Tecopa Hot Springs

While at Agua Caliente, I asked Joanie where she'd like to spend her birthday. With a gleam in her eye, she said "Death Valley". So ... we left Agua Caliente and made our way north and east towards Death Valley. We drove through a nasty dust storm toward the Salton Sea, then north to Joshua Tree National Park, where we made preparations. The Black Rock campground where we stayed is just outside Yucca Valley, where Joan's Grandfather Basil Starkey lived for many years, so Joanie just had to have this picture.

We left Joshua Tree and headed north toward Death Valley, knowing that a series of storms was headed our way. Uncertain if this sign was a joke or not ... One thing's for sure, there's not that much commerce in the valley. Our plan was to weather the storms at Tecopa Hot Springs just south of the Park, then head in to Furnace Creek when the weather cleared.

The hot springs water at Tecopa feels silky. The "town" is a little rough, the place we stayed was rustic, if you know what I mean. Good folks, though. We seem to meet great people at hot springs. On the full moon, I built a large fire overlooking our camp. We invited the couple camping next to us to enjoy it with us. Eventually they joined us for dinner in our fifth wheel, complete with Joanie and Lisa dancing some country swing together after the dishes were cleared.

We've seen the coldest nights of the trip here. The mountains just north east of us looked like this the morning after the storm cleared. Two days earlier, we endured a severe wind storm. The wind knocked trailer off it's supports, blew down signs, broke open the door of the office. It moved our trailer back and forth enough that one of the chocks between the tandem axle wheels came loose. Good thing I'd chocked both sets!

The morning of Joanie's birthday dawned clear and calm. She walked the labyrinth above our camp, dressed in her birthday finest. Including long underwear, if I'm not mistaken. We had breakfast and dinner in the little bistro down the hill from us. Excellent meals and good company. Limited menu. Closed now until the day after Christmas.

Here Joanie wears a birthday present - it's a glow in the dark tee shirt, stating among other things, that " a good planet is hard to find".

China Ranch

One of the day trips from Tecopa took us to China Ranch, so named for the nationality of the man who began to work this land in the 1800s. It's an oasis on the Amargosa River, sheltered by surrounding bad lands.

Date farming at the Ranch began to really take off when the current owners bought the property in the 1990s. They've developed the date orchards of many varieties.

Darnest thing, to keep the birds from eating the maturing dates, each bundle is covered in cloth. Old sheets seem to do quite fine.

Pull up a sheet and voila, expose the dates within. We sampled several varieties in the little bakery/store at the ranch. Mmmmm ...!

Labyrinth

The flat rocky earth of the Yaga Labyrinth at Tecopa Hot Springs also hosts several pieces of rock art, courtesy of those that visit. Enjoy!

Agua Caliente Hot Springs - Anza Borrego Desert

The Agua Caliente campground isn't all that pretty - I remarked to Joanie that some of the surrounding hills look better in the dark ... Get out and hike the surrounding hills and canyons and the beauty of the desert comes alive.

The hot springs here have been developed and improved over the years. The indoor pool, which measures about 103 degrees, is enclosed by a metal framed glass building. Sliding doors open to the outside and the roof retracts, opening the ceiling to the sky.

Outdoors, a recently finished pool opened in November. This pool is "supposed" to be about 80 degrees F. One of the solar heaters was not functional, so it was a brisk 72 degrees. Didn't stay in there long!

During the weekends and on holidays the campground may fill. Weekdays we had it darn near to ourselves.

We hiked two of the trails that depart from the campground. Here Joanie checks the view and the trail ahead as we prepare to descend back to camp.

We hiked most of one day in the Blair Valley, seeing pictographs, bedrock mortars and prehistoric village sites. Here the wash pours off into Smuggler's Canyon, 100 feet below. And me without a rope! We turned around at this point.

Heading for home at day's end the temperature dropped significantly. We feel winter progressing. Since May, we've watched Jupiter move west each night. Finally, at Agua Caliente, on December 2nd, Jupiter caught Venus in the western evening sky. Soon we'll not see Jupiter at all. Orion is rising and Cygnus is slipping from the sky. Since November 1st we've been effected by the shortest days of the year, perhaps in much the same way as the ancient ones. Thankfully, daylight hours will increase December 21st!

Thanksgiving in Lemon Grove

When we left Joshua Tree, we headed south down the east side of the Salton Sea, then turned west on I-8 to Jacumba. It's a steep climb, pullouts and barrels of radiator water testify how hot it can get on this grade in the summer. The truck did run hotter than normal, but the engine coolant never rose above 204 degrees Fahrenheit, so we didn't pull out and check to see if those barrels really had water in them! We stayed a few nights in a nice little RV campground, they had a good hot pool to soak in. On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we drove the rest of the way into Lemon Grove, just outside San Diego.



We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my sister Melinda, her husband Michael and their sons, Sammy and Ryan. We really enjoyed our visit with them and felt blessed to share the holiday with them.

The boys have some pretty cool pets. That is Hunter the hamster, Beautiful Shell the turtle and Tangie the bird.

Both Melinda and Michael work at Sea World. Melinda, Ryan, Joan and I spent a day there. Melinda gave us a view of some of the behind the scenes action. Their signature Killer Whale act did not disappoint us! I figure this guy must get quite a rush surfing on top of his whale.

Both trainers rode these whales onto the edge of the pool, then dismounted. It's impressive. Some of the best action was, of course, impossible to capture in pictures. When we left Lemon Grove the Monday following Thanksgiving, we headed into the Anza Borrego Desert towards Agua Caliente Springs.

Lemon Grove Extras

When Aunt Joan visits San Diego, you better not mess with her. She's got all the muscle any woman would ever need, courtesy of Ryan, Rashad and Ahmad.

Take care, if you mess with them, they might put you on ice ... Here, Aunt Joan and Ryan demonstrate what the inside of a polar bear den might look like. Keep this in mind.

Good Beer

As noted earlier, I sampled local beers along about 400 miles of Oregon and Northern California coast. The beer tour began with Rogue in Newport Oregon, then continued with the California breweries Mad River (Humboldt County), North Coast (Fort Bragg), finishing with Mendocino Brewing (Ukiah). Each brewery had some good beer. North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg blew all the others out of the water. I like dark beers. The Imperial Stout, Old Stock Ale, Old #38 Stout and Brother Thelonious are superb. The Blue Star Wheat and the California Pale Ale are much lighter and quite tasty, too. Check these beers out. As noted on their Brother Thelonious Belgian Ale, Carpe Diem Vita Brevis!

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/
http://www.rogue.com/beers/beers.php
http://www.madriverbrewing.com/
http://www.mendobrew.com/