CALIFORNIA 2009

We left Lake Mittry 01-04-09, with Doug, JoAnn Dubrouillet and their Standard Poodle, Fillmore. And we traveled to Borrego Springs, CA., to meet up with some friends of Doug and JoAnn’s. So we said goodbye to the our Boomer friends but most of them we will see again in Quartsite, AZ.

Well, we arrived in Borrego Springs sometime after lunch and we had no trouble finding the town. Al had given great driving directions to JoAnn.

We stayed on the right side of Highway S22 at milepost #27. It was on private property but has been open for years to anyone that wants to camp here.

Here we are. And it looks like we are just parked out in the middle of nowhere. But, there are other rigs parked in the same area.

The road just to the south of where we were camped was called Rockhouse Road. Ken and I drove down to the very end to see what was down there. This amazing rock stood at the entrance to a sand and gravel company.

We met Doug and JoAnn’s friends, Al and Karen. Al gave us a tour of downtown Borrego Springs, CA. And they had even picked us up some maps and brochures of things to do while in and around Borrego Springs.

Al you gave us a great tour of the town and we all used the maps and brochures. Thank you both for making us feel so welcome.

Doug, JoAnn, Ken and I went into town for dinner later and ate at Albertos which was a Mexican Restaurant which Al suggested. Good suggestion Al.

01-05-09:

JoAnn and I drove into town to the Visitors Center and visited with a neat lady by the name of Rosemary. She has been volunteering for 20+ years at the Visitors Center and still loves working there. She was so neat to visit with.

While we were at the Visitors Center, we picked up additional brochures, maps, and etc. We also watched a film on the Marshal South family that moved to Borrego Springs during the depression. He raised his family on top of a mountain in Blair Valley and they packed everything they needed in on their backs. The history on this family is worth reading. I think he was an actor and writer and she was a poet. I think their children is still alive but they do not live in the area. Anyway, it was a neat story to hear.

One of our stops on the way back to camp, was to the Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association (ABNHA) where we visited with another nice lady and signed up for a guided hike on Wednesday to see pictographs in Blair Valley.

We were to meet up with a group of fellow hikers at the Blair Valley Nature Center on the east side of town. JoAnn and I signed the guys up but told the nice lady that the guys may not go with us. She understood and said that was fine. They would rather over count than under count. JoAnn and I were excited that we had all gotten on the list.

Later in the afternoon, Ken and I drove thru the Galleta Meadows Estate to see the Sky Art. The art is of vertebrates of the past which inhabited the Anza-Borrego region during the Pliocene-Pleistocene and Miocene eras. This art is located on Borrego Springs Road.

A man by the name of Dennis Avery purchased miles of Borrego Springs property in the 1990’s known as Galleta Meadows and commissioned a Mexican artist, Ricardo Arroyo Breceda to create ‘Sky Art’. Here is some of our pics:

For more information you may visit:
http://www.galletameadows.com/ or http://www.ricardobreceda.com/


From the brochure the artist gives his motivation:

Ricardo Breceda states that a few years ago when the movie “Jurassic Park” came out my passion for dinosaurs began. I began with small sculptures until my daughter motivated me to create a big sculpture that would capture everyone’s attention.

Six months later I finished my first T-Rex and Spinosaraus which both measured about 20 ft. tall by 35 ft. long! Like the ones that fought in the movie.

Once I placed them on the side of the freeway, the traffic stopped bumper to bumper! People, newspapers and TV reporters stopped by wondering what the new sensation was all about.

That motivated me to turn my hobby into a unique, fun business.

For anyone going to Borrego Springs, don’t forget to drive by and see these animals-A must see!


01-06-09 :

We found the hamburger joint in town called Jillburtos. We had lunch and then headed back out to the campsite.

We met Butch Holt, the neighborhood welcome wagon, and his dog Kapeesh. Butch invited us to Happy Hour at his place this evening.

Here is our pic of Happy Hour with our neighbors at Butch's place:

01-07-09:

Doug, JoAnn and I drove to Blair Valley for our hike to see the pictographs. Ken was working and didn’t get to go on the hike. So we met up with 18 other hikers at the kiosk on the east side of S2 at Mile 22.9 approximately 6 miles south of Scissors Crossings. From there we drove about 5 miles back to the trailhead.

The hike was led by volunteers, naturalists Mary Ekelund and Paul Larson of the Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association (ABNHA).

It was a moderate 3 mile round trip hike thru a beautiful desert valley to a panoramic overlook.

Here's JoAnn enjoing the shade. It was getting warm!

On the hike, I learned the names of a few plants that I hope I can remember when I see them again like the Mormon Tea, Jojoba and Creosote.

I saw the rock art. It looked like a sun and a teepee to me.

There are several holes worn down into the top of this rock. These are called morteros, Indian grinding holes. This is where the Indians would grind their corn and/or grain.

After the hike, we met Ken in town for lunch at Calicos Restaurant for an Egg Pocket and walked around town.

JULIAN, CALIFORNIA & BACK TO BORREGO SPRINGS

01-08-09:

Doug, JoAnn and I went to Julian and shopped. Too bad Ken had to stay at the trailer and work, again! He really missed a fun day of shopping.

Julian is about 25 miles from Borrego Springs and it is up over a winding mountianside. But it is beautiful. We ate lunch and of course we each had to have a piece of the famous pie at Mom’s Apple Pie Place on Main Street. It was great!

For more information on the beautiful town of Julian visit: http://www.julianca.com/ or chamber@julianca.com.

BACK AT BORREGO SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

01-09-09:

Ken and I attended the Farmer’s Market which was held on Christmas Circle in the center of town. It had lots of local produce and plants.

Ken was interviewed by a local newspaper reporter. He was asked if he had broken any of his New Year’s resolutions, yet. It was funny. He said, No, because he had not made any. Sounds like Ken, Huh?

TO OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA & THEN BACK TO BORREGO SPRINGS

01-10-09:

As we traveled S22 up the mountains out of Borrego Springs, on our way over to see my nephew, Joel and his wife, Nadia, in Oceanside, CA., I got to see several bighorn sheep- Borrego Cimarrons on the mountainside. They were amazing creatures to see. Now I know where Borrego Springs get's its name-from the bighorn sheep.

Our nephew, Joel is with the USMC and lives in Oceanside. We are so proud of him! His wife Nadia is a student at Texas A & M at College Station, TX.

We were lucky that we got to see Nadia because she was on a break from school. She is a lovely young lady and we think her and Joel are going to enjoy a very successful life together.

We all had a nice lunch together at Joe’s Crab Shack right on the ocean. What a view! It was beautiful. We hated to leave them but we had to head back over to Borrego Springs.