RETURN TO THE 60 FOOT SNAKE……..

HOUSTON…..THE ALIEN SPACECRAFT HAS LANDED!!

(This is Monday’s post)

Just sooooo nice Sunday night sitting quietly outside watching the sun slowly sink into the west.  Shadows spilled into mountain canyons & the lights of Borrego Springs, nestled at the foot of the Vallecito Mountains twinkled on & we were soon under a warm canopy of mountain top stars stretching high overhead to the planet Jupiter.  A soft glow from Riverside California lit up a low hanging cloud bank over the Santa Rosa mountains giving our night a surreal feeling.  But then, the winds came back!!

PHEEBS & I WERE ON THE TRAIL EARLY THIS MORNING

I am convinced that here at Borrego Springs there sits a mean old Codger somewhere high up on a mountain ridge with the biggest wind machine the world has ever seen.  I know he derives great pleasure from revving that machine up & blowing the daylights out of all the boondockers on the desert floor below.  I know that because it as if a switch is thrown & the wind will suddenly start….or stop.  No warning, no nothing.  So it was a few years ago when I saw a parachute glider pilot suddenly get caught here in an unsuspected wind.  He got his machine on the ground nearby but it flipped over on it’s side & he was in trouble……here’s the rest of the story.  TODAY I HAD TO RUN VERY FAST  

NOT AS MANY RV’S AT PEG LEG SMITH’S THIS YEAR…TOWN OF BORREGO SPRINGS IS IN THE GREEN BELT AT THE FOOT OF THOSE MOUNTAINS

Because of the wind we did not have a good night.  Just like days of old in the Damon, we rocked, we rolled, & neither of us had a good night’s sleep.  We are also having quite a time adjusting to our much smaller digs.  But, several things are clear.  This useless dinette thing in here has to go & the sooner the better.  We will put 2 nice wall hugging recliners in that space.  Waaaaaay more practical.  And, we will definitely be stopping by Solar Mikes in Slab City next winter to see about a small solar system for sure.

WARM MORNING WINDS BLOWING PHEEBS EARS AROUND

Pheebs & I were out the door & on the trail by 7:20 this morning heading for Coyote Mountains southern trails.  It is a mountain but at the southern end just behind Peg Leg Smith’s it is more like high hills with rocky pathways.  Winds had died down & not long after starting out I took off my heavier lined flannel shirt & laid it by the trail to pick up on the way back.  What were my chances eh.

ONE SHORT WHISTLE BRINGS PHEEBS ON THE RUN:))

The old wind Codger must have seen me shed my shirt, waited until I got on up the trail near the ridge & then hit the switch on his dam wind machine full blast.  Almost blew all the fur off the Pheebs.  Fastened my baseball cap to my belt & we soldiered on.  After all, we had a destination in mind.  And, that destination was………a snake!!

 

Atop the hills at Coyote Mountain there lies a very shallow & slightly sheltered little dip in the rocks.  If one follows the paths carefully, one can find this place.  Three years ago I came across a couple of large stone Inukshuks here.  Two years I returned to the sheltered place but the large Inukshuks had been toppled.  But….there was something else here that quickly caught my eye.  A snake, & a very large snake at that.  I’m guessing a 40 footer & it was our mission this morning to return to that sheltered spot in the rocks & see if that big old snake was still there.  And, it was:))

BORREGO SPRINGS IS AT THE FOOT OF THE VALLECITO MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND

 

BYE BYE NICE SNAKE, GO BACK TO SLEEP NOW……..

What do you suppose were the chances of me remembering to retrieve my heavy flannel shirt on the way back to the rig.  Or, even seeing it lying about 2’ off the trail.  If you would have said, nil to none, then you know me well & would have been absolutely correct.  Walked right by it on my way back.  Had I been walking with eyes downcast like many rock hounds do, I would have seen it.  But, with an eye always out for photos, I’m a horizon looker when walking.  I had stopped to build 2 little stone markers along the trail when I remembered my shirt, which of course was by now back up the trail behind me.  So, it was back up the trail Pheebs & I went to retrieve my shirt.  Burned up some valuable & limited daily exercise units there.

YEP, WALKED RIGHT BY IT COMING DOWN THE HILL 

Later on, another mid morning walk with the Pheebs took me around the area that has been altered.  I was able to find a few  familiar landmarks & get my bearings.  In fact, I did find the area around our old favorite spot unaltered, but signs are up restricting admittance. 

Noticed a curious thing.  All the earth that has been bulldozed is a different color & texture from the surrounding normal surface.  I’m guessing it has been seeded with something.  Kind of like one might see alongside road construction banks.

NORMAL GROUND COLOR IN FOREGROUND & DARKER RE-WORKED EARTH IN BACKGROUND

  

MACHINES HAVE SMOOTHED OUT THIS PREVIOUSLY RUGGED AREA

 

I DID RECOGNIZE THIS GULLEY & THAT LOOKS LIKE A SPRAYED GRASS FORMULA ON THAT ORANGE MARKER

AND YEP, I THING WE HAVE SOMETHING SPROUTING HERE

Kelly is an avid book reader, literally devouring books two at a time.  She was in her element today not straying more than 30 feet from the rig.  Tipped back in a lounge chair I could hear her very contentedly plowing through page after page of happy bliss.  Pheebs hung out in the shade & I spent time in my upgraded anti-glare blanket tent working on this post.  Warm day & a slight breeze made for a totally perfect day.  We were long overdue for that.

 

TRADED IN MY HEAVY GREEN ANTI-GLARE BLANKET FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE COOLER TODAY

I’m sure many RV’ers are familiar with the many coincidences that happen in their travels.  ‘It’s a small world’ comes to mind here.  For RV Bloggers it is even more so.  And, it happened this evening as Kelly & I were out gathering up a few bits of firewood for a small campfire.  I had remembered seeing a large piece of wood nearby this morning so slipped over to get it.  On my way back to the rig I saw a truck camper couple kind of approaching.  They had just rolled in this afternoon & were parked just west of us.  As I approached carrying my piece of wood I could the lady was on a cell phone.  No sooner had I noticed that when she directly approached me saying, “I’d like you to say Hello to someone”.  Ok, this has got to be candid camera or something, right?  I said Hello & the lady on the other end said, Hello, my name is Rita & I am in Ottawa.

Well, here’s the coincidence.  It was the lady on the phone’s daughter who handed me the phone.  Her name was Esther & along with husband Steve, part time Bayfield Bunch readers, had just randomly pulled in to the Clark Dry Lake Bed here just outside of Borrego Springs.  Saw a spot they liked & as chance would have it, parked not too far west of us.  Esther happened to be talking to her Mother on the phone in Ottawa later & mentioned where they were.  She described the spot to her Mother by telling her there were some ‘area closed’ signs nearby.  Her Mother Rita, said, ‘hey, that’s where the Bayfield Bunch is right now”.  Rita, in Ottawa Canada, a long time reader, described our rig to Esther & sure enough, they were parked right near to us.  Esther, on the phone later, spotted me walking with the piece of firewood & came right over.  So when I said Hello on the phone, I was talking to a former RV’er who has been following our blog for years.  How nice to talk to Rita & what a huge coincidence it was that her daughter & husband parked right next to us.  But wait, a few more coincidences coming up……….

INSIDE MY ANTI-GLARE TENT:))

Turns out, after talking further that Steve & Esther also knew some other folks we knew.  JoAnn & Doug Dubrouillet we had also met.  They knew Mark & Bobbi Johnson who are on our side bar as the BOX CANYON BLOG.  They had just been spending time with well known Bloggers, Howard & Linda Payne down in Organ Pipe south of Why Az.  We never met Howard or Linda but knew of them through the blog channels.  I’m sure Esther mentioned a few other folks we both had either met or knew through our blogs as well but at this hour of the night my brain is even more glazed over than usual.  Yes, a small world indeed.

    

In the morning, Pheebs & I will head for Ghost Mountain over in the Blair Valley southwest of here.  Love that twisty winding drive through the Yaqui Pass.

 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  HIM: "I'm sorry dear but I'm up to my neck in work today"
HER: "But I've got some good news and some bad news for you dear"
HIM: "OK darling, but as I've got no time now, just give me the good news"
HER: "Well, the air bag works"

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.