BIG STONEY, THE FRUGAL COYOTE, CHRISTMAS CIRCLE, ILBERTOS, & MORE:))

We can see lots of stars at night from our property in Congress but once we get out here to the Clark Dry Lake Bed near Borrego Springs we can even see more.  This is a favored area for Astronomers & astronomy classes & seminars are popular in Borrego Springs.  Friday nights bright half Moon lightened the surrounding desert & with a slight glow trickling overtop the Santa Rosa & San Jacinta mountains from big cities to the West it was a beautiful sight.  Long luminous bands of cloud streamers stretching up from the South-west added their magic to the night sky as well.  Sure nice to be back in one of our all time favorite boondocking areas again.  We spent a couple Christmas's camped here at the Dry Lake Bed in our early RVing years.    OK DAD LET’S GET SOME BREAKFAST GOING ON HERE OK
Not sure in Fridays post why I said I would climb up on the rig's roof & take a few photos of how many rigs are out here when all's we had to do was hike up Coyote Mountain for an overall view of the whole area. 

BOONDOCKING IS NOT ALLOWED FURTHER OUT IN THAT AREA DOTTED WITH CREOSOTE BUSHES ANYMORE

YEP THAT’S US DOWN THERE
We were out the door at 8 a.m. California time headed for you know where.  Yep it was our annual first hike up Coyote Mountain with our destination again being the shallow bowl like area where the Great Stone Snake resides.  Happy to report all is well with Big Stoney & we noticed there has been some additional stone works added to the shallow bowl like area where Big Stoney calls home.  Always an invigorating walk along the rocky gravel paths at the extreme southern end of Coyote Mountain. IT IS A BIT OF CLIMB TO REACH THE GREAT STONE SNAKE BUT THE MUCH NEEDED EXCERCISE FELT GOOD AT LAST WE CAME UP OVER A RIDGE, ROUNDED A CORNER & WE WERE THERE
THERE ARE A FEW MORE STONE SCULPTURES HERE NOW & BELOW YOU CAN SEE A TURTLE & STARFISH AMONG OTHER CREATIONS






I DON’T THING PHEEBS IS TOO WORRIED ABOUT THAT STARFISH CRAWLING OVER ANY CLOSER

NOT TOO SURE WHAT THIS IS

KELLY STARTS PUTTING SOMETHING TOGEHTER HERE & COMES UP WITH A DUCK

ROUGH & ROCKY TERRAIN MAKES FOR COMING DOWN THE HARDEST PART SOMETIMES
We know this boondocking area will be filling up soon now that area restrictions are in place but plan to be long gone before the RVing crowd arrives.  The post Snow Bird Christmas rush will soon flood southern destinations like a tidal wave & the area we are in right now will bare the brunt of that crush.  I counted 10 rigs at Peg Leg right now & that will easily triple & quadruple over the next few weeks.
NOT TOO MANY RV’ERS AT PEG LEG YET……. BORREGO SPRINGS LIES AT THE FOOT OF THOSE MOUNTAINS TO THE RIGHT AT PEG LEG’S THEY WILL SOON PACK 30 OR MORE RIGS IN THIS TINY SPACE
Our morning walk lasted a couple hours & although we started out dressed warmly we had to peel off our jackets long before we began our downhill descent back to the valley floor & our Motorhme.  Lounged around the rig for awhile basking in California’s warm sun before heading off to enjoy more of our annual customary habits & haunts in Borrego Springs itself.  A walk on Christmas Circle’s lush green grass is always a must for sure.  The market there was Friday morning so we missed it.

IT’S A RARE TREAT OUT HERE IN THIS ARID REGION TO FIND GREEN GRASS TO SHUFFLE ONE’S FEET ON BUT HERE IT IS & IT’S CALLED CHRISTMAS CIRCLE BECAUSE IT IS A BIG CIRCLE OF GRASS WITH A BORREGO SPRINGS MAIN STREET RUNNING RIGHT ROUND IT

AND THERE’S LITTLE LIBBY HER VERY SELF…..IT’S HER FIRST VISIT TO BORREGO SPRINGS
The Frugal Coyote store is always a big stop for Kelly & last year I did buy myself a shirt & a camera case there which actually had a camera in it.  Today a $2 small wooden bowl caught my fancy.  Borrego Outfitters is another favorite stop for Kelly & of course what would a trip to Borrego Springs be for us without a stop at Ilbertos.  No the photos below are not of Ilbertos, I just got the photo sequence mixed up & I’m too tired to change it.  Photos below are of Pablitos Mexican Bar & Grill.  We have never been in here but I just totally love all the great colors.  Imagine how nice it would be to start one’s day off with a relaxing cup of coffee here every morning.
<<< THE FRUGAL COYOTE
At Ilbertos Kelly had a couple FishTacos while I stuck with my burg & fries.  I look forward to that burg every year.  The burg & fries come with a drink & it occured to me while sitting there today that it is actually at Ilbertos that I drink my one & only pop/soda of the year….Root Beer.  It’s their double patty burg which has been ‘dragged through the garden’ that I particulary like & I always leave there feeling perfectly stuffed.

I’D SAY THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST POPULAR PLACE IN BORREGO SPRINGS

AND HERE WE ARE AT OUR FAVORITE LITTLE EATERY….ILBERTOS

KELLY CHECKS THE MENU

LUCKILY WE MADE IT IN JUST MINUTES BEFORE THE LUNCH CROWD CAME IT & FILLED UP MOST OF THE SEATS

TWO FISH TACOS & YEP KELLY ATE THE WHOLE WORKS TOO

WORKING ON A SMALL DISH OF ICE CREAM THAT i HAD TO FINISH
Another stop across from Ilbertos to pick up a ‘program of events’ at the Borrego Nature Centre & we were on our way back to the rig with one last stop for a big sack of grapefruits.  I don’t care much for grapefruits so Kelly will eat the whole darn sack of them herself.

PICKING UP A BIG BAG OF GRAPEFRUITS

WITH COLDER NIGHTS UPON US THESE CACTI HAVE THEIR WARM TOP HATS ON

MUCH GREENERY HERE IN BORREGO SPRINGS

A WALL OF TAMARISK TREES ALONGSIDE THE ROAD 
After hitting the 'Publish' button on my Friday night post the #403 error message again appeared.  Kelly clicked around on some stuff & this time an 'account' page came up.  Our blogsite addy was correct but the password window was empty so Kelly typed in a password & the blog published.  But the post never showed up so checking Blogger's settings under 'Posts' we again saw it was 'scheduled' to post around 4 in the morning & Kelly again had to change the setting to Automatic.  I'll sure be glad when the OLW folks get these bugs worked out.   I plan to stick with OLW through it's growing pains…………..
STOPPED AT THIS NICE LITTLE MEXICAN TYPE STORE TODAY AS WELL
GROANER’S CORNERIt was coming up to Christmas and Sammy asked his mum if he could have a new bike. So, she told him that the best idea would be to write to Santa Claus. But Sam, having just played a vital role in the school nativity play, said he would prefer to write to the baby Jesus. So his mum told him that would be fine.
Sam went to his room and wrote ' Dear Jesus, I have been a very good boy and would like to have a bike for Christmas.' But he wasn't very happy when he read it over. So he decided to try again and this time he wrote 'Dear Jesus, I'm a good boy most of the time and would like a bike for Christmas.' He read it back and wasn't happy with that one either. He tried a third version. 'Dear Jesus, I could be a good boy if I tried hard and especially if I had a new bike.' He read that one too, but he still wasn't satisfied. So, he decided to go out for a walk while he thought about a better approach. After a short time he passed a house with a small statue of the Virgin Mary in the front garden. He crept in, stuffed the statue under his coat, hurried home and hid it under the bed. Then he wrote this letter.
'Dear Jesus, If you want to see your Mother again, you'd better send me a new bike.'
Q: Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
A: Because he had low elf esteem.
Q: What do you get when you cross an archer with a gift-wrapper?
A: Ribbon hood.
Mum, can I please have a cat for Christmas?
No. You'll have turkey the same us the rest of us.