First of all, Happy Birthday, Mom! We hope you had a great time visiting old friends in Florida.
While staying in Thermal, CA, we went to Borrego Springs, CA. It is surrounded by Anzo-Borrego State Park which seems to be the place for four-wheeling and dirt bikes. All along the secondary highway, S-22, there were hundreds of RVs parked in the sand. A few were off by themselves, but more often, the campers were parked in circles like old wagon trains would. At an overlook, the vehicles in the valley below sounded a little like bees buzzing. You can just see the RVs through the dust in the air.
Then there were vast areas with no sign of human interaction. That might be just a bit too wild for me, but we would like to try boondocking on some BLM (US Government Bureau of Land Management) land. Maybe one day around Quartzsite, AZ.
The blue area in the center of the park map is the town of Borrego Springs (the gray area is Anza-Borrego State Park.)
We learned "Borrego" means "Big Horn Sheep." The desert sheep are smaller than their cousins high in the mountains, to better cope with the heat of the desert. I'm still looking for my first Borrego sighting. The bronze relief below is actually the visitor center door pull.
Along the main North-South road in Borrego Springs, there were a number of privately commissioned works of art. Each was made of welded sheet metal and allowed to rust naturally giving them their reddish brown finish.
Galleta Meadows Estate is kind to allow looky-loos.
He looks like he's afraid of his shadow!
Quite a few of the works depicted extinct animals known to have inhabited this area, but we liked the whimsy in the jeep with the riders hair flying in the wind.
The Salton Sea was a completely different shade of blue from our previous visit. The color, of course, depends on the color of the sky and the amount of haze in the air.
On the drive home, we noticed the Salton Sea no longer appeared electric blue. With no wind, the haze settled back in.
Our camp host, Ann (with help from some of the residents), set up a very nice get together in the clubhouse. She insisted we celebrate the New Year on local time - no one was allowed to celebrate an Eastern Time New Year and then leave early. She had suggested naps for those who might have trouble staying up late. Rick made the most of the hats, while Robin snapped his picture and showed him just how good that look was on him.
Bob and Gloria, Phil, Tony and Lucy, Rick and Robin are around the outside of the table while Bruno and Ilene and Joani are sitting on the inside of the table.
Instead of working crossword puzzles, David
tries to remember names as a mental work out.
Below, Kadi is taking a picture of Bruno and Ilene while Larry and Dennis are deep into a technical discussion of some sort. Kippy and Jim are at the table contemplating another round of snacking - I think we all ate too much!
Robin is leading the Conga line with Ann, Michael, Kippy, Bruno, Ilene and Debbie in tow - the rest of us party poopers were too inhibited for such frivolity.
Just after midnight, Debbie and Lucy played the piano while we all sang Auld Lang Syne. I don't think Phil packed anything but shorts - even on the coolest nights, he stood around the fire in shorts. Behind Phil, on the scooter, is Dick, a fellow amateur astronomer.
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Raise your glass in a salute to today, for tomorrow we will look back on today as the good old days!
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