"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.

HISTORIES NARROW PASSAGE THROUGH CALIFORNIA'S BOX CANYON NEAR BLAIR VALLEY

 

STANDING AT THE BRINK OF A 30 FOOT DRY WATERFALL IN BOX CANYON NEAR BLAIR VALLEY

We had a high cloud cover this morning & it was on the cool side but sitting around the rig for another day was totally out of the question.  I don't mind a few relaxing days back to back but for us this great RVing lifestyle is about change, adventure, discovery, seeing & doing things & being as much a part of this great land as we can.  The reality of all this is simply that there will come a day when for whatever reason, this adventure will end.  We would like to see & do as much as we can........... while we still can!!

MORNING WALK (click pics to enlarge)

Borrego Springs has a great little newsletter entitled, The Sand Paper that is readily picked up at the Desert Nature Store across from Jilbertos.  On the cover of it's latest edition was an article about the Road to San Felipe Station.  This was an area southwest of the Blair Valley & near a place close to my heart, Ghost Mountain.  We had heard of Box Canyon & had driven by & through it several times over the past couple of years but had never stopped to see the place where history had seen the passage of Indians, Pathfinders, Soldiers, Gold Seekers, & the wild west's Butterfield Stage.

ALONG THE BOX CANYON TRAIL

We would hike to the very spot where in 1847 a battalion of soldiers physically hacked out a rough road through the rugged rocky California landscape to bypass a 30 foot dry waterfall.  The soldiers, tired, hungry, thirsty, & many of them shoeless after a long march had to move their horses, cattle, sheep, mules, & 5 wagons up over 200 feet through seemingly impossible rock strewn & insurmountable boulders. Thorny cat claw, barbed agave,  & mesquite trees blocked their every way.  To bypass the waterfall they had to hack away at the rocks with hand tools & axes.

TRAIL HEAD - CHECKING THE GPS - NOTICE HOW GREEN THE DESERT IS TURNING

Because of the the soldiers determination & hard impossible work, a rough road was forged through the canyon & opened up a southern route for people emigrating to California's gold rush.  The Butterfield Overland Stage had a mail route through this passage in the 1850's & 60's.  This narrow rock strewn road also allowed a few Californians to travel eastward to fight in the Civil War.

FOLLOWING THE DRY CREEK BED

Our plan today was to drive to a point north of Box Canyon, park the car, & pick up a dirt trail leading down into the canyon where the 30 foot waterfall was located.  We wanted to see the narrow passage beside the waterfall where countless numbers of hardy pioneering people passed through on their way west, or east, well over 150 years ago.

   

KELLY EATS HER PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES WHILE AL SLIPS DOWN TO THE BASE OF THE FALLS

It's a 45 minute drive to Blair Valley & we had our boots on the path at 10:32 a.m.  This is an easy hike that follows a path along a dry wash gradually descending into the canyon.  No rock scrambling.  The warming sun felt good and a cooling breeze coming up the shallow canyon made for a perfect hiking day.  Pinion Juniper, Mesquite, & numerous Agave lined the trail.  Very green, very pretty, & very rocky walls added to the beauty of the landscape.  We could hear the occasional car above on the road that parallels the trail.

YOU CAN DRIVE RIGHT TO THE SPOT WHERE THE WATERFALL IS BUT WE CHOSE TO WALK THE 2.5 MILE RETURN TRAIL INTO THE CANYON & BACK

Spotted a small place among the rocks on the west side of the dry wash & decided to set up Socky Von Geepers for his very first photo adventure.  Hope we can find the coordinates on the GPS later.  Also placed a Bayfield Bunch card at the spot under a rock & then proceeded to write the wrong date on the back of it.  Oh well. (hoping to post  Socky photo co-ordinates in tomorrow night's blog because the batteries in the GPS are totally dead right now)

   

PLACING SOCKY VON GEEPERS FOR HIS FIRST PHOTO SHOOT.....WE LEFT A BAYFIELD BUNCH CARD HERE UNDER A ROCK

We reached the 30 foot dry waterfall about 11:15 & it was immediately apparent why it was such a formidable obstacle to the battalion of soldiers back in 1847.  We stood on the very spot where so much hardship had passed, where backbreaking work was done by a shabby band of soldiers making a rough shod passage around the waterfall.  Only a few heavy rocks piled together to form a road bed are visible to tell anyone what went on here so very long ago.   I stood there on the path trying to imagine an old stagecoach lurching along through there.  So much of history is just too unimaginable.  I'll never understand how so many hardships were overcome by such simple means back in those days.

    

Had we not read of this spot we would have hiked right by not knowing of it's place & importance in history.  Took a bunch of photos & set Geepers up for his second adventure photo at the top of the dry waterfall.

                         

KELLY MARKS THE GPS CO-ORDINATES FOR SOCKY'S SECOND PHOTO LOCATION PEERING OVER THE BRINK OF THE DRY WATERFALL.  CARD UNDER A ROCK TO KELLY'S RIGHT with the wrong date on it of course:((

The sun & wind were at our backs as we ascended the gradual mile or so back up the wash & along the trail.  Many Agave plants in this area & they always remind me of Marshal South & Ghost Mountain.  If you type  Marshal South or Ghost Mountain into our search box you can see our blogs & pics about our hikes to that area nearby over the last couple of years.

  

WATERFALL IS BEHIND KELLY AS SHE STANDS ON THE NARROW ROAD FIRST MADE BACK IN 1847 - ONLY VISIBLE SIGN OF THE ROAD - PATH ALONG TOP OF THE RIDGE AT LEFT WAS THE ROAD.  HARD TO IMAGINE THE OLD BUTTERFIELD STAGECOACH MAKING IT'S WAY THROUGH HERE ALONG THIS TRAIL

We were back to the car at 1:30 knowing we had had ourselves a good hike.  Spending a couple hours like we just did is one of my favorite things to do & the thought occurred to me on the way home that if I pushed myself to do more things like that I would be less likely to be so grumpy in my blog all the time.  Boredom is not a good thing for me!!

ALWAYS GREAT TO GET BACK TO THE CAR

At exactly 4 o'clock this afternoon it was like somebody flicked a switch & turned on that giant California wind machine again.  The wind came suddenly down the canyon & sent me scrambling to fold up lawn furniture again, get the flags down, & secure anything that was not tied down............  I plan to put the rest of today's photos into a Picasa Web Album tomorrow.

THE SANTA ROSA MOUNTAINS ACROSS THE VALLEY FROM US (Nikon D40 - 200mm)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A farmer purchased an old, run-down, abandoned farm with plans to turn it into a thriving enterprise. The fields were grown over with weeds, the farmhouse was falling apart, and the fences were broken down.  During his first day of work, the town preacher stops by to bless the man's work, saying, "May you and God work together to make
this the farm of your dreams!"   A few months later, the preacher stops by again to call on the farmer.  Lo and behold, it's a completely different place.  The farm house is completely rebuilt and in excellent condition, there is plenty of cattle and other livestock happily munching on feed in well-fenced pens, and the fields are filled with crops planted in neat rows.  "Amazing!" the preacher says. "Look what God and you have accomplished together!"   "Yes, reverend," says the farmer, "but remember what the farm was like when God was working it alone!"

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.