this topless bar is called that because it does not have a roof!!

In the mountains behind us, some creative folks have created designs using rocks.  It started with a huge rattlesnake and over the years, various creations have come and gone.  Here is the most recent one.

On one of the many paths and trails in this area, the desert lilies are growing quite nicely.  In order to protect the ones that are growing on the trails, folks have placed rocks around them to prevent them from being stepped on.

As we were flying out of Palm Springs and had lots of time, we stopped in at a Walmart.  In the middle of the parking lot was a solar power camera - known as Lot Cop.  

This airport is open in the centre and the doors to each of the gates are always open.  As a result, there are birds all over.  I must send kudos to the cleaning crew as there was no evidence left around the area that I could see.

I had mentioned that we had lots of time - well the reason for this is because of the lovely weather that Vancouver was experiencing.  The flight was two hours late coming in from Vancouver so of course we are two hours late leaving. 

Fortunately, the lateness funneled down to our final flight to Regina so by 2 a.m. we arrived home.  There was definitely more snow at the airport in Vancouver than there was in Regina.  BUT, Regina has the temperature record.  On our way home from the airport, the temperature was -33C (-24F) - certainly fresh.  While it has become a bit milder, today it was still -23C (-9F).   Today as we were driving there were sundogs which really were quite pretty to look at.  They are often scene during frigid weather and it is said that it is an indication of more similar temperatures. 

Tomorrow is a different story and on Tuesday, it is supposed to  be above freezing.  Great timing as that is the day we head back.

Until next week, stay warm and I hope everyone has a great week.

A Week of Fun

It's hard to believe how quickly the week has passed.  It started with a pancake breakfast provided by our neighbour with delicious homemade huckleberry syrup.  Great news - it's on again tomorrow morning.

Throughout the week we have new friends arrive and other friends leave for other destinations.  This meant we had to socialize, and visit, with lots of laughs.

We did a couple of hikes up the mountain behind us so we did get some decent exercise a few times.  Here is a photo of our camping area.

Last week we spent the week off-roading with a group that we belong to.  This week, we once again hit some back country with a new bunch of folks.  The scenery was varied and absolutely incredible.  There is more to off-roading than bouncing over rocks.  On our way to Julian we saw some big-horn sheep right near us along the highway.

We went over to the mud palisades where the rock formations and colours were amazing. 

As we drove along the wash, we came across this tent underneath one of the canyon walls.  I would have been rather nervous staying there - first pebble I heard drop would have resulted in a quick exodus.

Along the side of the wash was a hawk that sat there, seemingly mesmerized as it didn't fly away when four other vehicles passed or when we stopped to take this photo.

On one of our trips, we stopped at 17 palms - a definite oasis in the desert.  The mailbox contains seven notebooks of people who have visited and signed over the years.

Our final destination for the day was the pumpkin patch.  This is an area of round sandstone creations - incredibly unique area.

I am including some of the more scenic spots we have been at this past week.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great week!!

Happy New Year

Good-bye 2019 and hello 2020!!!

The week started by attending a 4-wheeler gathering - that means the week was spent bouncing around in the Jeep exploring various places.   A real bonus was that there were quite a few new members so that meant meeting new folks while at the same time renew old friendships.

The weather was quite cool at the beginning of the week following some rain which was, of course, snow up in the mountains. As the week progressed, so did the weather ending the week absolutely perfect - sunny, warm, no wind.  On New Year's Day there was a potluck brunch - great weather, great food, lots of fun.  Throughout the week we went on quite a variety of trails with a variety of terrain and scenery - from barren desert to washes to canyons to palm trees.  Here are some of the trails we were on.

There has been quite a bit of rain in the area the past while.  As a result some of the flowers are starting to bloom.  As well, the ocotillo, which can appear as prickly dry sticks, are covered in leaves with many starting to bloom.

Ocotillo

A close-up of the Ocotillo

This is the agave plant - also known as the century plant.  We don't often see these in bloom.

After four days of bouncing out on the trails, it was time to take a day off.  In the town of Borrego Springs there was a farmers market at a park called Christmas Circle.  We attended the market as well as wander through some of the shops.  One is Borrego Outfitters which has some great clothes as well as things needed around the home.  It is always a delight to browse.

These were in Christmas circle.

Since there are a lot of RVs around, there certainly are some unusual ones which I thought I would share some of the more unique ones.

Last week I showed a photo of a fellow who got his motorhome stuck in the sand.  Well he did the same thing when he went out to get some water but this time he also managed to break the drive shaft.  Well, the fellows got him our, got a new drive shaft put in, annd this is how they moved his trailer onto hard ground so he could get hooked up so he could leave.

We would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.  May it be filled with health and happiness and world peace.  Thanks again for stopping by.