Borrego–Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

Comet C2022/E3 (ZTF) passes earth every 50,000 years.  It was visible in the predawn sky this weekend.  With a New Moon there would be a dark sky, and I expected to find the comet easily.

So we headed off to Borrego Springs for a few days.

The furnace in Rufus is not reliable, so we chose to stay at the American Legion #853 with water and electric for $20 a night.

The W/E sites are pretty tight altho the FHU ($30) and boondocking ($5) sites are far more generous.  At least we had a small heater that provided enough warmth.

I arrived a Yaqui Pass at 3:30 am for a search, but no luck.  I expected the comet west of the Big Dipper in Bootes as it approached Draco.  I’m sure it was there!  But no luck …

I tried again from the little park on Old Springs Road.  Although again no luck, that is a better place to see the night sky.

For a bit of fun exercise we rode our bikes from the Legion to town.

A nice view of the snow remaining on Mt San Jacinto.

Somebody had fun with a paint spill on the road

As we approached Christmas Circle this little Roadrunner crossed the street in front of us.

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The Community Garden has their new ’scare crow’ installed.  That should protect their gardens.

We stopped at the library, which was closed. :(  But we enjoyed a walk through the park.

Fran’s legs are getting enough of a workout on her bike, so she tried the upper arm exercises.

We were surprised at the condition of the park.  In San Diego there would be gang tags and spray can artists all over anything this nice,  But it is still pristine!

Our ride was cut short as (what to us was a) haboob developed out of the north east.  Mt San Jacinto is no longer visible.

We arrived back at Rufus with dust and sand in our teeth, but safe.

It as still early and we decided to visit my dad at Font’s Point.  It was cold and very windy, but when was the last time we had Font’s Point to ourselves?

Probably when the park closed the point for 15 minutes for us to release his ashes.  It’s pretty dusty today.

From Font’s Point we took Short Wash to Vista del Malpais (view of the badlands).  A similar view of the ‘Sweepings of the Earth’ ~Padre Font, but more intimate.

The view really is closer and more personal.

But just as windy!

From here we could have returned the same route, but I chose to go on and catch Palo Verde Wash north to the roadway.  Yikes the sand is now blowing over the hood of the Jeep and it is nearly impossible to see the trail ahead, let alone any turns!

Yes we were sorta lost.  But finding East Palo Verde Wash was almost as good.  We were back in familiar desert and turned south into Ocotillo Wells and home.

Sculptures
Of course we visited some of the sculptures!  Here are a few pics of perhaps the lesser known.

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And all the sculptures have/had identification numbers.  The early sculptures had plastic markers, which did not handle the desert weather well.  Most have metal markings.

 The number will be either on the pedestal:

Or on the sculpture:

As with this family of Javelins;

Wildflowers

I also wanted to see what was left of the late winter wildflowers.

Don’t expect a ‘Super Bloom’ this year but did enjoy those blooming now.

Verbena - it's everywhere!

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Dodder, Witches Hair 

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Cholla thriving among the ocotillo 

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Young cholla behind the stalk of a parent

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Ocotillo buds

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Cholla buds, ready to bloom

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Henderson Canyon

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Primrose

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Sunflower

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??? I thought this was chicory ,,, it's not

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Brittle Bush

.Peg Leg Smith

For now, and the rest of this season, Peg Leg Smith is again open for boondocking!

The park acknowledged they could not provide any security for the campground.  aka - no camp host volunteered.  Whoot Whoot!!! I hope no-one does!

Friends
One evening we headed east to visit Doug and Yuma.  The whole gang was already there!

Our pleasure to meet Doug and Yuma again, along with Deb and Riley, whose blog I read. and Deb and Tom for the first time.

Fran, Jeff, Riley, Deb, Doug, Tom

Nice picture from Deb (but you are missing!)  Deb's picture from 'On a long and lonesome highway'.

Doug managed to capture all of us.

Fran, Jeff, Riley, Deb, Deb, Tom Doug

We enjoyed our visit with you!!!

Spring Bloom - Anza Borrego

In my last post I reported on the awesome Winter Bloom in Ocotillo Wells.  This weekend we met friends to check out the Spring Bloom in Borrego Springs.  With a few hundred photos from the weekend to choose from I’ll select those that are unique or at least have a extension from my last few posts that convey new insights.

 As is our custom we stop at Dudley’s in Santa Ysabel for a lunch/dinner to share.  Since it’s windy and cold I wanted a hot sandwich.  I’ve had my mouth set for their ‘roast beef sriracha’ and ARG! it is no longer on the menu!  But the gal at the deli recognizes us and knows how to make it.  Sweet! and thanks Dudley’s, just what was needed for 3 meals!

We met up with friends, Doug and Marilyn, at Peg Leg Smith for a weekend of good times, good wine, good flowers and mostly good friends.  The campsite is easy-in/easy-out with level sites.  And has its own library.

 Our first sunset was pretty amazingly different – interesting sunbeams finding their way thru the clouds.

A campfire in the desert must be in an elevated metal container in most areas.  I take an old wash tub along for that purpose and find a few rocks to keep it off the ground.  An easy solution that provides a lot of heat.

Friday morning we headed to Christmas Circle for the Farmer’s Market.  Doug wanted to find some radishes and fresh cilantro for the Carne Asada planned for dinner.  It's not a big market but had what he wanted and it was fresh!

As I mentioned in my last post the Winter Bloom in Ocotillo Wells was awesome!  This trip is to check out what the spring wildflowers are like in Borrego Springs.  Our first exploration is up Hellhole and Little Surprise Canyons, where the cholla here are jumping!

Doug picked up an aggressive pod that just refused to let go!  I keep a comb in my pack for such an instance, but the pack is back at the RV.

The barrel cactus are in bloom.  I often wonder what they smell like, but have never had the desire to get close enough to find out.

As were the Bluebells

After our walk in the canyon we stopped by the Library.  This is the first opportunity for Doug to visit.  It offers a much better selection of reading material than the little library at Peg Leg Smith.

Altho I’ve been a few times before I did not notice that they offer laptop check out.  Not sure how that works but it’s certainly a nice option.

They are preparing for a book sale tomorrow.  The featured item will be the a complete Star Trek collection.  Many hundreds of books in the Star Trek series being cataloged for the sale.

For our next wildflower excursion we chose Coyote Canyon as it had been reopened after the rains, and freshly graded.  This is by far the best conditions I’ve ever seen, altho we only went as far as Desert Gardens.

Coyote Canyon is noted for the number of ocotillo that call it home

A beautiful indigo bush

Fairy duster

On our way into town we noticed this little airplane, not sure what it is doing here without its wheels. 

Fran and I have not done the “Borrego Wander” before. Now was the day to take care of that.

The ‘Wander’ is simply a meander through the field behind the Kiwanis fruit stand near Christmas Circle.  Each of the many plaques has a brief message. 

Along the wander is the Borrego Rock and Gem (BRAG) display offering a selection of the geology of the Borrego valley.

Both Kg and Aj have more knowledge of geology than I, but Fran selected 3 rocks that called out to her.  We have no idea what they are!

The sunset of our 3nd night looked like Julian was ablaze.  Nope just the way the sun reflected off the clouds. 

For breakfast it was our plan to have a chorizo taste-off.

Doug and Marilyn had a hog slaughtered, which provided a couple pounds of chorizo to go with the commercial offerings.

I scrambled up some eggs with onions, jalapeno and poblano peppers to go with our chorizo tasting.  From the top left are the chorizo entries :
1. Doug’s Private Reserve – yes Doug has his own secret stash!
2. Santa Ysabel butcher shop regular
3. Santa Ysabel butcher shop Hot - adds cyan and red chilies to the regular
4. Santa Ysabel butcher shop Hot Hot - adds habanero to the Hot
5. Borrego Springs Market

All sausage has a measure of fat, since we like our meat on the lean side, I wanted to test that too.  So all entries were pan fried until crisp and then in the microwave for 20 seconds to see how much fat might still be released.  And of course flavor and texture are important. Our test is pretty hedonistic, in that it was what we liked.

1. Doug’s Private Reserve – Leanest, best texture and good flavor.
2. Santa Ysabel Hot – Lean, good flavor, but lousy texture
3. Borrego Springs Market – Best flavor, good texture, but highest fat content by far.  Cook it well done and you’ll not be disappointed.

Not sure if the flowers help attract pollinators or deter pests.  Or just whimsy to add some beauty to the vegetable garden.