Local Sculptures

At the visitors center, we got the Borrego Springs Village Guide which tells about the many things in and around Borrego Springs that one can do. In it, they tell of Galleta Meadows with the sculptures. When talking to anyone in town, inevitably they ask if we've seen "the sculptures". So of course, we had to check them out. Handily the Guide has a map so you can find them. There are quite a lot of them, it turns out. They are a gift from "visionary town benefactor Dennis Avery and the craft of sculptor Ricardo Breceda". There are roughly 30 of them. We saw a large percentage of them. The day we decided to explore turned out to be quite windy, and a sandstorm created visibility problems. It also created a pretty cool picture of these sloths (or whatever they are) trekking through the sand.

Very interesting jeep sculpture with intriguing details!

Velociraptor looking ferocious

a prospector and his horse carrying all his supplies

One of many big horned sheep sculptures.

Palm Canyon

Borrego Springs is a cute little town, and when we checked out their two grocery stores we found one which even carried organic fruits and vegetables and several things in brands I usually get! It was like having a health food store selection sprinkled in amidst the usual fare. It’s always fun to see the differences one sees regionally. We also bought postcards and postcard stamps so we could send them to the grandkids, which then grew into sending them to others in lieu of our usual Christmas Letter.

We also visited the library, a very nice one, too, and several shops that were interesting and fun to browse through. With Borrego Springs Outfitters, we found more desert-appropriate hats, so added those to our collection.

Lots of large boulders on this hike.

The Park Visitor’s Center is on the west side of town (we were to the east of town) and well worth the visit. We got to see a short video on seasons in the desert. I enjoyed this since I don't plan to be here for some of those seasons--like summer where it can be over 124 degrees! They also had bird experts there so I was able to ask about the bird we saw at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and get it identified. We also asked about the best route to take our RV over the mountains and go some good advice.

We then we went on the hike up Palm Canyon. What a beautiful hike, but seemed much longer that the mile and a half they advertised. We wondered if it was as the crow flies, since the trail wound back and forth quite a bit and by the time we got back to the truck we felt we’d been on quite a trek! They warn you to take a gallon of water per person. I had a quart that we shared, and by the time we returned I understood the wisdom of that advice. Even though it was a cool day, the area is so arid and the climb challenging enough that I sure would not want to do this on a hotter day! I clearly need to get a backpack of some sort for stripping down layers and carrying more water. Still it was worth the climb past huge boulders, over all kinds of rocks and finally to the oasis with running water and many huge palm trees. 
 

At the top of the canyon where the palm tree are, there is a lovely spring and creek that goes for a little ways, feeding the trees and other plants that grow around it.



The palms at the oasis were huge!





The Slots

Jerry and the entrance sign to The Slots

Our fellow RVers told us about an interesting place that we decided to check out. It's called The Slots and is southwest of Borrego Springs. It is a slot canyon, and pretty interesting to hike, although not as spectacular in color as the famous ones in Nevada. Still it was fun and even challenging in a few spots. I was glad I took my cane with me since there were a few places I was thankful for the leverage! I took so many pictures with my phone that I sometimes just carried it in camera mode, which made for a few "What is THAT supposed to be?" shots. Since we went on a Saturday, there were plenty of people there. We didn't linger because we wanted to get down and back before the sun got too low in the sky. With the sun setting around 4:30, the afternoon is rather short! I was thankful to have a warning when I overheard this rather small young lady who had just returned say that she had torn her shirt. That left me wondering since I am not nearly so small.

 This is not a place for the claustrophobic, although most of the way was easy enough to walk.


Me being careful of my shirt in this narrow gap!



Spectacular formation at the end of the canyon.

If you look closely you can see Jerry!

Indio to Borrego Springs

As we left Indio, we dumped tanks at the nearby water treatment place for free, always a nice thing! They didn’t have potable water, so we waited to find that later. Turns out the Red Earth Casino where we parked near Salton city had water. That was nice surprise. They also have a place to dump for $8, so we were glad to have found the place in Indio. We were visited by Bob and Trish Nesbitt as soon as we got there which was fun. We've known them for years and they have recently gone full time in their RV and we discovered they were in the same area as we were. Nice surprise! We visited them in their Thousand Trails park when we were nearby in Indio, then they decided to see the Salton Sea area again and visiting us gave them a good excuse. It was so nice to catch up!

this shows the mud flats exposed as the water recedes in the Salton Sea

Where once there was a pier and yacht club and resort at the Salton Sea

A nice little hike up a hill overlooking our rig.

We left the Salton Sea area heading West over a seriously bad road! For about the first 5 miles, it was pretty rugged. In spots we could go no faster than 3 – 5 mph, sometimes as much as 15mph. I got pretty excited when we got all the way up to 35mph! Then suddenly the road was good (we crossed the county line) and it was full steam ahead. Up over some hills and around some curves we passed the off-road vehicle areas where there was lots of sand and hills. Farther on we entered the Anza-Borrego State Park which is HUGE! It completely surrounds the town of Borrego Springs. We were following directions to a Boondocker Group’s previous gathering and found the spot easily. Jerry had read that it was a favorite boondocking site for several people and it's easy to see why!

After finding our spot, we saw another Mountainaire nearby, so went over to introduce ourselves and found fellow Escapees! (Dean and Judy) We had never met, but they knew people we knew. Another couple (Jan and Chuck Moore) joined them a few days later whom we had met the previous year. It was fun to join them for some social time. Since we all have Moutainaires and are Escapees, there was no lack of things to talk about.

It was so wonderful to be back out in the desert after parking in casino parking lots for most of our trip so far. The wide open spaces, the gorgeous mountains surrounding us, the warmth of the sun during the day, the amazing sunsets. We even had hummingbirds do several inspections of our rig, and I saw a roadrunner chasing something in the bushes!

 

Farther up Rockhouse Rd from where we are camping there is Clark Dry Lake.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

We took a trip up to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It was a beautiful hike on a lovely day. The wind forecast was for high winds and not wanting to stay at the rig being rocked back and forth, we set off. The hike up on the ridge trail at the Preserve was the only place we felt the wind there, while deep in the lower areas amongst the trees it was calm.

Some of the paths were eerie and we thought they would make a good creepy movie scene! A few years ago there was a fire that burned many of the trees, but their skeletons still stand, holding the soil and providing shelter for little critters. In some places it was hard to tell what was burned and what was dormant because of the season. Not being familiar with the life-cycle here, I wasn't sure. In other places the growth was lush and even huge! There is a creek that runs through the bottom of the canyon, so some trees were quite large, wearing their Fall colors.

Around one corner in the path we came up on a bird sitting on a limb near the trail. He was happy to sit there posing for us, so we were able to get some great pictures for later identification. Turns out he was a Scrub Jay, and quite beautiful.

 

Desert Christ Park

"The Last Supper" relief

Always on the look out for free things to do in the areas we visit, we found this little gem: the Desert Christ Park. A reasonable drive from Indio, we took off one windy day and after doing some hiking in the Big Morongo Preserve (see the other post) we went on to the next town to see this. We enjoyed this, and found it to be a great lunch spot, as well. There was a little chapel nearby which was quite unique as well. Very peaceful spot.

I apologize for how messy this post looks, but the formatting is not cooperating at all, so I will have to leave it as is!

The above link takes you to a website describing this interesting little park: 

Desert Christ Park overlooks the high desert town of Yucca Valley in southern California.  Here the visitor may find more than forty snow-white statues and images portraying scenes of Christ's life and teachings. 

Dedicated on Easter Sunday 1951, this park was the vision of Eddie Garver, known at the time as the Desert Parson. Through a series of events, the Desert Parson was introduced to artist-sculptor Frank Antone Martin, the creator of these remarkable works of steel-reinforced concrete, and together they began a journey that would span time and test, and produce one of California's most iconic and historical parks. The park transcends denominational considerations and we welcome all to remember and celebrate not only the visionary and the artist, but most importantly, the life and teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

 

 







the tomb is empty!

Wind and then some

From Tachi Palace, we decided to go by a different route and bypass the LA area completely. We went East from Bakersfield up through Tehachapi, past Edwards Air Force Base and over to Boron and down through San Bernadino. About 20 miles West of Palm Springs we stopped at Morongo Casino on I-10 where we stayed on our return trip last year. They have moved the RVers to a different lot farther away, but that gives us a nice walk. It was a bit breezy and after one night we decided to move to Indio since the weather report was indicating high winds. Morongo is between two mountain ranges which creates a bit of a funnel, and I didn't like the sound of 40 - 60 mph winds coming through there!

At Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, we hunkered down and endured the wind and sand storm at a mere 20 - 35 mph. Visibility was about 50 ft, which is odd in a place where 3 miles looks more like a half a mile. Our neighbor's rooftop carrier got opened up by the wind, so Jerry braved the sandstorm to go over and tell him, and then we watched as he got up on the roof and secured it. I was concerned for his safety up there, but he seemed to have very steady footing and was able to get the job done and get down just fine. I was still glad to see his feet safely on the ground!

I have the handy NOAA app which gives hourly indications of temperature as well as wind speed and direction, so we were thankful to know which way to park our rig and well as how long we would want to keep our slide pulled in. There was wind over the next few days off and on, and one night the direction had changed and we had our sleep disrupted by the pushing of the gusts as well as the whine of the wind over and under us. I was glad to have earplugs to be able to go back to sleep!

Corning to Lemoore

The next leg of our trip took us from Corning to Lemoore, CA. We stayed at the Tachi Palace Casino last year and the security guys were very friendly. It's out in the middle of farm country where everything is very flat.

Last year we had driven past a place that I wanted to check out,  so this time I had a chance to do so. It's called Kings Outreach Ministries. I checked their website and decided to go see them.  It is, a couple who run a prayer and renewal center where people from all over come to stay  a few days or a month. It once was a boys ranch. I had the opportunity to receive some prayer and it was so refreshing.  I definitely want to return and hopefully spend more time.

It's always interesting to figure out shopping when in a new area,  especially smaller towns. I get excited when I find familiar brands unexpectedly. I'm always looking for things and looking around,  unlike my home store where I know where everything is and be very efficient. Of course shopping on the road takes on a bit of the Tourist Attraction feel as we compare what's the same and what's different from home.

After leaving Albany and having some time to play around with my computer,  I discovered that even reinstalling the OS doesn't fix its glitchiness. It works sort of,  but won't open files and generally is uncooperative. It was ok to surf the net for awhile,  but now even that isn't working. It's not that old,  but the warrantee had run out so it's back to my phone.  I'm getting pretty good at this,  but the reading glasses are a must!

When I figure out how to grab the pics on my phone I'll add some. Until then,  it's just verbage. :-)

And so we go.....!

We stayed 2 nights in Albany since it took all day for my brother-in-law to save my files and then reinstall the operating system and do all the updates. I am so glad he was able to retrieve all of my data, most of which was backed up except for the most recent documents. Hopefully it will continue to play nice since doing a blog on my smart phone is not my idea of fun!

It was nice to have that extra day to rest up after all the preparations and not just push on with the travel. That's one thing we learned last year,  that we don't have to be in a hurry and having lots of travel breaks makes it less exhausting.

Snow over the pass, but roads bare.

 We are currently parked at Rolling Hills Casino south of Redding, CA by about 40 miles. We parked last night at the Rest Stop in Canyonville, although we could have parked at the casino there, too. We did stock up on propane and gas. It rained like crazy on and off all night, and we were glad to see it had tapered off by this morning. Yesterday driving from Albany to Eugene and parts south was very windy and there were some white-knuckle moments. I was glad to not be driving that stretch. Instead I got the fun of driving through Portland at 5pm on Tuesday. I know, not the greatest timing, but we got through. Portland is still not as bad as Seattle!

Truck stop in Weed, CA, with Mt Shasta in the background

    We didn't get any great shots of Mt. Shasta since there was a large cloud hat sitting on top, but we tried.

Once again, in one day we traveled over the Siskiyous, saw snow on the sides of the road, and arrived here ready to trade sweatshirts for tank tops!

Departure Day!

Off we go on our second Snowbird journey. It's been a few months since we've gone anywhere in the Queen Mary, so we're getting settled back in, remembering the methods we developed last year, stowing stuff in the same--or better places. Considering whether we remembered to pack just the right stuff, too much stuff, or forgot some things we might have wanted with us. It's an ever-evolving thing to be more efficient, get more from less stuff, and yet be able to do all that we want to do.

I'm so excited to be back on the road. I love this lifestyle and have become increasingly discontent with living where we are. I'm not sure I want to be full time, but I definitely want someplace different. We still don't know what or where or even when, but we are not in a hurry and I'm sure our ideas will change and morph over time.

With the overcast and rainy skies, we haven't been able to get much of a charge on our solar panels, so I'm glad we have a generator. Very handy for taking the chill off as well and charging up the batteries for my night time CPAP use. We are using power sparingly until we get into the sunshine, and my kombucha jars are feeling a bit cold without running the heater all of the time.

This year we decided to leave right after Thanksgiving instead of waiting until after Christmas. We had a great Thanksgiving with family, and between getting loaded up and watching the weather, we left December 1st, a day after our original target date. We decided it would be worth it to have the night time temps above freezing! Our first stop over: Albany, OR, at my sister's house. We are parking across from her house in front of her neighbor's house since there is more room for our 38' motorhome plus the truck we tow behind. We would prefer to not have to unhitch while in 'travel' mode.

I am bringing my computer to my brother-in-law who fixes them. I am hoping he can figure out a fix, since it is stuck in some kind of weird loop and won't boot up properly. I've been too busy to use it much, but I will need it soon. I'm so glad I finally got a SmartPhone. It makes it much easier to do without my computer. But then there are those files I need, and did I back them up recently enough?

A Rainy send-off from the great Northwest!