Another Drive in Anza Borrego

We have another warm day , great for some more sight seeing. Wind and cold weather is suppose to be on the way and so we want to take advantage of the good weather while we can, We headed back out to the state park and found the road to Font's Point. The drive is through a sandy wash but was an easy drive, with tires aired down and in four wheel drive.

The Badlands in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, consists of soft, waterborne sediments that have been deeply carved by water and wind over many thousands of years. Because the area’s clay soils are weak and plant life is sparse, flash floods and other erosive forces have shaped the landscape into a bewildering maze of sinuous channels, razorback ridges, and mud hills. Once you have driven the 4 1/2 miles to a parking area, you can then take a short walk to the Point. What awesome views. We hear later that many people come at sunset where the views and picture taking is even more spectacular.

We then drove back to the main road, the S22, and drove a little farther until we came to the sign for the primitive campground, Arroyo Salado. We turned here and drove around 3 1/2 miles on another wash until we got to 17 Palms Oasis.. This area, which also includes 5 Palms Oasis and Una Palma is a well known watering hole for the regional wildlife of the Borrego Badlands. The palms at both Oases are often green and brilliant compared to the stark and barren desert that surrounds them.

We decided to call it a day and headed back to our campsite with plans to take another day trip on Wednesday. Well, best laid plans and all of that. We got our usual late morning start. As we were finishing packing the car with our lunch, camera etc. , started talking with our neighbors, Bruce and Pat, who are from Astoria, Oregon. About an hour later, we drove off. Then as we were driving down the road headed towards Borrego Springs, we got a phone call. We follow the RV Dreams blog and have been to one of Howard and Linda's rallies. It was in 2009, the year after we sold our house but were still working full time and so this was on a vacation. Their rallies, besides just being fun, are very informative, especially for those just thinking about full timing or just starting out. They have been a great help as we first started out. They both had successful careers but decided they wanted to try a different life style and have been full timing for about 7 years now. They started in their early 40's and so have managed to spent some time working on the roads, work camping in the early days, and weighing motor homes and doing seminars at different rallies across the country among other things. Well, we had put our card and a note on their truck when we read that they were staying at the same area where we boondocked right outside of Borrego Springs a few weeks ago. As we were driving, Linda called as they just found the card(they also have a jeep and so didn' t see it right away) and we arranged to meet them at the Visitor Center as they had just moved over to the State Park for a few days to wait out the big wind storms expected on Thursday. We had a nice time talking and sharing stories of our mutual life style. We will be attending their first boondocking rally in Quartzsize after we come back from our Mexico and look forward to seeing them again. By this time, it was getting later in the afternoon and so we decided to postpone our exploring for another day. This area is just full of things to do and even when we leave on Sunday we will still have plenty of new things to see and do when we return in the future.

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