Pre-Christmas

It's been very quiet in our corner for the past couple weeks. Not much really blog worthy.

Our biggest adventure was a attending the Holiday Celebration presented at The Welk in Escondido.

The Welk Theater at Lawrence Welk Village continues to draw top talent.

The show was a very high energy performance of holiday classics, including Feliz Navidad with Folkloric dance and a rap version Silent Night. We both enjoyed show and the holiday decorations in the lobby.

A one and a two …

We continue to bike ride along Mission Bay and into Pacific Beach.  Saturday we rode into PB  for the annual Christmas parade.  The Mission Bay High School provided the only band this year.

The LoRiders from South Bay put on a show with their hydraulic antics

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and beautiful rides

and restored classics

The Old Mission Bay Athletic Club (OMBAC) Fire Department is present at most local events.

No holiday parade would be complete without Santa!

In responses to a comment left by Jim, I challenged myself a couple blogs ago to make a rattle out of a Coyote Gourd, as that's all their good for.

Coyote Gourd

Rather than wait weeks for it to dry I used the kitchen oven (don't tell Fran)

A native Kumeyaay shaman would use a sharp rock, but …

The seeds are the only part of the gourd that is edible, although there are a lot of seeds, it's defiantly an acquired taste!

Yes that is a Julian Pie tin holding the seeds :)

I put the dried seeds back in the gourd.  And used a hot glue gun to secure the gourd to my pine branch.  A Kumeyaay craftsman would make one as show in this YouTube video  HERE.

We always seem to have a puzzle on the puzzle table.

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  And that’s all for now, we'll be heading back to Borrego for their New Year festivities.

Thanksgiving - in Borrego

The American Legion in Borrego Springs hosts an annual potluck dinner for it's members and their guests. I still have not been motivated to have the furnace repaired in Rufus, so we booked a FHU site at the Legion.  Thanksgiving we relaxed at the campsite, Fran sat out to enjoy the sun and started a jigsaw puzzle.

At $30 a night it's pretty reasonable and a bit of exercise on a 4 mile bike ride to town.

We arrived at the Legion Hall at 3:30, a half-hour after the potluck's announced time. And boy did the Legion underestimate the turnout! There were still a few rolls ... 

and a dessert table for us to enjoy!

We each enjoyed a dinner roll and a couple pieces of pie. By 4pm even the bar was becoming empty!  We then ordered a couple glasses of wine.  

We enjoyed the wine and took a couple extra pieces of pie back to Rufus.

We do have Plan B: a frozen turkey at home, which is now defrosting. Or we could just go with …

Across the corner from the American Legion is the La Casa del Zorro Resort

the resort has a 1 mile paved jogging path. Fran's waiting for me to catch-up!

The trail is called a 'jogging path'  I don't jog anymore

The resort has some really nice landscaping, lots of grass and fountains

and even its own Starbucks!

We didn't expect Friday morning Farmer's Market to be happening the day after Thanksgiving, but it was

We spent some time wandering the Borrego Mall, where there were lots of art and sculptures being offered up.

Fredrick's is a must shop to wander around. They have art from around the world on display. Currently Shipibo Pottery is available. Each piece also has a portrait of the Amazon artist that created it.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is depicted in these exquisite ceramic pottery pieces.

When I can always stop at Font's Point where I let the wind distribute my dad's cremains.

He chose a great spot!  I may join him there, but not today.

Borrego Springs, as the name implies, has several springs and pumping stations. On one of our bike rides we stopped here to check this one out.

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I did not see any pupfish in the spring. But there were signs that some critters stop by.

And now back at home … we made a trip to Tijuana. It was a quick trip down to Washington Dental. Fran had her final check on her implants and I took advantage of the time and had a cleaning.

The cross back at PedWest is typically faster than the main border crossing at San Ysidro.  Our wait was 90 minutes compared to 3 hours.

Still on the 'Fun Side of the Wall'

But it closes at 2pm to process migrants.

Migrants that have been cleared to apply for entry.  

We are now catching up on our 'homework'. There's Fran on the rake. The little Sweet Gum twig we planted nearly 40 years ago provides a beautiful, altho messy, fall display

Fran and I have much to be thankful for. Even though the Legion's potluck was a bit of a disappointment, it makes for a fun entry in the blog!

Baja Ha-Ha – cruisers rally

Every November sailboats gather in San Diego for the Baja Ha-Ha for a 10 day cruise down Baja California to Cabo San Lucas. This year's boats came down from British Columbia, up from Mexico and even across from Arizona.

This year there were just 131 boats registered for the rally. The boat parade begins at the Chula Vista Marina and gathers other entrants and well wishers as it prepares for the 10 am start from the southwest tip of Shelter Island.

This is a rally, not a race, with fun stops and games along the way.

There was little wind in the morning only a few boats had their sails up, and those just for show as they motored out of the Big Bay past Point Loma to begin the southward journey.

I watched the boats gather from the fishing pier on Shelter Island. This group next to me was from San Jose. Their son and DIL are in the rally. They found each other, greeting with big waves and air horns.

From there I went up to the Cabrillo National Monument to view from there.

Outside the shelter of Point Loma the boats finally had their sails up.

Last time I was here the lighthouse was covered in scaffolding getting a new roof and fresh coat of paint. It definitely looked brilliant in the morning light.

I was a bit disappointed the interior was not also given a bit of a face lift.

In the display room, I noticed the sign on the small Fresnel lens from the Ballast Point lighthouse. 

I had not noticed that before, in fact not even knew Ballast Point had a lighthouse.

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It certainly makes sense as the point does stick out into the channel.

A Google search on Ballast Point Lighthouse revealed the building itself was moved to Lakeside to be used as a Ham Radio Shack. It's now a residence.

However the Lantern Room is on display in Old Town … on Congress Street … the trolley stop is on Congress Street. Of course I wanted to see it.

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Also at the trolley stop is this small memorial to Codi.

Codi - Old Town's Favorite Horse

Codi was often seen as Park Ranger Dick Miller patrolled Old Town.

photo credit: Cool San Diego Sights - link HERE