Borrego Springs Palm Canyon Trail

Borrego Springs has become an annual stopping point.  We've been here about 7 times in the past 11 years.  In 2014 I did a post about Anza Borrego State Park and this year, I am doing a post specifically about the Palm Canyon Trail.  The main trail is about 3 miles round trip and there is also an alternate trail that is a little more difficult but still pretty easy.  We like to use the main trail one way and the alternate trail to go the other direction. They connect near the palm oasis.  

You will see these signs at the beginning of the trail.  We have only walked it in January and February and we have never seen these scary animals, but I bet you will find them along the trail in the summer months.  The trail can be hot so bring water but in the winter months a gallon isn't necessary.  We bring about 16 ounces per person.  We always have water leftover when we are finished with our walk.

The main trail is well marked and easy to walk.

Even the few hills have rocks as steps rather than barriers.

There is an abundance of flora and fauna on this trail.  It's been pretty wet so the hills are green and the octillo are leafy and flowering.

The red flowering bush is full of bees.  Behind the bush you can see revenants of the 2004 flood.  These are palm logs that were washed down the canyon during the flood.

These little guys are scurrying everywhere.  They are pretty cute.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.  This hummingbird has a beak full of cotton from the cat tail and he's pecking more.  He flew away to line his nest with it.  

It's always a treat to see the Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep and this is the closest we've ever been to them.  They are grazing right by the alternative trail on all of the green grass and shrubs that appeared with the rains.  

There is a little creek that runs through the Palm Canyon at the 1.5 mile mark and it has fed these fan palm trees for millennia.  You can see where the water flows by just looking at the lush greenery in the middle of the rocky dessert mountains.

Best Friends and Algadonis

Some friendships last forever, through ups and downs, agreements and disagreements, time together and time apart.  My friendship with Shari is such a thing.  We began our friendship in 1975 in high school.  Oh the experiences we had in those years!  After college and beginning our families, we reconnected in the 1980's and our children played together.  Time and distance separated us in the 90's and 2000's but since we've retired, we have been able to visit with each other more regularly.  Shari and Casey, her husband, have visited us in Petersburg and we have been able to visit with them during our travels.  In the beginning we visited their homes in Martinez and Stockton California and more recently in Agnew, Washington.  They recently bought a park model next to their parents in the Pioneer RV park in Wellton, Arizona, just outside of Yuma.  We spent time with them during our visit to Arizona in the past two years.  Relationships with friends never change but they do change with friends' parents.  Pat and Charlie have gone from being parents to good friends.  

R-L Pat and Charlie Roesel, Shari and Casey Bley, Sally Roesel then me and Doug

Chuck was cut out of the picture, but he is also a very close friend of mine and of Doug's.   He was Doug's best man when we were married 31 years ago.   Chuck and Sally live in Sitka, AK so we get to see them more often.  They happened to have a family vacation scheduled in Wellton, while we were in the area, so we tagged along.

We had some incredible visits, walks, and dinners while we visited.  We also went to Algadones, Mexico.  Doug and I have never been to this border town, but Shari and her family go often to get dental work done.  During this visit, Pat and Charlie ordered new glasses.  We visited the pharmacy and many outdoor shops.

You need your passport, but not to go to Algadones, only to get back in the US.  The line to get back into the US is long.  We stood in line for 1 hour and 45 minutes but our companions have stood in much longer lines through the years.

Algadones is not a large city with only one long main street.  If you need to get your eyes, ears or teeth fixed, this is the place for you.  You can purchase these services for about half of what you would pay in the US.  You can also purchase medications in the Pharmacies for a fraction of the price you pay in the US.  Chuck is an MD and still purchases his meds here because his insurance won't pay for one of them and the copay for the others is higher than purchasing them in Algadones. You will not find narcotics in the pharmacies. 

Here is a sign we won't see in our country.

This visit was a highlight of our trip.  It's fun to go to a place with someone who really knows their way around.  Our visit with the Roesel/Bley family is always a highlight of our trip.

West Wetlands Park, Yuma

When you are in Yuma, you must visit the West Wetlands Park for a picnic, or a walk or to watch your children play.  The park is 110 acres and is located along the side the Colorado River.

Centennial Beach is at the East end of the park.  You can picnic and swim or launch your boat (or paddle board) here.  It's also a great spot for a dog to go for a little swim.

If you have kids to entertain, this park offers two playgrounds.  One is a regular park playground with a sun cover.

The other is the community built, Stewart Vincent Wolf Creative Playground.  Sadly, the original SVWCP was burned in 2014, but the community built another, better park, which is the one we see today.

You won't have rocks and boulders to climb at this park.  The trails are wide and well kept.  You can walk on a desert trail or a trail through the trees or both.  

There is a section of the park is dedicated to the history of Mormon Battalion of volunteers from the Church of the Latter Day Saints.  They were instrumental in the annexation of southern Arizona and southwest New Mexico on June 8, 1864.

There are gardens of birds, butterflies and flowers in this park.  When you walk on the tree lined trails, you will enjoy sightings of birds and hummingbirds, butterflies, and a variety of flora. Of course, in case you didn't already know, here's an important sign to read as well.

Cocopah

Cocopah is the name of the Indian Tribe that has lived along the Colorado River for centuries.  The reservation is located about 13 miles south of Yuma on the river, which is where this golf resort and casino are located.  This year, we stayed in the Cocopah RV Resort, which is close to the Cocopah Casino where the Yuma Territorial Marathon and Half Marathon is held.  

This park has an 18 hole golf course

 an olympic sized pool 

and a 2.5 acre dog park.

Doug had a wild hair and wanted to paddle the river.  He looked at his map app and found a place he thought he could put in and make it back to the rv park.  I dropped Doug off at the boat ramp in the West Wetlands Park and he paddled down the Colorado River to our RV Park.  It took about 45 minutes going with the current.

Yuma is a hotbed for broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce.  Everywhere you go there are fields in different stages of growth from newly planted to just harvested.  These fields surround the RV Park.

This is a shot of conveyer belts ready to process the vegetables.  Harvesting is hard work.  The people bend down and pick the vegetables and stand up and throw them on to the conveyer belt to be checked and boxed.  These workers don't need an aerobics class. They start very early in the morning.  

The Yuma Territorial Marathon and Half Marathon started at 7:00am and 7:20am respectively.  The start was at the Cocopah Casino Complex.  It is always fun to be part of a marathon event.  The atmosphere is palpable with nervous energy.  This race had about 50 people running the marathon and about 250 running the half. 

The winners bouquets

Miss Broccoli, the mascot.  The finishers food table had standard fare, bananas, rolls, nut bars and it also had broccoli and Ranch Dressing.

The finish!

Quilt Pattern

This is my OMG for February.  I would like to finish all of the blocks this month.  I may be able to get the sashing in too.

With all of the hiking and driving and shopping, apron making and general travel stuff, you'd think there wouldn't be time to work on a quilt.  I still crave quilting and I am inspired when I visit fabric shops.  After I visit a shop, I have to pull out my quilt project and sew a few seams. I am working on another quilt pattern for my 10 inch squares. For this pattern, I chose the Citrus Fruit Palette half stack from Robert Kaufman.  Half Stacks have 24 ten inch square pieces.  There are two of each color in the stack.  I really love these colors with the white background.

You can see I have blocks in all stages of completion including uncut triangles 

This is a half square triangle pattern.

Patience is a virtue and you become very virtuous when making this quilt.  I pressed all of my seams open to reduce the bulk on the back.  Pressing seams open takes time.

I would like to finish this quilt by the end of February but it's hard to be inside sewing when it's so warm and lovely outside.  I am creating the pattern for this quilt and will post the finished top when the pattern is ready.  I haven't named this quilt yet-I'm terrible at naming quilts.  Any suggestions?

Linking to: Midweek Makers, OMG, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop, Off The Wall Friday, Oh Scrap

A Walk In The Wash

There is a wash that runs along the side of the Catalina Park.  A wash is a dry sandy creek bed that relieves the pressure if there is a rush of water from the mountains due to snow melt or rain.  You mustn’t walk in a wash if it’s rainy.  There has been nothing but sun for days and no rain is eminent so the wash was a great trail for a morning walk.  This wash is heaven for the birder.  There are birds everywhere.  

My husband is kind of a birder.  He loves to find the local birds on his Sibley Birds App.  This is a great app for the birder because it has photos and information about birds and also has a recording of their call so you can call birds closer for a better view. The mountain views in the Catalina State Park are amazing.

 Western Bluebird

The yellow birds are Lesser Goldfinch and the gray bird is a Female Phainopepla.

Male Phainopepla

 Female Phainopepla 

  Gila Woodpecker

Ladderback Woodpecker

You will also find lots of tracks in the wash. These may be deer tracks or Javelina tracks.

Not sure what these are.