MORNING HIKE IN THE YAQUI PASS & A DRIVE THROUGH JULIAN TO SAN YSABEL CALIFORNIA FOR A PIECE OF PIE

ON THE ROAD TO JULIAN CALIFORNIA

This is Tuesday’s post

Spent a little time with my Celestron 15x70 binoculars Monday night & tonight traveling among the sea of stars overhead.  Feeling is always the same for me.  We are not alone in this Universe.  And I believe whatever it is we are a part of it is far greater than any of man’s current beliefs or understanding………..

ONE MUST BE CAREFUL WHERE ONE STEPS IN THE COLORFUL DESERT

Another fine Borrego Springs sunrise.  Just one of the great boondocking advantages I have always noticed is being able to see sunsets & sunrises occurring in a natural setting.  No people sounds, no people views, just Mother Nature at her quiet & scenic best.

KELLY TAKES HER COLORFUL SOCKS FOR A WALK THIS MORNING

Short morning walk & we had the Jeep wheels rolling by 9:30.  Kelly had read about a short 1.5 mile loop hike leading out of the Yaqui Pass.  We knew the spot where the BILL KENYON Overlook trail head began.  Bit of a rock scramble starting out but the trail leveled off nicely & was reasonably easy to navigate.  A bit of scrambling on some loose gravel & rocks had Kelly picking up & using an Agave walking stick.  The trail reminded me of an easier version of the Marshal South Ghost Mountain trail in the not too distant Blair Valley.  We were probably a few hundred feet off the desert floor so that meant some nice greenery along the way.  Agave plants, Barrel & Fish Hook Cactus, Cholla, Beaver Tail Cactus, plus an assortment of other plants.  Nice one hour walk with a great view of the Pinyon Mountains.  A fine way to start another Anza-Borrego day.

  

 

 

 

  

Drove ourselves through the twisty-turny Yaqui Pass to the ANZA-BORREGO TAMARISK GROVE CAMPGROUND.  This is a picturesque small State Park located in a beautiful full grove of large Tamarisk trees.  Have always liked the looks of this neat & trim little park.  Ranger on duty.  $23 a night.  Washrooms & am assuming there may be water & electric. 

ROLLING THROUGH THE YAQUI PASS

 

A SHORT STOP AT THE TAMARISK CAMP GROUND

OOOPS WANDERED OFF THE PAVEMENT AGAIN

From Tamarisk Grove we followed highway 78 as it wound it’s way between the Pinyon Mountain Range & the San Felipe Hills.  We were close to Blair Valley but decided to head on up the curving scenic road to Julian.  Because of the long Thanksgiving Week-end shortly upon us a lot of ‘off-roaders’ will be heading into Blair Valley so we have decided it would not be a quiet haven for us.  We will stay where we are for the time being.

 

SLIPPING THROUGH ANOTHER MOUNTAIN PASS BETWEEN THE SAN FELIPE HILLS & THE PINYON MOUNTAINS

Just love the scenic drive from Scissors Crossing up to Julian.  One climbs  from a sparse desert setting up the sharp winding road through Banner into forests of green Pines.  We especially enjoyed the colorful Autumn leaves of many trees of which I do not know their names.  Temperature dropped as we climbed.  We have been in Julian before when we have had to come through rain & fog with snow along the roadside.  Today however was beautiful.

STRAIGHT AHEAD ATOP THAT MOUNTAIN RANGE LIES THE LITTLE TOWN OF JULIAN

 

JUST LOVED SEEING ALL THESE AUTUMN COLORS ON THE WAY TO JULIAN TODAY

 

As expected, Julian was crowded with many people.  Very tourist oriented.  Main street was crowded with cars & we could see line-ups waiting to get into some of the eateries.  I think this was our third time to Julian & we had already tried the famous pies & ate in one of those line-up restaurants.  We didn’t stop.  Just rolled on through town & out the other side.  The main hub is only about 4 blocks long.  If anyone types Julian California into our ‘Search bar’ they can find our previous visits there.  I especially liked the rainy cold dreary day I found Marshal South’s final resting place in the Julian cemetery.  Didn’t take any pics going through Julian today though…..was too busy dodging jaywalking tourists.

ROLLED RIGHT THROUGH JULIAN & OUT THE OTHER SIDE HEADED FOR SANTA YSABEL

 

KELLY CHECKS OUT A PIZZA SHOP IN WYNOLA

It’s another scenic winding road drive from Julian to Santa Ysabel & it was the second time we have traveled this route.  First time a few years ago we were lost but today we knew exactly where we were & where we were going.  A stop in Santa Ysabel at the well renowned Julian Pie Company netted us one piece of Dutch Apple Carmel pie which we shared in the Jeep.  Kelly also scored a ‘seconds’ Pumpkin pie for $5.  They are normally over $13.  Maybe this one had fallen on the floor or something.  No matter, we had ourselves a whole pie to take home.

HEY….IS THAT THE PEPSI GUY TALKING TO THE COKE GUY??

From Santa Ysabel we headed off in the direction of Warner Springs & hung a right on Montezuma Valley Road.  We were just on this same stretch of road a couple days ago when we went through Warner Springs to find the great Stone Eagle.  We rolled through Ranchita & were soon tumbling ourselves down Montezuma’s Grade again into Borrego Springs.  We were home before 2 p.m.  I would highly recommend this great drive to anyone coming here to Borrego Springs. From Borrego just head for the Yaqui Pass & follow the route we took.  You not only get to see Julian California but you can stop in at Warner Springs & find the Eagle as well. 

 

SEEN ALONG THE BILL KENYON TRAIL THIS MORNING

Nice to be back at the rig & chill out for the remainder of the day.  Nice music on the Bose, a gentle breeze coming up off the desert floor, & the makings of yet another fiery sunset in the making.  Life has been good to us again this week out here on the roads & trails of southern California…….   

Been about a week now since we have watched any television.  How nice that has been.  I don’t miss it one bit.  Such a habit watching television is.  Yes there are things I enjoy about some programing but how nice to be out of the doom & gloom news loop for awhile.  All that political stuff, violence, drama shows, crime show after crime show not only take their toll on the peace of one’s mind but a good percentage of the entire human race as a whole.  Sometimes I just think to myself, what a mess this world is in:((  Okay, that was my little rant for the day….

AGAVE PLANTS ALONG THE TRAIL

MERIKAY in a comment wondered how to find Slab City.  Niland California is located on highway 111 between the town of Mecca to the North & Brawley to the south.  It’s on the Eastern side of the Salton Sea.  Niland is a tired little dusty western town that progress has kinda forgot about.   Not too much there & what is there is not too much.  Not too many streets branching off 111 but in the middle of town one can find ‘Main Street’ heading East.  This street only runs for maybe half a dozen blocks before it crosses two sets of railway tracks & heads out into the desert & leads you to Slab City.  You will pass Leonard Knight’s Salvation Mountain on the right.  Slab City begins just after that.  You will see a little white Church on the left & just beyond that is Solar Mike’s Sunworks:))

HAD A COUPLE TIRED LITTLE TRAVELERS ON THE WAY BACK TO THE RIG TODAY >>>

And speaking of Solar Mike……here is the technical end of our Solar installation one week ago today.  We have a BENQ/AUO…MOD 240WATT 29.65V 8.10AMP Solar Panel.  A Blue Sky Energy SB3024i MPPPTPV Charge Controller.  An SBIPNREM Remote Control for the Blue Sky IPN.  One Go Power GP1750HD 1500 Watt modified sine wave inverter & two Trojan 105-RE 6 volt renewable energy batteries.  Of course a bunch of wiring, fuses, & assorted Mossmagators go along with all this as well.  Keep in mind we did not go for anything deluxe with the exception of the better batteries.  As I said before we are not big power hogs & didn’t figure we needed a bank of solar panels, extra batteries or a big megawatt Inverter.  We don’t spend the lengths of time boondocking like we did a few years ago so figure we will be just fine with what we have.  Cost of our Solar installation…………..$2038.00.  Solar Mike’s name is Mike Gohl & his business is called THE SUNWORKS.  He can be reached at sunsmith@starband.net .  

GROANER’S CORNER:((  I was driving down a lonely country road one cold winter day when it began to sleet pretty heavily. My windows were getting icy and my wiper blades were badly worn and quickly fell apart under the strain.  Unable to drive any further because of the ice building up on my front window I suddenly had a great idea. I stopped and began to overturn large rocks until I located two very lethargic hibernating rattle snakes. I grabbed them up, straightened them out flat and installed them on my blades and they worked just fine.
What! You've never heard of . . . wind chilled vipers?

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

NASTY WINTER STORM AND WHAT THE HECK DOES 'SNOT ROCKETING MY BOOGERS' MEAN??

 A BLUSTERY FRONT YARD THIS AFTERNOON

We started the day with a nice sunrise but it wasn't to last.  With a freezing cold and icy east wind, Pheebs and I never ventured outside of the Jeep and it was a short ride we had.  I was really stuck for photos this morning so Pheebs picked up the camera and took a picture of me for a change.  I don't particularly like my picture taken or sticking my mug in the blog, but she made me do it.  Yes really.  Brace yourself!!  

 WE STARTED OUT WITH CLEAR SKIES THIS MORNING

 THESE HORSES HAVE DONNED THEIR WARM WINTER BLANKETS

 NO, THIS IS NOT A SHOWBOAT IT'S A SNOWBOAT

JUST CALL ME SCRUFFY

Finished my book, Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing by Anita Moorjani.  For the most part, I really enjoyed this book and it certainly gives one many things to think about.  The only problem I had with it was wading through a lot of the author's repetition in the last third of the book.  But, that's just me........I started a new book today called, The Last Englisman by Keith Foskett or 'Fozzie' as he is known on the trail.  This is about a fellow hiking the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border in California to the Canadian border in Washington State.  In what I read this morning he mentioned a couple places Kelly and I have been to.  Julian and Warner Springs California.  The trail actually crosses the road in Warner Springs and also runs right by a place that has a unique stone feature which you can see and read about in a post I wrote on November 25th, 2013 entitled In Search Of The Great Stone Eagle Near Warner Springs California.  In speaking of a fellow hiker the author explains a method hikers commonly use for blowing their noses... He says, "after a few days, tired of carrying an endless supply of tissues, a fellow female hiker started employing the method most of us used: holding one nostril shut with a finger and blowing hard to remove any debris from the other, and then repeating the other side.  Americans refer to this as 'snot rocketing my boogers'.  Needless to say, I thought this was a rather descriptive and colorful explanation:))

 THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE DARK-EYED JUNCOS IN OUR YARD

 DID YOU NOTICE THE LONE MALE CARDINAL?

 A JUNCO AND MALE CARDINAL ON THE LEFT WITH A FEMALE CARDINAL ON THE RIGHT

 'OH-OH' I GOT A PROBLEM!!  THIS BLACK SQUIRREL IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE BIRD STATION!!

The leading edge of today's winter storm rolled in suddenly about 2:10 this afternoon bringing with it icy cold wind gusts and blowing snow.  (freezing rain to follow)  Our 28F temps had a wind chill factor of 15F  Although the storm came up from the south, the snow blew in on us from the east.  Figure that one out eh.  Our front yard was frantic with birds and squirrels furiously stuffing themselves with as much bird seed as they could.  I was kept busy keeping all the feeders topped up.

 ICY SNOW BLOWING UP AGAINST THE BOTTOM OF OUR SUNROOM'S PATIO DOOR

 BY LATE AFTERNOON IT WAS PRETTY NASTY OUT THERE

Al's Music Corner:: Laughter In The Rain by Neil Sedaka.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A wandering monk walked barefoot everywhere he went, to the point that the soles of his feet eventually became quite thick and leathery. And because he ate very little, he gradually became very frail. Several days often passed between opportunities to brush his teeth, so he usually had bad breath. Therefore, throughout the region, he came to be known as the super-calloused fragile mystic plagued with halitosis.

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"Doctor, Doctor, You've got to help me - I just can't stop my hands from shaking!"
"Do you drink a lot?"
"Not really - I spill most of it!"

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