PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES BESIDE A GURGLING MOUNTAIN STREAM IN COYOTE CANYON

I HAVE BEEN INCORRECTLY CALLING THIS MOUNTAIN RANGE BEHIND BORREGO SPRINGS THE SAN jACINTOS WHEN IN FACT THEY ARE THE SAN YSIDROS

After Tuesday nights total frustration with my blog post being messed up by Blogger you can just imagine my delight this morning when I re-did it with Open Live Writer & it published without a hitch.  No 403 error messages, no having to go into ‘Blog Account’ & re-do passwords & no scheduling problems.  My post published smoothly as it normally did in the old faithful Live Writer way.  My fingers are tightly crossed that the folks over at OLW have finally ironed those pesky bugs out of the program. 

Tuesday evening despite the wind was clear here out at the Clark Dry Lake Bed but down in the Borrego Valley between our location & the town of Borrego Springs it was a different story as gusting winds continued blowing columns of sand across the valley floor.  We could barely see the far away town for sand in the air.

BORREGO SPRINGS IS IN THAT DUST CLOUD TO THE LEFT OF THESE ORANGE ORCHARDS

OUR NEIGHBOR’S 5TH WHEEL SITTING ON A RIDGE IS SILOUETTED AGAINST BLOWING SUNLIT SAND MILES AWAY DOWN IN THE VALLEY

CLOUDS SITTING ATOP THE SANTA ROSA MOUNTAINS

A LOOK AROUND AT A FEW OF OUR NEIGHBORS TUESDAY EVENING

NAN TALLEY DROPPED OVER TO SEE US

Stepping out of the coach Tuesday night I again saw we had a beautiful Moonlit landscape with clouds slowly makng their way overhead.  Soon as I spotted the constellation Orion I thought of my Aunt Jean.  Orion is her fav.  I quickly grabbed a camera & tripod & was able to get a few hasty shots of Orion before he was obscured by more clouds.

ORION IS THE SQUARE LIKE STAR FIGURE ON THE RIGHT

THESE PHOTOS ARE FOR YOU JEAN

ALTHOUGH ORION IS NOT VISIBLE IN THIS PHOTO I SEE A LARGE WINGED CLOUD FIGURE HEADING DOWN TO EARTH

Our day dawned clear & bright with only a smattering of white fluffy clouds here & there.  Windy but not cold.  Wind adviseries remained in place for the day & again we could see great columns of sand blowing along the Borrego Valley desert floor.

Changed our plans a bit & decided on a drive out through Coyote Canyon.  We had been that way before a few years back & in late March it’s a favorite area for seeing many spring flowers.  It’s a sandy road drive along the west side of Coyote Mountain & again with winds blowing sand across the road it reminded me of blowing snow drifts.

IT’S A RUGGED DESERT LANDSCAPE IN THESE HERE PARTS & WE LOVE THE STARK BEAUTY

THE TOWN OF BORREGO SPRINGS LIES TIGHT UP AGAINST THOSE MOUNTAINS TO THE LEFT

Last time out that way a few years back we stopped at the Alcoholic Pass trailhead & hiked a fair distance up the mountain to where we saw & signed a trail hikers guest book along the trail.  I recall the trail being a bit strenous in places & we were glad to get back to the Wrangler & have us a sit down to rest our out of shape legs. This morning we kept on going past Alcoholic Pass trailhead looking for a spot we had reached one time about 6 years ago near a creek. 

THE ALCOHOLIC PASS TRAILHEAD

At one point I pulled over to let a vehicle behind us pass & I was kind of glad I did.  Further on we came to a small body of flowing water.  It was clear as a bell & sounded like a babbling brook.  How cool to see & hear something like that out here in the arid desert. No sign of the Suburu that had passed us until we noticed tire tracks in the sand heading straight into the water.  Walking around to the side I could see the crystal clear water was only about a foot deep so it was back in the Jeep with us & we plowed our way up through the creek sending out a gurgling bow wave around us.

TIRE TRACKS LED INTO THE WATER & I DID WALK AROUND TO THE OTHER SIDE TO MAKE SURE THERE WASN’T A 300’ WATERFALL OVER THERE

DON’T THINK WE’LL NEED SCUBA SUITS & SNORKELS

ALRIGHT LET’S GIVE IT A WHIRL

NO TURNING BACK NOW

TOOK US ABOUT 5 SECONDS & WE WERE OUT THE OTHER SIDE & ON OUR WAY AGAIN

We hadn’t gone far beyond that point before we came across another narrow creek crossing with a sign post saying ‘Third Crossing’.  Guess we missed one.  We could see the Jeep road deteriorated quite a bit on the other side of the creek so decided to drive through the creek, park on the other side & eat our peanut butter sandwiches before heading back.  Water was only inches deep at this crossing & maybe 10’ across.

THIS CRYSTAL CLEAR MOUNTAIN STREAM IS FLOWING FROM RIGHT TO LEFT & PHEEBS LIKE IT

SO NICE TO JUST STAND HERE LISTENING TO WATER GURGLING OVER THE ROCKS

IT’S ALWAYS EASY TO SEE WHERE WATER RUNS IN THE DESERT

 

JEEP IS PARKED IN THAT GREEN THICKET & THE ROAD BACK LEADS THROUGH THAT CANYON TO COYOTE MOUNTAIN TOP LEFT

 

It was so nice listening to this little mountain stream babbling it’s way along over small rocks & stones. it’s narrow banks were a thick jungle of tropical green plant life.  The stream had a steady flow as it meandered through the desert landscape.  It was 11:15 Arizona time when we sat down on a couple rocks beside the stream to eat our peanut butter sandwiches.  We again reflected on how nice it was to be where we were instead of back home in Bayfield even if they do have mild December temperatures.  Sitting in the warm sunshine by that stream totally surrouned by mountains we agreed that yes we were very, very, fortuant to be where we were.

A NICE SPOT TO EAT OUR LUNCH

PHEEBS HELPS KELLY GET OUT THE SNACKS

 

SO NICE TO SEE ALL THIS DESERT GREENERY

  

KELLY HANDS ME MY PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH WHILE PHEEBS LICKS HER CHOPS

TIME TO HEAD BACK SO WE RE-CROSS THE LITTLE DESERT CREEK

BACK THROUGH THE WATER CANAL WE GO

FOLLOWING THE SANDY JEEP ROAD BACK TO COYOTE MOUNTAIN

Had the Jeep in 4-wheel drive all the way in & out of Coyote Canyon but never did run across any spots where it was needed.  Most higher clearance cars could have gone where we went this morning.  A bit bumpy & one does have to be careful with all the rocks in the road but we were easily able to steer around most of them.  We were back to the rig about about 12:45 & a good time was had by all including the Pheebs who was actually walking around in the mountain stream’s water & enjoying it.

PICKED UP A SACK OF ORANGES ON OUR WAY BACK AS WE DROVE THROUGH ORANGE ORCHARDS WHERE PICKERS WERE BUSY THIS MORNING

SORRY ABOUT THE OUT OF FOCUS PICTURE BUT WANTED TO SHOW HOW BIG THE ORANGES WERE

Spent our afternoon relaxing & it’s these kinds of days I/we like best.  Out fairly early in the morning to see & do anything & everything we like/want/ or have to do then back home about noon to simply kinda waffle our way through the afternoon.  These kinds of days sure work great for we morning folks.  Pheebs too………….And in case anyone saw my wordless Tuesday post I did re-do it with OPW & here is the same post with words…….. WORDS:))

Not being big Christmas people it really doesn’t matter to us where we spend Christmas whether it be here in Borrego Springs or back home in Congress.  Talked about it tonight but didn’t reach a decision so we’ll just sleep on it & see what morning brings.  We may hang around a few more days or we may slip on back to Congress.

SPOTTED THIS FELLOW ON THE WAY BACK TO THE RIG

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Twas the Night Before Christmas – older military version

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the skies,  Air defenses were up, with electronic eyes. Combat pilots were nestled in ready-room beds, As enemy silhouettes danced in their heads.

Every jet on the apron, each SAM in its tube,
Was triply-redundant, linked to the Blue Cube,
And ELINT and AWACS gave coverage so dense
That nothing that flew could slip through our defence.

 
When out of the klaxon arose such a clatter
I dashed to the screen to see what was the matter;
I increased the gain and then, quick as a flash,
Fine-adjusted the filters to damp out the hash.

And there found the source of the warning we’d heeded:  An incoming blip, by eight escorts preceded. “Alert status red!” went the word down the wire, As we gave every system the codes that meant “FIRE!”

On Aegis! Up Patriot, Phalanx and Hawk!
And scramble our fighters--let’s send the whole flock!  Launch decoys and missiles! Use chaff by the yard!  Get the kitchen sink up! Call the National Guard!

 
They turned toward the target, moved toward it, converged. Till the tracks on the radar all finally merged,  And the sky was lit up with a demonic light,  As the foe met his fate in the high arctic night.

 
So we sent out some recon to look for debris,
Yet all that they found, both on land and on sea
Were some toys, a red hat, a charred left leather boot, Broken sleigh bells, white hair, and a deer’s parachute.

 
Now it isn’t quite Christmas, with Saint Nick shot down. There are unhappy kids in each village and town.  For the Spirit of Christmas can’t hope to evade  All the web of defenses we’ve carefully made.

 
But a crash program’s on: Working hard, night and day,  All the elves are constructing a radar-proof sleigh.  So let’s wait for next Christmas, in cheer and in health,  For the future has hope: Santa’s coming by stealth!