EARLY MORNING PHOTO GROUP & WANDERING WILLY RIDES INTO TOWN

It was the large setting moon low over the San Ysidro mountains that cast it's long, almost horizontal moonbeams through the windshield of our Motorhome & gently alighted on my waking eyelids.  A new dawn was about to begin.

I was glad to see a clear morning with stars visible.  Weatherman had been calling for a windy rainy day but so far in the early morn it had not yet arrived.  Tossed my camera gear into the car & was out the door headed for Borrego Springs by 6:30.  First time I've seen the  night time lights of Borrego.  There were a couple cars already parked in front of the Borrego Desert Nature 
Center where everyone was meeting for the desert hands on photo class.  Photographer Leo Larsen & wife Helen rolled in a few minutes later & introductions went around.  Leo & Helen are from San Diego & Leo was a Park Ranger in Wyoming's Grand Teton mountains for 30 years. 

     

Twenty minutes later all were present & we were in our cars with headlights on convoying 5 miles east of Borrego Springs to an area known as, The Dunes.  Cars were parked & we headed out on foot across small sandy dunes to an area of larger dunes.  The awakening sky was nothing short of spectacular.  A weather front moving in over the San Ysidro mountains to the west had brought with it huge storm clouds loaded with darkened moisture.   The breaking morning sun cast it's long tentacles of crayoned colors into the clouds & onto the mountaintops.  Probably one of the finest mornings I have seen for a very long time. 

We gathered in the lee of a large 15 foot sand dune while John gave a short talk on the importance of light, contrasts, composition, location, & preparation.  I could tell by his words & his equipment, he was a true professional dedicated to the finer arts of photography.  Leo still prefers to work in the film format & his technical knowledge was well beyond the rest of us mere mortals gathered there.  With that having been said, about a dozen or more avid photo bugs scurried off in all directions in search of their own personal photographic morning.

     

 

LEO LARSON KNOWS HIS PHOTOGRAPHY

The 360 degree panoramic view across the valley was beautiful and especially so towards the town of Borrego Springs about 5 miles to the west tucked up against the San Ysidro mountains.  To the south I could see all the way toward the Yaqui Pass probably 20 miles or more away.  A slight rainbow in the San Ysidro's as clouds began to filter down onto the mountain tops & into the canyons.   Rain approached in the dark gray & almost burgundy colored mists.  This was truly an exceptional morning.

Leo had explained earlier that the mornings class was originally geared for photographing desert flowers but with the lateness of bloom this year the emphasis had shifted to a sunrise opportunity in the sand dunes.  Nevertheless, after wrapping up our shoot in the dunes we all walked back to our vehicles, piled in, & drove the short distance to Henderson Canyon where many great desert bloom photographs have been taken over the years.  But, as Leo & wife Helen explained, that was when the blooms were in their heyday 15 to 20 years ago.  Those days are long gone now Helen explained because of several factors.  The Saharan Mustard plant has somehow taken foot in southern California & is slowly choking out many native species.  Environmental factors may have taken it's affects as well.  The glory flower days may be gone but there is still plenty of color to see & plenty of color to come in the next few weeks.  This morning's excursion took us to patches of Sand Verbena, Brown Eyed Evening Primrose, Desert Sunflowers, Desert Lilies, & Dune Evening Primrose.  And amongst all these colorful flowers grew the dreaded spreading Sahara Mustard plant.  

       

HELEN LARSON KNOWS HER FLOWERS

Our sojourn into the flower patches along Henderson Canyon road was cut short as sheets of graying rain clouds finally made their way across the valley to our very location.  Camera's were quickly packed up, a few hasty goodbyes, a couple of handshakes, & I was back in my car with the windshield wipers going heading the short distance back to our rig.  This mornings photo shoot will be one of those scenic memories in time which will remain with me for many years.  It was a special morning with a group of people I will never see again & a canopy of moody morning storm clouds that will only ever remain in peoples memories & photographs.

DESERT DRIFTWOOD

LAURIE http://laurieandodel.blogspot.com/  brought up an interesting thought in a blog comment last night.  She asked, "Is that REALLY why you blog? Would you quit blogging if you didn't get comments from readers? If you thought no one was reading?" 

I guess my short answer to that question is yes.  Blogs can be different things to different people.  I have often been a person of logs & journals over the years so it came naturally for me to connect that with the blogging craze a few years ago.  The blog is, amongst other things, a daily diary into the life of myself & those around me.  I enjoy looking back over the years to see different events & times I have written about.  It gives me personal 'way points' in my life.  My first written recordings actually began back in the late 50's & I still have those.  Blogging is also a great form of communication for friends & families.  I don't write nearly as many emails to people anymore because everything is right here in the blog.  I still write a daily blog even when we are not traveling because it gives me a focus & purpose each day.  It's a perfect format for blending together my hobbies of writing & photography.

BORREGO SPRING'S MEDICAL CENTER IS OUT THERE IN THE COMMUNITY OF MONTESORO

For me, a blog is the perfect example of a two way street.  Because of this blog my mind is alive each day thinking of ideas, events, & points of interest.  A fellow blogger awhile back mentioned how much he likes windmills so now I watch for interesting windmills along the way.  Some folks are bird people so my eyes & ears are on the hunt for birds.  Flower people give me purpose & pleasure as I tramp around fields with senses more attuned to flowers than ever before.  All of these things plus countless more give me purpose.  It is the little things in some of the comments that give me ideas.  It is the emails from people that give me the inspiration to get off my can & head off to a car show, or photo class, or a historical location, or to an event of some kind that I may not have ordinarily attended.  It is the readers of the blog that I owe my re-newed interest in photography & It is the readers of the blog who have restored my writing interests.   I may have included fellow bloggers in blanket coverage opinions before so I had better reel that in & keep those opinions directed at myself.  Every blogger has their own reasons for their blogs.

This morning's early start led to a lazy afternoon.  The weather closed in, temps dropped, rain came down & the winds picked up.  Seemed like a good day for inside stuff so that's just what I did.  Sat down in my chair & fell asleep.  The dog alarms went off about 1 o'clock with the gang rumbling out the door & down the steps barking their heads off.  My head had already fallen off in my lap so it took me a few seconds to get things reattached again.  Kelly was out the door & I heard her say something like, "Hello Bill."  Despite my sleepy state I knew instantly that WANDERING WILLY http://wanderingwillystravels.blogspot.com/ had just rode into town.

   

SETTING UP THE RIG

Well, what a great pleasure it was to finally meet another blogger who we have been in contact with for over a year now. WW is on our current blog list & we follow his adventures.  This is a soft spoken mild mannered man & it was so great to finally meet him.  Had ourselves a chat for bit & then he set up his rig just behind us off to the right.  We were both out taking photos a couple hours later when sheets of rain could be seen descending on Borrego Springs down in the valley.  It wasn't long & the cooling winds blew that rain in our direction & we all headed for our rigs. 

 

After a long & sometimes difficult trip deep into Mexico this winter WW is only about 4 days away from British Columbia & anxious to get home.  I imagine we will be getting close to that very same feeling in another month or so...............................:((

RAIN SHOWERS OVER BORREGO SPRINGS

I didn't get Friday's Christmas Circle photos into an album today but will try again tomorrow along with the rest of today's photos.

Just received a comment in our blog from a fellow by the name of Barney in which he said......"As far as I am concerned your posting of candid pictures of folks is far more intrusive in another person life than a few campers within what you consider your special space out in the desert. Legally in the USA you need a models release for those pictures taken without permission."

Well, looks like I've got myself into the soup again....:((

LATE AFTERNOON MOODY MOUNTAINS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  What do you call a country where the people drive only pink cars?
A pink carnation.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

"WE'VE COME ALL THE WAY FROM OREGON TO MEET THE MOTORMOUSE"

 

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS LITTLE FELLOW WAS UP TO

"We've come all the way from Oregon to meet the Motormouse."  And with those words today we met surprise visitors & blog followers, Bob & Lisa Foote with their two Boston terriers, Albert & Rupert.  They are from Bend, Oregon & have been following our blog for well over a year. (Rick, Wandering Willy & Ivan as well)  What a pleasurable couple these two are & it was great to meet them.  They were both very apologetic about seeking us out because they have read about my feelings regarding people & privacy.   I quickly reassured them that I had a habit of blowing smoke & would not devour them in a Cursmudgeony flash of fire.   Bob & Lisa are boondocking at the Bow Willow campground about an hours drive southwest of us & came over this way today in hopes of meeting our little Motormouse.  We were in town so they left a note on our door but spotted us on the highway coming back from Borrego Springs & turned around.  Bob has the same Delorme GPS that we do so was able to give Kelly a crash course on it's operation.  We really appreciated that help.   Maybe I can use it in the middle of the night to find my way to the washroom now.  Thanks for dropping by guys & say hello to Albert & Rupert for us:))  Oh ya, & little Motormouse is still feeling like a superstar after folks came all the way from Oregon to meet her.  She's been rubbing it into the other two guys:))

BOB & LISA WITH MOTORMOUSE & AL HOLDING THE LITTLE RUPERT

We had us a look around the area on our morning walk but decided to stay where we are.  We have 3 out of 4 bars for our Verizon with a direct line of sight all the way to Borrego Springs.  Nice view at night with all the lights.  Kelly has a better cell phone signal & our Skype works much better here.  This area is familiar to us because it is where we first pulled off the road into the desert two years ago & spent Christmas & New Years.  We were here for awhile last year until a truck camper came in very close to us & cranked their radio.   That led to us moving over to the Rockhouse Road area & that is the area we got crowded out of again yesterday.  People, don't ya just love the darn things!!!!

LOOK CLOSELY & SEE HOW RESPECTFUL THESE BOONDOCKERS ARE OF THEIR NEIGHBORS...THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. (click to enlarge)

Friday morning means Farmer's Market at Borrego Spring's Christmas Circle & Kelly was wanting to pick up some fresh vegetable thingys.  I don't have much of an interest in that sort of food stuff  but I do like to meander through the market looking for candid photo opportunities.  I couldn't take a good portrait photo of someone if my life depended on it but I love taking candid photos of people just being themselves.   People's faces are great subject matter, especially if they don't know they are being photographed.

 

A FEW OF THE FOLKS AT THIS MORNINGS FARMER'S MARKET

We were just back at the rig about a minute when Bob & Lisa rolled in.  When I saw the pickup truck turn off the highway & come directly to our site I figured it was one of the guys from the gang that crowded us out yesterday.  Figured maybe somebody had somehow read my blog last night & they were coming over to do me some damage.  Sometimes I wonder about having our Bayfield Bunch.com name in big letters on the back of our rig.

<<< BOB & LISA'S NOTE ON OUR MOTORHOME

Yesterday's suppressed anger took it's toll on me & by early this afternoon I was toast.  Slept ok last night but my energy levels drained away today & I spent most of the time dozing in a lounge chair until I was awakened by an airplane sound I had heard at air shows.  Somebody was practicing stunt flying nearby.  For the second time this week I jumped into the car & headed the short distance to the Borrego airport to watch the plane.  A few days ago I got to the airstrip just as the stunt pilot was landing.  Today he was already on the ground by the time I got there.  The Borrego Springs airport has a special waiver that allows pilots to come here to hone their stunt flying skills.  It is not allowed in big populated areas so a lot of flyers come over from neighboring small towns like Los Angeles & San Diego.

                                  

STUNT PLANE'S PRACTICE HERE AS RICH FOLKS FLY IN  WITH THEIR PRIVATE PLANES                                   

I made a U-turn at the airport & headed back towards the rig but remembered some flowers I had seen on Henderson Canyon road yesterday so headed off down there to snap a few photos.  The desert blooming has been delayed this year because of colder weather so the great blankets of flowers are not out yet.  Just some colorful clumps here & there.

 

A FEW FLOWERS ALONG HENDERSON CANYON ROAD THIS AFTERNOON

Now, before I forget again, here are the co-ordinates for the two Socky Von Geepers geo sites that we did on Wednesday's Box Canyon hike.  First Socky photo alongside the dry wash was at.... N 33* 01.0078 by W 116* 26.2901.  Second Socky photo by the dry waterfall was at N 33* 00.8752 by W 116* 26.5346.  Hope these numbers are right in case anyone is interested.

I did put that Box Canyon hike into a Picasa Web Album which can be found at our album site here.... BOX CANYON HIKE  I have a lot of photos from today which I will also put in an album probably tomorrow. 

     

I sure have got myself into a bit of a mess between our old & new laptop Toshiba's.  The music transfer did not go well & I ended up deleting the whole jumbled mess from the new laptop.  I will have to wait for a calm spell in my life before tackling all that again.  I even dumped my favorite Winamp player in the new machine as well.  Also, I have been switching the blog back & forth between XP & Win 7 in the two computers & I've managed to get myself into a quandary over all that as well.   So far I'm not too impressed with Win 7 & I guess it's because I am so used to XP which I happen to think is a totally excellent system,  I'm glad we missed Vista.  I suppose I will eventually get used to Win 7 but I will once again need a few calming days to settle myself into it.  For sure it will take me all summer just to sort out the thousands of photos from this trip.

I have had many really nice comments & emails from folks out there suggesting I put our travels adventures & writings along with photos into book form.  I am very flattered by that but in reality there are much better writers & photographers doing that very thing.   I am of the belief that unless you are the best of the best your chances of writing a successful book, or having your photography published, or recording a song, or becoming an accomplished painter or well known sculptor, your work has to be extraordinary.  It has to have substance & stand out from the rest of the pack.  My blog is just a simple little travel account with a few photos, feelings, & opinions thrown in, plus we are only snow birders & although I do keep the blog going everyday all through the summer months it just doesn't have the pizzazz that the professional people are able to put into their writings & pictures.  I enjoy this as a hobby & if my silly musings & pictures bring some enjoyment of sorts to readers out there then that's good enough for me.  It's the little comments at the end of the blog each day & the emails from folks that make it all worthwhile.  Not just for me but for all my fellow bloggers as well.   There are some great blog writers out there & they are the one's who may have a chance someday of doing something with their blogs.  But, a big thanks to everyone for all your encouragement.  Very much appreciated.

                             

Tomorrow morning I have to be at the Nature Desert Store in Borrego Springs at 6 A.M for an early morning photo class on desert photography.  Wish me luck on getting up in time....................:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And did you know that by the time you find greener pastures, you probably won't be able to climb over the fence anyway.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

THE DAY STARTED OK BUT ENDED BADLY WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH HAVING TO MOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SOON TO BLOOM

The fierce winds called, 'Sundowners' by the locals kept up their fury from late afternoon right into the night.  I went to bed at 10:30 & was back on my feet at 11:30 putting the slides in before they awnings got ripped off.  Figured the solar panels were probably already on their way to Mexico somewhere.  Prolonged rain can be depressing, snow doubly depressing, but non stop wind gusts just makes me plum mad!!!!  Needless to say it was not a good sleep night.....again!!

                 

ANZA BORREGO STATE PARK IS TUCKED IN AGAINST THE SAN YSIDRO MOUNTAINS

I think it was around 9 this morning when somebody finally turned off the wind machine & it was only minutes before a totally beautiful California morning was upon us complete with sunny skies & warmer temps.

LOOKING OUT THE MAIN ENTRANCE

Fresh water tank was low & the black tank was getting full so it was time for a motorhome trip into town.   Topped up our propane tank on the way & headed for the Anza Borrego State Park where dump & water was $10.  Better than the gas station in town that is now charging $15.  Last year it was $5 there & the year before that it was free. 

Lots of room in the palm tree lined cute little southwestern Mall where the Library is located in Borrego so we wheeled in there for some computer updating etc before heading back out to our boondocking spot at the Clark Dry Lake Bed.  We spent some time re-arranging the site making things nicer.  We were very happy with this spot & I was looking forward to more walks on Coyote mountain & photographing flowers in the old gravel pit right beside us.  Life was good as I relaxed in an easy lounger watching the finches at our feeder & listening to the songs of early spring from other birds in nearby mesquite bushes.

                       

ANZA BORREGO STATE PARK (photos taken from the dump station)

Somewhere around 1 P.M. Kelly noticed a truck & fifth wheel had slipped in close to us about a hundred yards to the northeast.  They were in the spot where we parked the first night here over a week ago.  We now had people in 'our space' but Kelly said they looked like an older couple & maybe wouldn't be noisy.  Ya right!!    If I thought this fellow was being inconsiderate parking in our line of sight I had no idea what was coming next.

I had just started typing this blog while sitting outside in my chair when I heard a man talking very loudly.  I looked up & there was our new neighbor walking around yelling into his cell phone.  Why do people have to yell into there cell phones!!!!  I could even hear the woman on the other end & what I heard instantly angered me way beyond the point of reason.  The #*(!!^# SOB was directing more rigs in off the highway.  There are hundreds & hundreds of spacious acres out here with countless great spots for people but this SOB decided to bring all his RV pals right in to our space.  Four more rigs came in & the yammering began.  Two women were out of their rigs right away hollering on their cell phones with the usual rally type bantering of shouting back & forth.  There would be no more spring birds or peace & quiet for us so we had no choice but to pack up all our stuff & leave.  I can't really be angry with all the people coming in though because they were only following the directions of that first miserable SOB who made the decision to have his big get together right in our face.  Totally inconsiderate & totally rude!! 

THIS IS PART OF THE GANG THAT MOVED IN ON US THIS AFTERNOON.....THEY WERE CLOSER THAN THE PHOTO SHOWS & THAT PERSON ON THE RIGHT IS YAMMERING LOUDLY ON A CELL PHONE!!!!!  WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE TO DO THAT????

I try to remain positive about all the good RV folks we have met but there is another element of RV'ers out here who have no regard, nor care, nor are considerate of others.  We have met these jerks before.  Kelly & I go out of our way not to bother other people & respect their space & when somebody slaps us in the face we do not take that lightly.  And I emphasize we, not just I because Kelly feels exactly the same way I do.  Maybe even a little more sometimes.

Well, to make a long story short we packed up our site & angerly left the area.  Our experience has been that when a bunch of RV'ers get togther they have no thought to others who may have been there before them trying to enjoy the great outdoors.  We have seen this happen to other boondocker friends of ours as well.  Rude RV people just swarm in and take over the area they want.  And you wonder why I have the attitude I do towards some people.

We are temporarily parked about a mile away near the highway.  It's just a flat scrubby area near an old communication tower & way too close to the highway but give us traffic noise any day to people noise!!  In fact, give me some good old fingernails on a chalkboard as opposed to people yelling into their stupid cell phones!!!!  We took the car & drove a bunch of back roads for nearly an hour between here & Borrego Springs late this afternoon looking for a quiet spot but none was to be found.   We did see one Class A in an area with enough room to fit another rig in near it but we would never ever be so rude as to intrude that close on a fellow RV'ers privacy.

If we didn't have to have cell phone coverage for Kelly's work phone & an internet connection we simply would have gone further back up in the canyon but no phone or Verizon back there.  Don't know where we will be tomorrow night at this time.  Maybe right here, maybe we'll find a better spot in the morning, or maybe we will be many miles from here.

Ok, that's my rant for today & I did consider not publishing this but it's how I feel tonight & there's no point in glossing things over.  When I'm happy, it ends up in the blog.  If I'm sad, it ends up here as well.  Happy, sad, & anger are emotions we all have.  It's just that some of us wear it on our sleeves a bit more than others.  I live my thoughts in a real world, therefore I have real feelings....10-4!!

GROANER'S CORNER:((   What is the difference between boogers and spinach?  You can't get your kids to eat spinach.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.