Experiencing Borrego Springs, Enjoying the Heat, Metal Sculptures, Valentine’s Day Surprise

Tuesday, Feb. 14^th and we woke up unsure of what the day was going to bring. First, we see sun, then we see clouds and more clouds, then the sun began to come back. Nevertheless, the heat arrived, no matter sun or cloud and this was going to be a good day.

and although this looks like evening, the colour is just off.
This is the
moment this morning when I knew the clouds were
clearing out for me

Originally, meaning last night, we thought we’d just sit today, stay put and enjoy the reading outside and save our exploring days until later this week. 

This morning when we checked the Weather Network it is indicating chance of rain, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That changes things.

Our spot, views all around us of the mountains
and no one too close

Bill hadn’t tilted the solar panels yet, pleased with yesterday’s performance and up to this point we hadn’t completely decided how long we’d stay. This morning he went out and set up our portable 120-watt panel facing the southeast. Almost immediately the battery power went from 12.1 first thing to 12.4 and ever climbing.

By this time, we had decided to laze around for most of the morning and go touring this afternoon. 

Clemson curled up in the chair and my sunflower
guarding our site

We could only have 3 dry days to do that, we’ve choose to never miss an opportunity and come Friday we’ll know what we want to do beyond that. We had a late breakfast, I packed a cooler with water and all three of us drove down Borrego Salton Seaway/S22 into the town of Borrego Springs.

Band setting up to entertain 

Huge trees and shade

Christmas Circle Park

In dead centre of the spoke-designed town, I was immediately reminded of a miniature Goderich, a town back home in Ontario. The park in the middle is called Christmas Circle and presented us with the greenest grass we’ve seen in a long time. Well, no kidding! We’re in the desert most of the time!

Very pretty area with picnic tables and gazebo shelters and a small band of musicians priming up under one. Today, being Tuesday, there was no hustle and bustle of the well-known Friday Market but that is okay. We may come back since it is so close to our camping location.

We parked and walked the streets to see what was offered. There was a nursery across from the Circle so started there.

It was hot and you could tell Clemson wasn’t keen on walking on the hot sidewalks so we headed back to the truck. He already prances but this was obvious his tootsies were too tender to keep up the pace.

Thrift Store! Happy Valentine's Day, Patsy!

Bill drove further down the road to the Mall and I found the sign I was looking for. It was my Valentine’s Day present to be dropped off at the Frugal Coyote Thrift Store. Bill stayed in the truck with Clemmy while I perused to my heart’s content. I found a couple of tops that wanted to come home with me so with very little effect on my pocket book, I was in and out of there within 20 minutes.

From there we decided to drive further south looking for the famed metal sculptures other bloggers have written about. We had no other instructions but to ‘drive until you see the sculptures’ so that is what we did. Finally, we started to notice them out in the middle of the desert along the road. We took the bumpy trail and snapped pictures of a few of them, very few in relation to the total number. 

This was our first one, A bald eagle sitting on his nest
with two babies and a snake in his talons for lunch
Unbelievable craftmanship!

this couple were geo-caching so Bill and I
tried to help them find the cache

 The story is that over 10 years ago, a property owner, envisioned free standing art on 3 square miles of his property surrounding Borrego Springs. When Ricardo Breceda found he couldn’t work at his construction job due to a tragic accident, he found himself creating steel welded sculptures, first one for his daughter who wanted a life-size dinosaur.

For my sister, Donna and my friend, Brenda

sorry gals, can't bring these home for your collection!

Commissioned by Dennis Avery, he set about creating 130 life-like sculptures of animals that walked the desert floor millions of years ago. More recently, other animals of today have joined the display. 

It's okay, he realized I would have given him heartburn
they don't like sweet things, ha ha

We were fascinated, not only by his amazing talent and patience, but also with the genius to place them out in the natural environment of the surrounding land. Cacti grow wild around the trails and you’ll even find the occasional rv or tent settled into a spot not far from the sculptures.

Cleverly placed

Teddy Bear Cholla, I think

We know there are more to see and all for another day, another trip, another winter, another year. We know there is a 350' long metal serpent to find yet.
Thank you for this great adventure, Ricardo!

The narrow bumpy road to the sculptures

and last but not least, we saw an Airstream trailer
not far in off the main road

From there we headed back to camp as it was approaching 2:30 already. We had fun, loving the town, the sculptures and the beauty of the surrounding scenery. We had a few hours left of sun so took our books outside and enjoyed the peacefulness of the area.

A couple of 3" geckos skittered by when I didn't
have my zoom lens

Way back there, using my zoom you can see our
approximate camping location

On the way in, Bill spotted and captured with his
camera this jack rabbit

Not sure what this pose means other than
"girl captures desert"

Bill barbecued a pork shoulder blade steak for dinner and I made up a salad for him and steamed some broccoli for me. He enjoyed his meal but the pork just wasn’t doing it for me, yet again. I ate enough to satisfy my tummy and will probably dip into the Tillamook ice cream later. It is as creamy as Chapman’s back home and a couple of scoops will top dinner off with a bang.

I hope you have enjoyed your day today and thank you for reading along.

As always, I love to receive your comments.