Merry Christmas, more photos....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

 

 Merry Christmas to all, we hope you've had an excellent day, doing whatever it is you were doing and if not being with those you wanted to be with, at least being with those whose company you enjoy. We spent a quiet day, made a garbage run, checked out American Girl Mine Road and took a bit of a drive, along with a bit of a hike. Nothing too much, just a wee one. 

 

 Those banks are pretty high over there. Can you see the road on the right side of the photo?

 I think the desert is an awesome place, and with views like this, how can you disagree?

A different view of the Valley of the Names. They just go on and on and on for miles. Interesting place for sure. 

 

The morning started with calls to and from Ontario, Canada as Christmas wishes were exchanged and all the gossip caught up. A phone call here in California to SIL Janet as well. 

 

The views go on for ever. Even into that haze over that, those peaks just keep going. 

 

 Doesn't that make you want to get out and hike, hike, hike? Climb to the highest peak and see what's on the other side? It does me.

 

So many arroyos or washes in the desert. Nothing is flat for long. 

 

Today's photos are more of my ride along with Jerry. I hope I haven't duplicated any photos, if I have, oh well, I liked them enough to show them again.  Thanks Elva for correcting my mistake in yesterday's post. I remembered later that Jerry hadn't called them the Chocolate Mountains.

 

 

 We twisted and turned our way down, up, around, over, and thru some of those peaks.

 This pack was all from Oregon, according to their plates. Very colourful, you wouldn't miss 'em. They were parked at a pull off beside a marker explaining the Gold Mine at this spot.

 I bet you can tell we had to go around this deep wash. We went left and followed the folks in the above photo. They however were soon gone and we didn't see any thing more of them.

 The sky is huge, the views stretch for miles and miles. The haze gives one the impression they could see forever if you could only see past the haze.

 Yep, we drove thru this narrow gap and passed on the right of that big black mound up there. This used to be a rail line but the tracks have been removed and the way is skinny.

 The rail bed snakes around here and we followed it.

 The colour is awesome. It's nooks and crannies call me, telling me that this is the way to top, just follow me. I didn't do it but I could hear them calling.

 The road goes between here and Jerry squeezed us right along past this notch.

 I took a lot of photos of this area, so if I double up, I apologize. Don't you love the colour? Can you see the campground off on the middle left?

 Can you see it now? Just right the very middle of the photo.

 This was taken on our little hike. So we are much lower than the Jeep now.

 Fascinating colours, love that orange colour over there.

 Sand bars out there in the river would make boating a bit of a hazard, but that white sand over there looks inviting.           

 

 

Odd seeing this rock like formation sticking out of the sand. 

 All of this water and greenery smack in the middle of some of the wildest country around the area. 

 I love the tan colour of the reeds.

 We actually end up down in the edge of the river bed for a while.

 I love the shadows over there in the distance.

 Hard to believe that is sand, isn't it? We drove right past there. You can see the road going along at the foot of those towering sand walls.

 A picnic/rest area here after our drive along the river bed. I could certainly picnic here, how about you?

 Looking the other direction from the above photo. 

 And a little bit different angle of the above photo.

 Light and shadow does certainly make a difference in a photo.

 Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your Christmas Day and our continued ride along. 

 No where to climb there, you can only stand back and admire the wall.

 Now maybe you could find a way up there if you looked hard enough. Can you see all that loose sand? It would make it difficult to even get to the base of that wall. 

 

 

I think I'd like to climb the one on the left, I'll bet the view is fantastic. 

 

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

 Yep, we went up there.

 The road turned left just ahead. 

 

Deb

 

 

 

 

A nice day here in Borrego Springs, California.....

Our Location:  Near Borrego Springs, CA

Cooler overnight temperatures here in Borrego Springs had me piling on some more blankets. I did however sleep very well and didn’t wake up until 6 AM. What a wonderful surprise that was. Riley and I enjoyed our hot drinks and discussed some things we wanted to do today. 

Heading toward Borrego Springs.

 

So it was around 8:30 AM that we headed in to Borrego Springs with two things in mind. Our first stop was Christmas Circle to walk on the grass, leave our trash and check out the decorations. I mentioned to Riley how Al has mentioned about bringing Pheebes here to walk on the grass. So a few pictures to help tide them over until they can do that themselves. No vendors today but it being so close to Christmas I guess I should have known that I guess. 

The beautiful green grass of Christmas Circle.

 

Our next stop was the laundry building we’ve passed many times. No we don’t have laundry to but I was thinking of doing a load of blankets while we’re here to just kind of freshen them up a bit. I sat on the bench and chatted with a local California fellow for 10 minutes about various places to see and places to stay. From the laundry we headed out along one of the roads toward the north canyon walls. We eventually found our way home.

The Palms are tall and straight in the Circle.

 

At this point I started setting up our yard. Chairs, BBQ, table, mat, etc. It didn’t take too long and I even managed a chat with Larry from the toy hauler that was parked a short distance away. A nice fella he was telling me if I noticed a coyote running around with a cap on his head I could shoot him with no bad feelings. Seems he left his cap outside last night and it was gone this morning. Larry is from northeast Georgia but is visiting his son and family. They have been here for a couple of days with multiple quads and have been enjoying the desert. Before long they were pulling out and heading home to the son's place here in California. 

 

Not the fantastic shots that Al takes but a reminder at least.

 

After that it was time to sit outside in the sun and enjoy reading. We moved from the sun to the shade and back again a few times. The sun is very intense here and we need to give ourselves a break from it’s rays for a while. I managed to BBQ lunch while reading my book in the shade of the Igloo. Today we enjoyed a garden salad, meatloaf, spaghetti squash and grilled potatoes. Jello of course ended our meal.

Looking toward the west but a little south as well.

 

I talked with Courtney this morning, she’s back in Toronto, Canada. Her first day off of work for the Christmas season and she was enjoying lazing in bed and a bit of a sleep in. She’s excited to be off for a few weeks and is looking forward to doing some cooking as well as celebrating the season with her husband Matt and his family, as well as friends in the area. Cold, gray, blustery day with a temp of -4C/28F. No snow either. 

Prehistoric Christmas?

 

The next hour or so was spent cleaning up dishes, sweeping and tidying the Igloo. No real sunset tonight as it’s kind of a weird looking sky tonight. Almost hazy here in the little valley.

 

Palms along one of the roads we travelled today.

 

 Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Heading toward Henderson Road from a back road.

 

Until next time…take care, be safe,

 

 

Deb