Borrego Blooms – day trip to Borrego Springs

My county library card was due for renewal.  Normally this would be a fun bike ride from Pepper Park to the Imperial Beach library, or the short drive to La Mesa.  But Fran is doing her prep for our trip to the Eclipse … There’s wildflowers in the Borrego  So I’m off to the Borrego Springs Library.  And the Anza Borrego State Park.

I stopped for a machaca breakfast burrito at Jilbertos.  As the Bayfield bunch one said; “Things wouldn’t be right with the world if we didn’t pop into Jilbertos after first arriving in town you know."  Al recommends their hamburger, I do not recommend their machaca breakfast burrito.  Too much grease and moisture, the tortilla fell apart.  Hamburger for breakfast next time!

Enough typing/reading.  Let’s check what’s left of the bloom, while I'm looking for a Desert Lily.

My first stop is Henderson Canyon, always everybody’s favorite stop for wildflowers.

Henderson Canyon

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Henderson Canyon

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Henderson Canyon

The flowers are mostly small groups in a sea of verbena.

Sunflower, Buckwheat and Dandelion

Showy Sunflower

Showy Sunflower

Sunflower

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Sunflower

Sand Verbena

Brittlebush

Pincushion

Non-native mustard finding a home in the dried cracks of the mud.

Mustard

Dune Primrose

Apricot

It was a nice seeing the late season flowers, but alas no Desert Lily.

For my next search, I planned to try Coachwhip Canyon.  But first, I wanted to stop for a visit with Daddy Dearest at Fonts Point, as it's on the way.

DD’s forever view

And right above where I distributed his ashes over a decade ago is this shabby Desert Lily!  Thanks Dad!

Desert Lily

Check out the root system of this Ocotillo! 

Erosion!

Some serious erosion!  It’s not only still living, its flowers are well established.

With my quest for the lily complete,  I am free to head to the library and renew my county library card.

I like to walk through the community gardens across the street from the library.  Just a couple pix for encouragement for you to do so on your next visit.

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There are some dandelions just outside of the library.

With a my renewed library card, it was time to check out cactus.  They typically bloom after the wildflowers.

Prickly Pear

Yucca

Silver Cholla

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Silver Cholla

Beavertail

Hedgehog

Teddy-bear Cholla

Jumping Cholla

To remove cholla I carry a pocket comb to flick the culprit off.  Also tweezers to pull any left over spines out.  In this case I used a propane lighter to burn the leftover spines off.

Agave

Barrel Cactus

I bet the cactus bloom will be a vibrant sea of color next month.

The bar at the American Legion opens at 3.  I could have had an adult beverage or two, but it’s still a bit of a drive home.

I enjoyed my day, trust you had a good one too.

Now back to prepping Rufus, we’ll be leaving in a couple days!