Desert Lavender – Follow Your Nose

  Ever since we arrived in Borrego Springs there has been a pleasantly sweet, spicy scent in the air.  I could not figure out what it was until we went on the hike yesterday and read a plant marker.  Desert Lavender.  A floral scent with attitude.  It smells like “regular” lavender, but with a spicy undertone.   If you gently rub the leaves, it releases even more fragrance.  The flower blooms from October through May and attracts hundreds of bees.  We even figured out where the bees make their hives in the desert.  If you look closely at the picture on the right, you can see the yellow hive in the rocks.

Palm Canyon Trail

What we thought would be an easy three-mile hike today turned out to be a challenging, exciting rocky climb to an oasis in the desert.  The oasis was a large stand of California palms and it provided a cool and green reprieve from the rocky desert and the warm day.

But it was not the only point of interest on our hike.


  Peninsular bighorn sheep.  All the literature and the Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor Center described their endangered status and how camouflaged they are in the desert.  Few hikers are able to see them.  Lucky us!  Two large sheep came prancing down the trail as if to greet us to the oasis—one strolled right on by and the other sprinted up a sheer rock to walk around us.  We both eyed the rock more closely after he left still not believing he could climb anything so steep.


The springs providing the water for the palm trees appears suddenly from the ground as a gushing waterfall at the oasis and continues down the canyon for a ways and then disappears into the ground.  In fact, the water we saw on the way up (see picture) was gone by the time we passed it on our way back to the trail head.  During a rain storm this trail is not where you want to be.  A cloudburst on the mountain brings a torrent of water through the stream bed.

The picture to the right shows part of the trail going under some big boulders.  Another place you do not want to be during one of the earthquakes they have in the area on an almost daily basis.

A great hike.  A great day.

High Chaparral & Lemonade

We are located in the middle of the Anza-Borrego State Park and the variety of plant life and rock in the area really  is beautiful.   The appreciation level would probably go down significantly if we were here in the summer when it reaches 120 degrees.  But, our short hike was a comfortable 60 degrees and all the recent rain has the grass green in between the rocks.  The rocks are Flintstone huge with burnt red and gold fleck color.  Something interesting at every turn. 

Our campground has lots of lemon trees and they are heavy with fruit.  Free for the picking.  I made two pitchers of fresh lemonade (so far) from scratch with all the lemons we picked.  What were we thinking drinking that crappy Crystal Lite?  Cook a cup of water and a cup of sugar to simmer on the stove to make sugar syrup.  Let it cool.  Squeeze juice from eight lemons to get a cup of lemon juice.  Mix together with another three cups of water.  Chill.  And you have 4 – 5 glasses of fresh lemonade!  Easy-peasy and so good!

Stargazing

[Photos by Dennis Mammana] Borrego Springs is a designated Dark Sky Community, protecting the night sky from light pollution, so that everyone here can enjoy the glittering stars, moon, and planets.  Borrego Springs is 1 of only 2 official Dark Sky Communities in the entire world and the Anza-Borrego Desert in the top 10 stargazing locations in America.   The night sky here is simply amazing.  No where else have we ever been able to see so many stars so clearly.  Nature’s IMAX theater.

Our RV Park, The Springs at Borrego, has their own Astronomy Park and offers guests both the opportunity to view the night sky with their own telescopes or to take part in one of their special scheduled star parties.  The Star party involves dinner, drinks and presentations by well-known astronomers such as Dennis Mammana and John Mosley.  Unfortunately, we will leave before the next party scheduled on January 23.

Borrego Springs

The Springs at Borrego RV Resort is our less expensive spa option.  The nearby famous Golden Door Spa at Escondido, California is known for its beautifully landscaped grounds, innovative exercise activities, hiking, gourmet food, massage therapy and more.   Guess what?  Borrego Springs RV has all of it for about $7,000 less (well, maybe not the gourmet food, but they do have hot dogs and s’mores on Tuesdays and wine tasting on Thursdays). 

The landscaping at the Resort is desert garden design at its best.  Beautiful smoke trees, flowering trees (need to learn their names), fresh lemons and grapefruit, cacti in every shape and size with all the area around perfectly raked crushed rock.  The park has a large, splashing waterfall and small river stocked with fish for catch and release.

Mike has golfed every day since we arrived.  The golf course is inexpensive and a fairly decent one.  All nicely landscaped with green grass, palm trees, and water features.

I had a wonderful massage yesterday from Anna.  My back has been acting up and the massage took away the tight muscles.  Ahhhh, so nice.

We have also indulged in the natural mineral baths.  The pool area contains three two-man in-ground spas and one large spa filled with hot mineral water.  Mineral baths are said to help arthritis, so we are taking full advantage.  The swimming pool is salt water and it is really nice to swim in water without so much harsh chlorine.

We also love that Borrego Springs is a very small town.  It has everything you need, but there is no traffic.  None.  So quiet at night you can hear a pin drop unless the coyotes are yelping.

Tomorrow, we start Yoga sessions and water aerobic exercises.  Or maybe I will, Mike will probably golf again!