Borrego Springs

After another good Mexican lunch, this time at Los Jilberto’s, we popped into the Borrego Art Institute. This is a small museum with nice temporary collections, this session by Mexican artists.

That is a tiny bit of the art in town. What would you do if you had lots of money and acres of land? Build another mall and hope the shops were rented? Build another housing development and hope people move in? Or build an outdoor art museum and watch people thrill at what you have supported? That last is what Dennis Avery and Sally Tsui-Avery did with their acres of Galleta Meadows Estate. They commissioned artist Ricardo Breceda of Temecula to create dozens of lifesize and beyond sculptures of dinosaurs, horses, prehistoric sabertooth cats, turtles, historical figures, a jeep and a massive serpent that crosses the road and much more. These are wonderous pieces that we chased until the sun set and we could see no more. Here is a hint of what we saw.

Without Jeff being with us on our trip, we have decided to head home. We look forward to your joining us in the upcoming months.

Anza Borrego State Park

In empathy with our family on the East Coast, we found ice cycles hanging from the bottom of the RV.

So we exaggerated, the ice cycles are real from the below freezing night but our days are sunny and mild. Fortunately we are not facing the eastern cold but, unfortunately, Jeff’s plan to join us was dashed by the Polar Vortex. We miss having him in this lovely area. For our visit to Anza we worked with an excellent ranger. For starters, she recommended the Palm Canyon hike, an “easy” four mile round trip. Maybe she understated a bit or maybe we didn’t listen well, but “easy” is a relative term. What is a fact is how beautiful this canyon is even though we had to walk in sand, climb small boulders, wander off trail, and ford a small creek. These photos show a bit of the beauty of this not so “easy” hike.

This is the palm grove at the turnaround point of the hike.

The ranger also recommended an excellent spot for lunch. Carmelita’s delicious tacos, enchiladas and chili relleno replenished our energy after the hike. The next morning we continued hiking. We did two short hikes to visit ancient tribal sites. The longer one had a bit of rock hopping but was mostly a steady uphill sand trail.

We found these pictographs that experts are debating the meaning of, be it ritual, male coming of age, or undetermined.

The short and easy ‘Ehmuu-Morteros Trail went to a seasonal home of the ancient Kumeyaay people. It features grinding rocks, groves of edible plants, and “cupules” which also are subject to debate. They look like miniature vertical grinding rocks and Anna Lee interpreted them to be places to sharpen the grinding tool or for young girls to learn to grind. We did not find the lone pictograph along this trail.

Having read some tempting travel articles on Anza, we have long planned to come here. This largest state park in the contiguous USA is well worth several visits. January is lovely but spring is advertised as spectacular due to the wildflowers. We have it on our list for a return trip.

Julian

Happy New Year to you. We ended and began the new year celebrating with friends and look forward to this continuing as we embark on our 2014 travels. We plan to meet son Jeff in San Diego, if the weather permits him to leave Albany, NY. The three of us will explore desert lands in CA and NV. We have started our trip in Julian near Anza Borrego State Park, a place of stark beauty.

Our campground is on the Great Southern Overland Stage Route of 1849. This is a barren place in 2014; we dread to think of what it was like 150 years ago. Gold brought out the first settlers and one of the few remaining gold rush towns is Julian. It was founded by Drury Bailey, a Confederate States of America veteran, in 1869, a bit late into the rush, and faded like most of the other mountain towns. The Pioneer Cemetery is the final home for residents both early and current. Bsilry'd grave shows the CSA designation that we first saw in Atlanta.

But the earth yielded another “mine” for the residents, apples. This is a prime apple growing region and almost every store in town sells apple products. We had to test a piece of pie. It was delicious, almost as good as Jerry’s.

The town caters to tourists and there were a surprising number of them enjoying a mild first Sunday in January. A group of volunteers entertain visitors with an amusing playlet, so bad its funny.

But the most important event of the day was the Forty-Niners win over Packers in bitter cold Green Bay. Go Niners!