BORREGO REDUX

Upon arrival in Indio, CA our car was instantly voted the most
beautiful in town.  Therefore, the Mayor had our car placed upon
this high pedestal for all the towns resident's viewing pleasure...
OR...We drove halfway up a steep winding mountain road, pulled
into an overlook and had our battery die.  In fact, the battery was
so dead that even after jumping the battery, the electrical system
refused to allow the power steering and the power brakes to work.
Since it was almost impossible to drive down from this precarious
situation we called AAA and asked them for a ride.  
Now for the test--Which story is true?

      Wow, have we been busy lately.  It almost seems like work…well maybe not!  After leaving Borrego Springs we ventured to Indio, California.  Indio is adjacent to several ritzy towns, including the opulent Palm Springs.  This area is loaded with shopping opportunities, so it was a good time to do our “big box” store shopping.  UUGH.  Our time there was vastly improved as we met up with Bob and Ann Flesvig and, new friends, Stuart and Leslie Offer.  Stuart & Leslie are Indio “snowbirds’ so we had great tour guides.  

Our view while waiting for the tow truck.

     In fact, Stuart and Leslie served as trip leader for the “Ladder's Trail” in nearby Mecca, CA.  This hike was fantastic.  It was a 6 mile trail mostly through a narrow slot canyon with several ladders which allowed us to to get up and down the steep pitches.  I love slot canyons and this one was made even more special by hiking with friends.

Ladder's Trail

Ladder's Trail

Ann Flesvig, Leslie Offer & Stuart Offer

Stuart Offer watches Bob Flesvig
ascend a ladder on the Ladder's Trail.

      Indio is the home of “Shields Date Garden,” a large commercial date farm and host of the film “Romance and Sex Life of the Date."  The flick was actually interesting, but considering the demographic of this area, I thought it would be more appropriate if the movie was about “prunes.” At any rate, the star of Shields is their famous Date Shake.  No this is not a dance, yes it is a date flavored milk shake.  It was good, but chocolate still rules.

Nancy's favorite flick.

Dry lake bottom in
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Dry lake in
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

      Since we had such a great time in Borrego Springs, we decided to return for a second visit after our time in Indio ended.  Boy did we luck out as we kept scoring state park campsites due to cancellations.  This was the year to be in Borrego Springs as they experienced an unusual amount of rainfall and a "super-bloom” was on!  The desert was unbelievable with lush green vegetation blooming all over the place.  The desert even had grass!  Very weird.  Better yet we were joined by Bob and Ann Flesvig and Dave and Kathy Scranton.  So the usual dinners out and fun happy hours prevailed.

Nancy hanging out on the desert in
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Interesting pictographs found in

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

More interesting pictographs found in
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

     Since I had hiked all the park's trails on my earlier visit I decided to do some bushwhacking.  My favorite hike was taking the “Overlook Trail” to its end then hiking beyond, up a moderately steep mountain ridge.  Since this hike started with me telling Nancy that I was just going out for a stroll around the campground, I was not armed with a pack or water.  All of a sudden I found myself heading to the overlook so I decided to continue for a few more miles.  Yes, I agree, this was a brainless decision, but when my tootsies get moving I just can’t stop them.  Finally, I arrived at a very steep technical part of the mountain so I turned around.  It was then that I was rewarded with a pack of 7 Bighorn Sheep.  And these guys were real close!!!  I guess they liked my route because they were following along right behind me.  It was clear they knew I was there so when I turned around all but one abandoned the ridge and started down the steep edges.  One guy decided that he wanted to remain on my trail so he just kept walking straight toward me.  Since the ridge was only 30 feet wide and he was dangerously close, I was forced to bail out over the edge onto a rock shelf as I watched him passively pass by.  I don’t know about you but I don’t want to mess around with those huge, rounded horns.

The video ends with me saying "I'm out of here" as I

am desperately trying to get out of the way.

A Bighorn Sheep on the lower part of the trail.

My private desert garden near the top of
 the ridge high above Borrego Springs.

     Next it was on to a beautiful boondocking area just north of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Dick and Gaila Mallery.  Once again--we had more fun with some great friends and we were even joined by Dave and Kathy Scranton.  However, on the day we were supposed to arrive, a little birdie told us that it was “national battery month” so our rig decided to join the fun, take the day off and join our car battery.  So there we sat in the middle of a casino parking lot "dead as a doornail."  Using our house batteries to charge the starter battery we were not held up long, but we needed a new battery and had to replace a solenoid (whatever the heck that is). 

A desert "super-bloom."

     The national monument did not change since our last visit in February 2016 so we decided to spend a little time in the towns of Why, AZ and Ajo, AZ (pronounced "ahh-hoe").  Why would anybody name a town Why?—Probably some Ajo….GROAN!!!  

Entertainment at the Ajo Farmer's Market.

     Believe it or not, next we had a schedule and reservations.  It was on to Tucson, AZ for doctor’s appointments and the Escapade.  The Escapee’s RV Club is a large organization with an emphasis on full-time RVer’s.  Every year they have a rally which is called “Escapade.”  This year’s rally was in Tucson and was attended by almost 1,000 rigs and approximately 2,800 attendees.  The event provided seminars, vendors of RV products, entertainment, as well as, a gathering of a lot of our RV friends.  We had a blast as every day was full of activities and fun with friends.  Nancy even had an opportunity to display her art and make a lot of sales.  The event lasted a week and we were thoroughly exhausted at the end, so we decided to stay in Tucson to recuperate and do a few chores before hitting the road again.  

More photos of a desert "super-bloom."

CHEERS!

Even I couldn't get lost on this trail!