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.
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| Good Morning Sunshine! |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Pat and Clemson, Bill and Harold |
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| And Clemson made a new friend today in Pat |
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| Back there in the middle of the photo, you can see Lorne and Sue leaving the area |
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| Lorne and Sue ready to move on |
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| 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.
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| Picking grapes |
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| 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.
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| We left our mark in the sand |
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| 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.
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| Panning for gold |
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| 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.
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| And my hummingbirds are back |
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| 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.
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| Deb, Tom, Elaine, Clarke and part of Bill (sorry dear!) |
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| 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.
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| 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.