SUNDAY DEC. 30/07Temps got down to 40F last night so it was a bit nippy this morning until the sun started warming things up. Our days have been sunny with temps ranging around 65F. Weatherman says we'll be up into the mid 70's in a few days.
Not much going on in the morning but we took a drive in the afternoon just a few miles from here to Font's Point, sometimes called the Borrego Badlands. It's a 4 mile bumpity drive across the desert floor following a dry creek bed called a wash. This area can & does fill with water during severe rain storms. The Borrego Badlands is a very rugged place. The road ends & a short walk takes you to a cliff edge. No fences or barricades. You just walk up to the edge & fall off a cliff into the badlands. Not as far to the bottom as the Grand Canyon but far enough to do the same damage. We should have been able to see all the way to the Salton Sea many miles to the east but the visibility was very poor because of the huge amount of dust in the air. Even the mountains were hard to see & the town of Borrego Springs, normally visible, was hidden in the dust. Dust caused by countless thousands of jeeps, ATV's, dune buggies & dirt bikes in the desert to the south of us this week-end. Even the driver of a sight seeing tour truck who lives in Borrego Springs said this dust & smog to-day was the worst he had ever seen. I took some photographs http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy but we'll have to come back again in a few days after the dust has settled & hopefully we will have unlimited visibility to the Salton Sea in the east & maybe Mexico to the south.
Stepped outside after supper to-night to have a look at the stars & was startled by a movement about 20 feet away. Shone the flashlight over by the firepit & watched a beautiful desert fox calmly walk by. First time I had ever seen one. There was also a couple of coyotes very close & it was a real treat to stand quietly & listen to their howling & yipping. This desert is an amazing place.....................
Y'all picked a nice little chunk of desert to spend new years eve in!
ReplyDeleteHAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Kelly and AL
As this year draws to a close sitting in front of my own fire perhaps just for a moment you'll feel a warmth as my thoughts are with you.
the hermit