Plumb out of excuses

To update the blog, that is
Woke up – to the sounds of silence, again.  Eventually got keen enough to make some coffee, feed Hailey, then fire up the internet to find out what had happened overnight in news, e-mail, weather, blogs, forwarded videos, etc. Eventually, some breakfast, topped off by one of those incredible Borrego Springs grapefruit.  I never eat them anywhere else but here, but they taste so good, and for $3.00 a huge bag at the rural corner of DiGiorgio and Henderson Canyon road, do it yourself, honour system grapefruit stand, need I say more.  The tanks that are supposed to be empty are; and the ones that are supposed to be full – are.  The day before yesterday was a town day where the laundry was done, the hair was cut, a few groceries picked up, and of course grapefruit on the way home. Yesterday was a hiking day on Coyote Mountain (below),
 
so today is a good one to get caught up on well, the blog!  Can’t find anything else to do to put it off yet again.

 (A rather rushed and poorly edited video, I must say!)

 (A rather rushed and poorly edited video, I must say!)
Before departing our last camp we noticed that Deep Creek hot springs was well within driving distance so checked it out one day.  Hailey stayed behind to guard the camp, which was just as well, because the drive in was a bit gruelling at times, and there was no shade in the parking area.  You can do it the easy way and pay to park at the Bowen ranch, or make a longer drive and a shorter walk.  The long road is mostly decent high clearance 4x4 road, but the last half mile is certainly a challenge for a stock truck.  But we made it!
It is a nice, though steep in places, downhill hike to the springs on the river bank.  There are about 5 or 6 different pools to choose from, so you can choose your preferred temperature and privacy.

Most of my photos were not suitable for the blog as California seems to be in the midst of a swimming attire shortage. While some of the pools are the typical shallow variety, one pool I was in was at least 7-8’ deep in the middle.  All in a very nice scenic area.
From our camp in the high desert, things went right downhill – into Desert Hot Springs and Palm springs.  There we camped on the street in a gated community for a couple of nights visiting friends from back in BC.  On Saturday, it was the garage sale circuit, looking for bargains.  Some of the houses were pretty nice as well, as you can see by the pool.

Other friends at the Sands resort could not be located, as I often give no warning of my imminent arrival.  Therefore, we headed southward still and set up camp in the Borrego Springs area – one of our favourite spots.  It wasn’t long before I spotted the big wheels of Wheeling It, and the somewhat smaller wheels of RV Sue in the distance.  Before long, I expect that Jean and Skip will roll into the neighbourhood after spending time in the Yuma area. And John and Nicole are due soon as well!  It will be just like old home week in Borrego Springs!
Only ones missing are the Bayfield Bunch and Wandering Willy!
Rumour has it that both will be doing a bit of travelling in the new year.
Hailey is always right at home – wherever we happen to be.  We found a stray balloon out in the desert and brought it home for her.