I think after almost 7 weeks here in our lovely free boondocking site, we may qualify for homesteading rights. Honestly, every time we start to make plans to move on; Ogilby Rd., Imperial Dam, Kofa are all on our radar, Yuma, Scottsdale, Tucson, too; we go for another hike, and gaze at the night sky and say... maybe next week!
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| Phone shot collage as we were heading out to dinner... |
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| Looking east with the last rays of sun! |
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| A new (for us) trail up the side of Coyote Mt. |
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| Howard in a prickly, green frame |
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| Quatro ocotillos |
There have been a couple more trips to Tito’s repair place in town to have motorhome issues resolved. Yes, we would recommend him. Yesterday was the final visit hopefully, and involved installing a new filter on the air system, a part that had to be ordered from Country Coach. The dash air needs a new compressor but that’s going to wait till we can find an after-market replacement at about half the price.
Before Tom & Carolyn
left for other parts, we finagled another Jeep drive. We headed east on S-22 and turned south to Arroyo Salada, 17 Palms, and 5 Palms
, stopping frequently for short hikes and photos.
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| Driving thru Arroyo Salada |
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| At the 17 Palms |
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| To the 5 Palms...not a bad sky day! |
Hooking up with the Cut Across Trail, winding south towards Butte Mountain and The Slot, we happened on Hawk Canyon. This turned out to be a beautiful find with no less than a dry waterfall, an interesting sign, and a half-petrified piece of wood.
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| The sign conjures up all sorts of mental images. Possibly an alteration of "wood", tho there are sheep in these parts! |
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| Notice how this piece of wood is petrified on the right side only! |
The beautiful sandstone cliffs of the area are evidence of an ancient marine environment. The Coyote Creek earthquake fault runs north and south on the east side of the east mesa of Borrego Mountain in the highly active San Jacinto Fault Zone. The Borrego Mountain earthquake of 9 April 1968 was logged at 6.5 on the Richter Scale. Earthquakes have made their mark here in the form of fault scarps.
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| I see fossils, at least in my head.. |
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| Formations and colors reminiscent of the John Day Painted Hills Unit... |
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| Navigating thru Arroyo Salada |
We've done our fair share of socializing with neighbors and friends. There was the rather impromptu Super Bowl party with Dan & Heather, and Patrick with his dog, Rinse. Probably the only time we'll root for the Seattle Seahawks, who consistently give our SF 49ers a boot to the butt. But we had to go for the west coast team. Howard and Dan had a $1 bet, Howard taking the Patriots. Luckily he quickly noticed Dan trying to paying him off with 4 Canadian quarters!
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| Another amazing day with good friends! |
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| Heather does the gourmet turkey burgers, Dan & Patrick gaze at the mountains... |
We met Bob and Kathie Maxwell for lunch a few days ago in Julian, about equidistant between here and their current location in Chula Vista. Bob has been dealing with some serious health issues but is on the road to recovery and planning to be back on the road soon!
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| With Bob & Kathie in Julian... |
We also offer doggy day care by appointment only. Patrick was in need of clean laundry, a hike in Culp Valley, and a few podcasts downloaded from the library. We got Rinse for the day! His name, we found out, was originally Prince, which Patrick found unacceptable!
A big Thank You to the couple in the red pickup, towing the 5th wheel. You made Howard's day when you stopped alongside him jogging on Rockhouse Trail, and asked...."are you Stillhowlyn"?! We hope you got your water pump fixed.
Have you ever wanted to hike the Grand Canyon? I was catching up on Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun, and noticed a bridge pic linked with her 2009 hike! Totally blew my mind. This is as close as I'll get to the real thing!
Decisions, decisions, where to and when?! Thanks for stopping by...
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