Adventures in Anza Borrego: Blooms and Bighorns

Our original winter plan was to leave San Diego in early February and spend a little time in Anza Borrego on our way to Arizona. But when our parents had health issues in January rather than cancel those plans we pushed our Anza Borrego reservations out to March with the hope they'd be better by then.

While my mom continues to undergo treatment, things have stabilized enough that we felt comfortable taking off for a 12 day trip away from San Diego. Our first stop was Agua Caliente County Park. Located about 100 miles east of San Diego, Agua Caliente is nestled up against the Tierra Blanca Mountains in the Anza Borrego desert and features geothermal heated mineral pools.

Though the desert has heated up lately we were looking forward to catching some spring bloom, hitting a few trails, and soaking in those mineral pools.

When the daytime temp is expected to hit 90, we hit the trails early...that's why I was up for the sunrise!

On our way to our first hike we made a brief stop at Indian Gorge because a local said bighorn sheep had been hanging out in the canyon. While we didn't see any sheep, we enjoyed the early morning shade of the canyon and a lot of lovely blooms. This gorge, off highway S2 just a few miles south of Agua Caliente, would be worth further exploration on a return trip.

The hedgehog cactus are just starting to sport their shocking pink blossoms.

I was surprised to see a few lupine.

Silver cholla are abundant in Anza Borrego, their yellow blooms are just starting to open.

Tiny Bigelows monkeyflower.

Leaving the shade of the gorge we continued south on S2 to Mountain Palm Springs. Primitive camping is available here, as well as a few miles of trails to several palm oases. These fan palms are a welcome sight in the dry desert and are evidence of tectonic activity that has allowed water to rise to the surface. The palms are thirsty, they can consume 200 gallons per day, so they are a reliable indication of water in the desert.

The bare trunks of these palms mean fire swept through here at one time.

Hans spotted this little guy, perhaps a kangaroo rat, peeking out at us.

We hiked a loop that took us to several palm groves.
We followed cairns up and over this rugged hill giving us an excellent workout in 80+ degree temps.
Can you find Hans in his St Patrick's Day green?

View to the south from the saddle (where we had good cell reception).

We scrambled down the other side towards this palm grove.

Palm amphitheater.

Hula dancers!

I loved how each of these flowers looked just a little different!

Western Zebra-tailed lizard.

Back at Agua Caliente we were treated to several bighorn sheep sightings. A former park ranger told us that due to recent mountain lion sightings the sheep may be hanging out closer to people, plus this is lambing season and lambs need water to survive so the oases are popular at this time of year.

Spotted high on a hill above us.

Soon we spotted a second sheep.
This ram is pawing at a barrel cactus, then he would eat it.

A third sheep shows up!

Below is the view from our site. I glassed the hillside for sheep and was rewarded by a bachelor group of 8 rams!

Five rams munching and messing around on the hillside.

They can be very difficult to spot among the vegetation.

Boys relaxing.

Blending right in...

Slowly, in ones and twos, they moved on across the desert.

Moonlight Canyon trail is a gorgeous 1.5 mile loop right from the campground.

The beavertail cactus are just beginning to bloom.

Moonlight Canyon trail.

Hooded Oriole in an ocotillo.

That's just the first couple of days of our stay in Anza Borrego, beauty in abundance! More to come...

Making the Most of a Long Stay in San Diego

Wow, it's been over a month since I posted! By far the longest blogging break since we started full timing in 2012. It's been a busy, emotional roller coaster of a month. In my last post I mentioned the family situations that have extended our stay in San Diego...here is an update.

Hans' stepdad continues his steady recovery from a broken femur. Hans visits his parents regularly and assists when needed, but they are coping well with this new situation. We are forever grateful that Hans' stepdad has generously allowed us to borrow his pickup truck while he is unable to drive. It has made an enormous positive impact on my ability to handle the myriad details related to my mothers recovery...

My mother spent four weeks in the hospital and one week in rehab. She is now home, continues ongoing treatment for her serious illness, and is slowly but surely on the road to recovery. We'll spend the next few months in San Diego helping my parents negotiate the lifestyle changes and many doctor appointments and therapy appointments related to her recovery.

As I mentioned in my last post, San Diego is a fantastic place to be settled for a while. I lived here for 50 years so I know plenty of beautiful places where I can catch my breath and experience some peaceful moments of joy no matter what else is going on. We take a walk or two every day, often along the beach or bay. Hans is playing lots of pickleball, his skill level will probably blow me away when I next get to play! We've also managed a few meetups with RVers as they pass through town.

We're staying at Mission bay RV Resort till mid March, if any of our readers are staying nearby don't hesitate to reach out, we'd love to get together for happy hour or a walk if possible!

After some heavy rain in January and weeks of warmer than normal weather things are blooming all over town...
such as this fruit tree at the ranch in Penasquitos Canyon.

One of the perks of spending time at my parents house is garden time...
it's my therapy!

Tasty brews at Modern Times with my daughter, Chantal, who visited from Oregon.

At the Coronado Brewing tasting room you get to watch the bottling process!

Rainbow rocks on Torrey Pines State Beach.

Late afternoon at Ocean Beach.

The Joy of Flexibility

One of the things every full time RVer comes to appreciate is the flexibility of life on the road. The freedom to take your home anywhere you want or need to be at a moments notice is fundamental to this lifestyle choice. 2016 is turning out to be a year where flexibility is coming in to play in a big way for us.

We'd already decided to spend most of 2016 in San Diego. My parents were planning a big RV trip to the east coast and we were going to house sit for them for several months. Then life started throwing us curve balls...

On January 1st Hans' stepdad broke his femur. Fortunately his recovery is progressing nicely and we are able to assist as needed to help his parents get through this trying time.

On January 8th my mom was admitted to the hospital and is currently being treated for multiple issues with an unknown recovery period. We're taking this day by day and hoping for the best outcome.

I read a book recently, Awakening Joy by James Baraz, that discusses how to acknowledge all the little moments of joy that happen each and every day beyond, or in spite of, the ups and downs of life. This book gives solid advice on how to change our focus from negative to positive and create new habits that recognize and acknowledge joy instead of dwelling on our sorrows. I can honestly say this book has made a big impact on my outlook on life and on my ability to handle the challenges of recent weeks.

We are immensely grateful to be retired and to have the freedom to dedicate as much time as necessary to assist our parents when they need it most. We intend to hop around between Mission Bay and our Poway driveway site and Santee Lakes for the next few months as things evolve in our families. Obviously blogging will continue to take a back seat to the more urgent issues facing us right now.

San Diego is most definitely not a bad place to be during trying times. One doesn't have to go far to experience some of those moments of joy I was talking about...

I wonder how long it took these seals to get all the way to the top of the rocks?

 

 

 

The Sand Devils rocked the Tower Bar!

 

Remember to welcome JOY into your life at every opportunity!