MY BRAIN CELLS TAKE A REST – BORREGO SPRINGS, CA

Which part of the brain is responsible for research and planning?  I’m sure it is a left brain activity, and wherever that particular clump of cells resides, mine usually are enthusiastic and up to their task. 

Not so this past week!  The research, planning and execution of our renovations, purchases, and installations must have worn the planning group out, as those brain cells went into hibernation as soon as we settled into Borrego Holiday Home Mobile Home Park (click here to read our review).  Where I would normally ferret out hikes and activities, instead I sat in my lounge chair, gazing out the window.  Doing nothing rose to the top of the priority list, and that is what we did for the first 24 hours.

Then, with a knock on our door, our social life organized itself (no thanks to me). 

We got to know Lynn and Jim Howe during our first trip to Borrego Springs.  Our friends Marlene and Richard Dopp were boondocking off Rockhouse Road; their friends Lynn and Jim were parked nearby, and we joined them for a few days.  Richard decided to build his second clay oven at that spot, and enlisted our aid.  Those of you who boondock at “the oven” off Rockhouse Road have seen the result, now an icon of the area.

We heard about Borrego Holiday Home Mobile Home park from the Howes, and they came looking for us.  After a short, lively reunion, they invited us to join them for an outdoor happy hour gathering with some of their local friends – and even offered to pick us up.  No planning involved; we just said “yes” and spent a (cold, windy) hour enjoying the company of a lively group of liberal foodies who like to hike. 

Two of Odel’s ex-coworkers live in Borrego Springs during the winter and on Saturday, Ross arrived to take Odel to Dick’s house to watch a basketball game.  On my own, I did whatever was appealing and spontaneous – a little shopping, a walk in the desert, and a whole lot of nothing.  When Odel arrived back at home, he had an invitation for us to join Ross and his wife, Kay, for dinner at Carmelita’s Restaurant.  YES!  Great!  No dinner to plan!

Only one project challenged my hibernating brain cells during this time:  setting a time and place to meet up again with Al and Kelly, The Bayfield Bunch.  Kelly and I exchanged more than half a dozen emails on the subject, and finally set the time at 3 pm and the place as our site at Anza-Borrego State Park campground (click here to read our review), where we moved on Sunday.

Our move from the RV park to the state park was short and easy – we didn’t even hook the Jeep to the motorhome.  We were in our new site by 11 am, the sun was shining and the wind was still.  Birds flitted from bush to palm tree; fat, green arms of ocotillo beckoned us into the desert.  All my brain cells - left brain, right brain, and whatever prehistoric clump it is that rejoices in our natural environment – awoke and began to shimmy with anticipation.

As soon as we set up camp, we took off towards the west, up the Palm Canyon trail (where I had my Close Encounter with the Bighorn Sheep a couple of years ago).  Heavy rains from a week ago have carpeted the arid mountainsides in green; the ocotillo buds are bursting into blossoms; shrubs are covered with yellow, purple and red blooms.  Plenty of cool, clear water flowed in the streambed. The weather was perfect, just cool enough to stay comfortable hiking uphill and just warm enough to be comfortable heading back down.  Some kind of magic…

We arrived back at camp half an hour before Al and Kelly arrived in their beloved new Jeep.  It was so good to see them again and conversation picked up where it left off after our first meeting at the Bisbee Breakfast Club a few years back.  We follow their blog, they follow ours, so we were already up to speed with each other’s doings.  Much of our conversation centered on upcoming travels and, since ours will be somewhat curtailed if Odel gets a knee replacement in Sacramento next month, we are very interested in their plans!

And now it is Monday.  I dropped Odel at the golf course for a round with his buddies and have a low key day planned for myself: blogging, groceries, a bit of hooping, and a desert walk.  Tomorrow we head north, making three short hops up to the Sacramento area.  No planning needed; we have traveled that road many, many times!

LAST OF THE RENOVATIONS – NEW DAY/NIGHT SHADES

We were up unusually early this morning, pulling (with great regret) out of our campsite at Catalina State Park before 8 am to make our 10:30 appointment at Blinds Co. Inc. in Tempe, AZ.  It was our last step in our renovations: the replacement of our dusty, stained, drooping day/night shades.  Eight years have taken their toll.

For those of you who don’t live in an RV, day/night shades have two layers.  The “day” portion is designed to diffuse bright light, to knock down the sunshine if it is too bright.  The “night”portion is designed to BLOCK bright light.  On our old shades, the night portion was known as “privacy” – its coverage provided privacy to the interior occupants, but did NOT completely block out bright nighttime lighting, an ongoing complaint of ours.

Our NEW shades have blackout lining on the “night” portion, which totally blocks all nighttime lighting.  What a great feature!

We arrived at Blinds Co. Inc right on time, and Greg (owner) was there to begin the installation (for which he charged $115 for 8 blinds, WAY less than it was worth).  As it turned out, all eight valances had to be removed completely from the walls (five in the front room and three in the back).  Greg took the valances into his workshop and – while we ate our lunch -  installed the new blinds on the valances, rather than on the walls of our motorhome, as they had been before. 

Here the daytime shade is pulled down; the blackout shade is partway down.	TOTAL BLACKOUT!

Greg brought the three bedroom shades out to the MH (parked in his lot) as soon as he had installed them on the padded valances.  While he worked on installing the remaining 5 shades, Odel and I re-hung the bedroom valances, then pulled down the “night” (blackout) shades, closed the door, and reveled in the almost complete darkness.  What a change, a very welcome change!

Even with Odel and I providing a lot of help (removing most of the valances and re-installing the three in the bedroom), the replacement took 3 hours.  As soon as we paid the remaining balance on our bill, we took off to the west.  Two and a half hours later we were parked at Scaddan Wash at Quartzsite, boondocking overnight. 

Wow, does it look different than it did one month ago when we camped here with the Boomers.  Now it is practically deserted.

I can’t believe it was just one month ago that we left the Boomer gathering in Q to head to Phoenix and begin our renovations - it felt like months!  Looking back, I am amazed by how smoothly everything went, and I give great credit to Odel for that.  He is a bulldog when it comes to staying on top of details and making sure everyone involved (me included) is aware of our expectations and our schedule.  He might not know his way around a tool box, but he can sure keep the troops in line!

A SPECIAL DAY, AND A PHOTO OF FILLMORE – TUCSON, ARIZONA

It was a special occasion for us today: lunch at Vivace, a favorite restaurant in Tucson, with some of our treasured family and friends: (cousin) Rosanna and (aunt) Carol, and (friends) Doug and JoAnn Dubrouillet.  Though we have been in the SW since Christmas, we have not had the chance to get together with any of them yet… and we will be heading west to California soon.

We planned lunch as a bit of a surprise party for Carol (Auntie Carol to me).   We missed her birthday, but we knew she would be up for lunch in Tucson.  Since Carol and Rosanna are friends with Doug and JoAnn – and famous Fillmore, who they have hosted at their home – we planned to surprise Rosanna and Carol with a table for six rather than four.

Well, Fillmore was the giveaway – Rosanna saw his distinguished poodle head sticking out the window of the Dube’s truck when she walked past.   By the time Odel and I arrived, after a spell of sitting in construction traffic, the surprise had already happened and the other four of our group were deep in conversation and laughter (standing in the parking lot) when we arrived.

Doug got the jump on me tonight – he has already written about our lunch over on his blog, Living Our Dream (though he didn’t delve fully into the deliciousness of the food we consumed).  However, I managed to get the elusive good shot of Fillmore!  Click on any photo to enlarge it.

The happy diners: Rosanna, Carol, Odel, Laurie, Doug, JoAnn	Doug and famous Fillmore	Fillmore licks his lips as we rehashed our meal in the lot.
Doug and Odel had Seafood Soup.  Looked and smelled fantastic.	We four women had the divine Spinach and Cheese Soufflé.	The Tiramisu was long gone before I remembered the photo!

P.S. (added 2/23): I should have mentioned that all of our plates looked just as empty as the tiramisu plate when we were finished.  Delicious!