Sunday, February 19, 2017

Coyote Chorus, Sunrise, Fog, Clouds, More Sculptures, Friends, Oh My!


Sunday, Feb. 19th got me up when I saw pink in my bedroom window. It was a cool 58F in here at 6 am so Bill pulled our Blue Flame heater out to take the chill out. The outside temperature was sitting at 46F but that didn’t stop me from getting out and taking pictures of the sun rising in the east.
Good Morning Sunshine!

Another sun dog
  


Bill went out with Clemson and to turn his portable solar panel and called me out. The coyotes were singing the chorus of the choir song like I’ve never heard. I think a couple of the sopranos were a bit off key but it was beautiful to listen to. I had to snap a picture of Bill telling Clemmy the story of the coyotes and why he has to stay close to us at night. Not wanting to be eaten, he listened with both big floppy ears.
Before long more remarkable pictures presented themselves as the fog or clouds moved in low and thick to hide the Santa Rosa mountains. Still beautiful, I’ve never seen such clouds before, or at least never paid attention. Out here, with an expanse of open desert you have no choice but to admire your surroundings. And we do.
If it wasn't so pretty, it would almost be spooky the way this fog rolled in
Inside we read blog posts and had our coffee until the sun forcefully took control of the morning. Time to get washed and get out to enjoy it now that it is 55F already. Back home we are hearing stories of a gorgeous Saturday with temperatures reaching 15C & 18C. (64F) That is unheard of but awesome for them to get such a delightful promise of spring.
Before long, the mountains disappeared in the fog/cloud
This morning we were saying goodbye to our close neighbours. Boy, are we glad to see them go! Ha ha ha, that comment was for Lorne’s benefit only. What a great laugh we’ve had over that and will for many years to come. Actually, it was unfortunate that the weather wasn’t in our favour while they were here. We could have loved to have Happy Hour with them.


Pat and Clemson, Bill and Harold
  So! With that in mind, Lorne and Bill plotted yesterday, while playing with their toys, that we would have a morning Happy Hour before they left. I notified Tom and Deb so they could join us to meet the Greens and their friends as well.

Around 8:00 we saw Lorne up on his roof laying his panels down and then he and Sue, Harold and Pat, Tom and Deb joined us with their chairs. Clemson even had company when Charlie and Lexie came along. 

Kaitlyn and Gracie
We got a chance to meet little Gracie and her mom, Kaitlyn, as well. What a cutie-pie she is, playing shy when I’ll just bet she isn’t at home.
Lorne and I could come up with many stories behind this discarded burnt fry pan
We talked a lot and laughed just as much and didn’t forget to get the blog pictures. 

Harold, Lorne, Kaitlyn & Gracie, Sue, Deb, Tom, Patsy, Pat

Lorne and Sue were headed towards Anaheim, Ca to take Grace to Disney and Harold and Pat were headed towards Quartzsite to get solar panels put on. That is exciting for both of them!
And Clemson made a new friend today in Pat
Back there in the middle of the photo, you can see Lorne and Sue leaving the area

Lorne and Sue ready to move on

Note the black shadows of the clouds on these mountains, amazing!
Bill and I had a quick bite to eat and by 11:30 we were driving into Borrego Springs. 

We turned off onto Di Georgio Road to check out the remaining metal sculptures.




 I think we’ve seen them all now.


Picking grapes

Detail in the tools they are using

 It never hurts to have a little adventure in your day so when pulling out of one of the sites, Bill decided to get stuck in the sand.

Okay, I’m not laughing here but with no less than 3 jeeps in the same area, they immediately jumped into action. It was awesome! 

One guy took charge and got the strapping needed, giving directions to the other jeep owner, while Bill removed his mud flap bar. It took mere minutes to execute the whole removal and one of the jeep owners took pleasure in documenting the procedure on his phone.
We left our mark in the sand



The sculpture we stopped to see

Well, Andy Thompson, Bill refrained from calling you this time! We were lucky to have others around so no time was wasted waiting for someone to rescue us. I think the most comical thing was that we got stuck at the display of the metal jeep! With handshakes and thank yous all around, we carried on to look at the next display.
Panning for gold


the 350' long serpent, illusion has it going under the road

Once we’d seen them all, we drove back into the post office so I could mail a card for someone special back home. The Chamber of Commerce was closed so we will not be able to dump our garbage today. We went to the Market across from the mall and I was able to pick up bread, milk and some soft dog food for Clemson. We missed the mark on that one and would have run out before we hit Yuma. I’m sure he won’t mind a change in his meal for a few nights.
We got back around 1 and dropped in to meet Elaine and Clarke from The Newell Adventure. They aren’t parked too far from us. They are from Ontario, California. We had a brief chat and they advised where to look for the stone snake so tomorrow morning we’ll hike up that mountain until we find it. Rumour has it, it will be worth the hike!
Coming back home Bill had a sandwich and I made up a salad with beef, cheese, pepper, onion and cottage cheese. Just enough to hit the spot and tide us over until dinner. The sky was not free of clouds until around 4:30 so I didn’t get outside to read my book. Oh well, it was a great day all the same.
Tom and Deb are pulling out tomorrow too so they are having an early bonfire tonight. Even though it isn’t something we enjoy when it is cold, we will partake and spend a couple of hours of the last evening here with our new friends. Elaine and Clarke are invited as well so we can get to know them too.
And my hummingbirds are back

Bill caught this little guy


Bill bbq’d up a couple of mild Italian sausage and we had them in a bun around 5. Peeking out the window at the sunset caused me to grab my camera once more to get a snapshot of it. Today didn’t get as warm as I’d expected, only about 68F but we have high hopes for tomorrow.
Deb, Tom, Elaine, Clarke and part of Bill (sorry dear!)

Beautiful eastern sky
At 5:30 we headed next door with our chairs and a drink to warm our tummies. Everyone arrived at the same time and Tom had a nice fire in the making. The wind increased after we were all settled on the north side and it was hitting us from behind. This meant the heat from the fire didn’t do much for my toes or for my back but the company was great.

By 7 pm we’d all had enough fun so said our goodbyes. We have plans to meet with Elaine and Clarke in the morning to go find the snake. That will be a neat hike and we’ll be up on time to say goodbye to Tom and Deb as they move on to another location.
Gorgeous eastern sky as the sun set in the west
It has been a good day here in the desert of Borrego Springs. My challenging question for our friends, Tom and Deb, was whether they knew the Spanish meaning for Borrego. Good thing there was no prize because they were stumped. If YOU don’t know, it means Big Horn Sheep.


I hope you have enjoyed your day as well. Thank you for following along today and as always, feel free to comment.

18 comments:

  1. Glad you enjoyed your day and didn't get the truck stuck too badly.
    The wind was blowing so much here I was cold working outside.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. It was a great day and with the truck only being 2 wheel drive, we knew it would happen sooner or later!

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  2. What a great day and you have great pictures of it. Starting with the sunrise and clouds this morning. We so enjoyed the morning "Happy Hour" with your "close" neighbors and their friends. Being able to sit around a campfire with new friends was the perfect way to end the day.
    One thing for sure we will remember the Spanish meaning of Borrego.
    Sorry to read you guys got stuck.

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    1. Yes, a great day and thank you. It was so hard to choose which pics to post. LOL We enjoyed the chat with everyone in the morning as well, maybe a new tradition! thank you for the campfire, too bad the wind was so strong and cold but I do try not to sit outside if it means dragging my winter coat out! Winter coats are for Ontario, Canada. :) The truck came out so easily with the little powerful jeep.

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  3. Lots fun driving around checking out the sculptures, but you not supposed to get stuck,,, No problem some one is always around to give you. Nice that you got to meet Clarke and Elaine enjoy you hike to see the Big Snake it is real cool.
    I think you see why we enjoy the desert so much.
    Did you go south from Christmas circle on S3 and see more sculptures out there , there is some very different ones there.

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  4. Good thing you had quick help to pull you out of the sand 😊 The jeep is my favourite and the serpent is hubby's favourite! Can you dump your garbage at the Chamber of Commerce? We went up to the dump one day to drop off a bag of garbage and it was very expensive, $19.00 whether you drop off one bag or a pick-up load!

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    1. There was a fellow ahead of us last time we went to the C. of C. and he just asked for the key and he went out and used one of their two dumpsters to drop his bag in. It didn't cost him anything. Our garbage went for a ride yesterday but didn't get dumped, duh, of course they are closed on Sunday! Didn't think of that.

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  5. Patsy those sculptures are awesome, I just love them. Anybody with a welding background must be very appreciative of the workmanship. Good thing help was available to get you out of the sand. I bet those guys in the jeeps just loved coming to your aid and got a kick out of it. Finally they had an opportunity to use the gear they have been lugging around.
    Thank you for your comment on my blog to which I replied. BTW which font and size is it you are using it looks very nice.

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    1. The sculptures are unbelievable, something to see up close for sure. The guys in the jeep were indeed thrilled to be able to get their gear out. We laughed about it and the big guy said "this is great! We're in for some fun". However it didn't take too long so not as much fun as they'd hoped. :) In Word I use size 14 Italics Calibri (body). I don't change it at all in my post then.

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  6. Beautiful photos of the sunrise and the fog rolling in and the cloud cover. Glad you were able to get unstuck so quickly from the sand. Better find a strip of carpet to keep in the truck. Looks like you two had a wonderful Sunday in Borrego Springs.

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    1. thank you Doug. Yes the getting stuck part isn't fun, since we are not 4 wheelers! Good idea though about the small carpet. It was a great day for sure.

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  7. I like the way you've enlarged your photos. They look good. Don't know why more bloggers don't. Your pictures of the sculptures are among the best I've seen, well done!

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  8. I love the pictures - it was a busy day! :)

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  9. When we got to Anahiem I measured our distance to our neighbour. 12 feet away and he is not complaining. lol lol. He is not nearly as friendly as you and Bill are either. Look forward to paths crossing in future.

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    1. So what you're saying is that you are not getting any better at finding a site. Ha ha! I can't talk, we are at Pilot Knob across from Rob and Pat and two away from George and Suzie and the sites are better than last time but still only about 20' between us. :) We also look forward to seeing you guys again.

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  10. Hey there,
    We are in Palm Springs and thinking of coming up to Borrego Springs in the next day or two. How long are you guys there for?? Would love to catch up.

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    1. AAh, we left yesterday but if you go, my sister Gayle and John are there now for a week. They arrived on Monday afternoon. We were on Rockhouse Trail. I think you have her info but you should text her if you are going before Monday. 716-579-8885 she would love to see you guys again.

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