Anza Borrego Desert - Happy New Year!

We're here:  N 33 degrees 17.46 minutes, W 116 degrees 17.14 minutes; the first motorhome on Rockhouse Trail, off-road but with a line of sight that provides good internet and phone reception, boosted by our Wilson antenna.  We compromise our view (slightly) and our location (closer to S-22) for these perks.  One of us is a bit of an addict!

Looking west toward the sunset

East toward the Santa Rosa mountains

Within an hour after we had parked and set-up our chairs and tables, no hook-ups to deal with...remember we're boondocking, I look up from the comfort of my chaise lounge and here come Earl and Gail with Vita, their German shepherd, in their Class-B van bouncing into our driveway!  Their plans to spend the weekend at Joshua Tree Nat'l Park were squelched on arrival as the park was full so they turned around and drove here.  We are very happy to usher in this New Year with our very good friends!

Preparing for our New Year's Eve dinner..bbq'd steaks

And a wonderful New Year's Eve we had.  First, a gourmet feast of NY steaks on the barbecue, asparagus and sauteed mushrooms, salad, a fine Cabernet and Gail's delish cheese cake...how did she do that!  Later we sat around a big bonfire sipping fresh-brewed coffee...a couple of us added a few drops of Grand Marnier to ours, then came inside and watched "The Help" on the DVD player, power supply aided and abetted by our trusty generator.  The 4 105-watt solar panels keep our 6 house batteries charged quite well but occasionally, especially at night with no sun, we need a little assistance.

There are quite a lot of RVs out here, mostly snowbirds gathering from northern climes, but also a lot of weekend campers from the LA and San Diego areas.  In our 15 years of coming here and witnessing the creation of unique camp sites with firepits, even earth ovens, and lots of rock art adorning the landscape, we are still amazed and thankful that folks keep the environment so clean and pristine.  

On New Year's morning, before the temps got to daytime highs of 75-80, we were out hiking up Coyote Mountain.  

Earl and Gail are properly impressed!

Then, what to our wandering eyes should appear, but a huge serpentine creature, challenging our very survival to fend off imminent danger.  Howard came to our rescue!

Howard and the monstrous serpent!

And the New Year begins in grand style!