ROCKHOUSE ROAD & COYOTE CANYON

Noticed the moon going down over Coyote Mountain this morning so started off the day in my pajamas outside the motorhome taking pictures. Another perk that comes with boondocking. No neighbors close by to complain about some guy running around in his PJ's. The area we are boondocking in was once an aerial gunnery range where fighter pilots were trained during & after the second world war. There is a large dry lake bed west of us called Clark Dry Lakebed & that's where the large concrete targets were placed for the pilots to shoot at. There are still bullets & shell casings to be found here in the desert. Last January we found the business end of a 50MM tracer bullet. A gravel road (Rockhouse) leads back to this dry lake bed & continues for miles beyond into what we hear is a beautiful area. To-day we followed that road along the east side of Coyote Mountain as far as we could before having to turn around. Just too rough for our 2 wheel drive car. COYOTE CANYON

On the other side of Coyote Mountain is Coyote Canyon (of course) so we slipped around over there where the road through the desert is all hard packed sand & much gentler for both vehicles & passengers. The road slowly climbs into a valley with an abundance of Ocotillo plants. Most we've ever seen in one place. Indians lived in this sheltered valley a couple of hundred years ago. It later became a main route for people making the trek to the west. Beautiful area surrounded by tall mountains on three sides. Drove in as far as a place called Desert Garden. Not much there except a few picnic tables & a bench but definitely a quiet shelter in the desert to sit & quietly imagine the life & times of the people who once lived here.Borrego Springs is only about 3 miles from Coyote Canyon so we drove back into town & split a fish taco at Jilbertos. I still prefer my hamburger but was told by the Boss we were going to share the taco so button it up. Parked by the library for a few minutes to check out their Wifi signal on our laptop. Kelly's having a few problems accessing her business email account so she was doing some troubleshooting. I took a few photos around the picturesque Borrego mall while she worked on the computer. BORREGO SPRINGS MALL

Back to the rig by 3. Another couple, Ken & Vicki walked over so we did a little tour of our renovated motorhome showing them the Ikea furniture we had put in after ripping out all the cheap RV stuff last year in Quartzite. I think they went back to their rig with a few new ideas:)) JUST OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY

The lack of wind made for a very warm day so we stayed outside & got a campfire going in the later afternoon. We haven't had many campfires so it was nice for a change to hear the crackling fire & get that great wood smell imbedded in our clothes. Watched the full moon slowly rise over the Santa Rosa mountains & enjoyed the sounds of our neighbors well played bongo drums wafting in on the still desert air. A nice way to end another fine day in the Borrego Valley................................................... SUNSET ON THE MOUNTAINS

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