A Sculpture Safari

The second part of Tuesday’s drive was to see the “Sky Art”, large metal sculptures scattered around Borrego Springs. I was totally unprepared for just how much fun we had searching for the various sculptures spread out along a maze of dirt roads. The artist had some fun too, many of the sculptures were installed as vignettes that tell a story. From family groupings of big horn sheep, to prehistoric herd beasts being attacked by sabertooth cats, to driving underneath the huge jaws and claws of a ferocious fighting Carnotaurus and Allosaurus. It really was like a sculpture safari! I wish I could share them all but you’re only going to see a (relatively) small sampling.

Now entering Jurassic Park. Lol.

Rog's view from the driver's seat. 

Just too much fun!

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. lol.

First a little background. The artist is Ricardo Breceda and his story is as fascinating as his sculptures. Originally a school teacher in Mexico he moved to California for better wages. He worked first in the restaurant business and then in construction. He was injured in a fall and was selling exotic leather boots when he traded a pair for a welding machine. In 2001, his seven-year-old daughter, a fan of the Jurassic Park movies, asked him to make her a T-Rex for her birthday. He learned from a friend how to make giant metal sculptures and began construction on the dinosaur at his home along Interstate 215. A driver stopped and asked to buy it and he began making and selling the large metal sculptures. (And yes, his daughter got her T-Rex!)

T-Rex started it all!

Meanwhile, Dennis Avery (think heir of the Avery label fortune) had purchased several parcels of land around Borrego Springs. He called the areas Galleta Meadows and left them open for public recreational use. Avery was also passionate about the ancient history of the area and helped fund a book, Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert, about the history of Plio-Pleistocene life in the area seven million years ago.  

Galleta Meadows is now home to over 130 amazing sculptures!

One day in 2007, Avery stopped by Ricardo Breceda’s “Jurassic Park” and asked about the sculptures. Ricardo told him he could make anything if he had a photo, Avery pulled out a copy of Fossil Treasures and showed him an artist rendering of an elephant-like gomphothere. He was so thrilled with Breceda’s first sculpture he immediately commissioned two more to make a family. The sculptures were installed on his Galleta Meadows property in 2008 and that was the beginning of the Sky Art project.  Since then thousands of people from around the world have enjoyed visiting the 131 sculptures now scattered around Borrego Springs.

Gomphotheres - ancestors to the modern elephant.
Fossilized remains were found in the area.

The sculptures are found tucked among a maze of dirt tracks on both the north and south sides of town. Some are close to the main road, others require some effort to find. There are three themes – Fossil Treasures which depict prehistoric animals whose fossil remains have been found in the area, History and Nature, which include people and animals from the area, and Whim & Fantasy – dinosaurs and creatures that never lived here but are just plain fun!

Let’s start with my absolute favorite, the Serpent.  Obviously part of the Whim & Fantasy series, the Serpent is 350 feet long with the head of a Chinese Dragon, the body of a sea serpent, and the tail of a rattlesnake. It undulates under road and is just feaking incredible. I wanted to bring him home, but Rog reminded me that he is longer than our property!

Can I bring him home, pleeeeeeese??

So awesome!!

The detail is astounding.

Here are some sculptures from the Fossil Treasures series. I loved how many of the smaller ones were tucked among bushes like an Easter egg hunt, while the larger ones are just jaw dropping amazing.

Camelops

More Camelops, a llama, and Rog petting a Harlan Ground Sloth with its baby on board.

A peccary family.

Sabertooth cat.

Merriam's Tapir

Shasta Ground Sloth

Extinct horses issue a challenge.

Baby and momma Mammoth.

Sabertooth attack!

The Nature and History theme feature the local Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, historical figures including a prospector and the padre, and a 1946 Willys Jeep which was the first civilian jeep to explore the area. It also honors a local jeep club, the Herd of Turtles, who were enthusiastic supporters of the sculptures.   

  

Peninsular Bighorn Sheep

Two rams duke it out. 

The Padre and his dog.

Scorpion and Grasshopper

Early miner and his mule.

The famous 1946 Willy Jeep. 

And finally, a few more from Whim and Fantasy…

Velociraptor guards her nest of eggs.
You can see the fighting dinos in the distance.

Posing in front of my Christmas wish (hint, hint). Lol.

We plan on staying here a week. Hope you enjoyed the wildflowers and sculptures as much as we did. We have several more hikes and activities planned so you’ll probably see at least one more post from Borrego Springs!

Butterflies and Blooms

We had escaped the snow, survived the rain, and dodged the winds… what could mother nature possibly throw at us next?  You’ll never guess…. BUTTERFLIES!!  Leaving Desert Hot Springs we were pelted by Painted Ladies! They were hitting the windshield so fast and hard it sounded like rain. ICK!! 

The desert is blooming and that has the Painted Lady butterflies out in droves. Alas, many of the ladies apparently have overwhelming suicidal tendencies. We made it to our next destination, a boondocking area off Rockhouse Canyon Road outside of Borrego Springs around lunchtime on Sunday, 3/10, and pulled into a likely spot. We hopped out to survey the mess.  I swear the front of our rig looked like a Jackson Pollock masterpiece, albeit with a limited palette.

Ick, just ick!!

The Rockhouse Canyon boondocking area is huge and very popular. There were scores of RV’s spread out on a maze of dirt roads. We were happy with the spot we’d nabbed but decided to explore a little further down the road.

The Rockhouse Canyon boondocking area is large, but also VERY popular.

A couple miles past the main camping area and we found an excellent spot next to Clark Dry Lake Bed. You used to be able to pull out onto the lake bed and park, but it’s now closed to motorized vehicles. It worked out great – no close neighbors, Riley has the whole lake bed to play on, the mountains are beautiful, and we have quiet and solitude. Perfect! Well, maybe not quite perfect. We have absolutely no cell service here. Sigh, guess that’s a good thing. We wouldn’t want to get too comfortable. 😊

Ahhhh... so much better!

View from our coach.

Salt and mineral deposits on the dry lake bed.

The boys are chilling.

Riley's playground! 

Beautiful evening light. 

Monday we went into town and hit the visitors centers for Borrego Springs and the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We gathered up lots of information on the wildflowers and fun things to see and do in the area. It rained all Monday night, but Tuesday dawned clear and sunny. We decided to check out the wildflowers and another thing the area is known for. Yes, I’m being coy. I took about 200 pictures, so you’re going to see wildflowers today and I’m saving the other thing for my next post. You’ll just have to wait. Lol.

The wildflower peepers are out in force.

The wildflowers did not disappoint. We took Riley along since the main flower viewing areas weren’t on the state park trails and he could walk with us. Riley wasn’t too impressed, although he tried to be helpful by watering as many flowers as possible. 😊

It's a family affair. Lol.

So, here’s a sampling of what we saw. Many of the flowers are tiny but beautiful and the sheer volume is incredible. The normally brown and barren hillsides are green and decorated with huge swathes of purple and yellow, with pops of pink, red, and white. I’m sure you’ve seen more impressive gardens and floral displays – but geesh, this is the desert and it’s beautiful!

Fields of gold!

Purple Sand Verbena

A Painted Lady escaped the carnage. Lol.

Brown-eyed Evening Primrose

Desert Lily

Desert Sunflower

Fremonts Pincushion (L) and Desert Chicory (R)

Yellow and purple dominate.

Dune Evening Primrose

A mountain backdrop for the fields of flowers.

Spectacle Pod.

Desert Dandelion

Pygmy Gold Poppy

Ocotillo, not quite in full bloom yet. 

In our next post I’ll show you what we saw on the rest of our drive. 😊

Happy Hour and Hot Water.... Ahhhhhhhh

Desert in the springtime… the sun is shining, the wildflowers are blooming, and the damn wind is BLOWING. On Sunday, 3/3, we pulled into Caliente Springs RV Resort which is located in Desert Hot Springs on the windy side of the valley. It was blowing like crazy and Rog was sure there must be a storm or wind advisory in effect. Nope – just the normal craziness. We're guessing it has to hit 40 or 50mph before the locals get excited. Lol.

Thousands of these "wind generators" line the valley.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised it's been blowing like crazy!

I swear the winds here can be a ripping 20-30mph and you drive across the valley to Palm Springs and it’s dead calm. On the up side, we have amazing hot mineral spring fed pools. We are booked for a week and feeling like life is good. We have made our pilgrimage to the pools to soak for an hour or more. Every. Single. Day. For that I can deal with a little breeze. 😊 

We are enjoying the hot mineral spring fed pools!

The daily Water Ball games are a kick.

Breezy but beautiful!

View from the clubhouse - love the snow dusted hills. 

We’re not generally huge fans of private RV parks since you are usually crammed in like sardines with little to show for it other than hookups. The spaces here are fairly typical, but the amenities rock! The pool system really is amazing and there are always activities and classes going on. We’ve done yoga classes three times this week and that is a rare treat on the road. 

Yoga class- 8AM Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Yep, we did it.

Riley has perks too, a spacious off-leash dog park with grass and fun new friends to play with.  We’ve been hitting that nearly every day too. 

The resort has it's own dog park and Riley had a blast!

One of the reasons we decided to hang here in Desert Hot Springs was that my Happy Hour accomplice, Elaine, was going to be in the area visiting family. We managed to rendezvous for a little soaking and sipping. 😊 Elaine, her cousin from Ohio, Gail, Rog, and I had an excellent happy hour at Trio in Palm Springs. We started with margaritas, but then watched as the bartender mixed this incredibly complex and yummy looking cocktail. He called it a Trio Fizz and said it was his creation and that it had won a bartending competition. So, Elaine says give us four of those! I cannot begin to tell you what all went into it, but the end result was something like a very adult orange creamsicle – dangerously good! (Thank you, Elaine!)

Outside Trio with Elaine- Happy Hour here we come!

The award winning (and yummy) Trio Fizz. 

Those are some happy (hour) campers.. Lol.

We haven’t just lazed around in the pool. On Tuesday, 3/5, we took Riley on a four-hour driving tour of Joshua Tree National Park. The Park includes areas of both the Colorado and Mohave Deserts. The Colorado Desert is lower in elevation, dryer, and hotter. You see lots more cholla cactus (over 200,000 specimens in the area around Cholla Gardens!). Interestingly, the best wildflowers were at the lower elevations too. At the south entrance the flowers were just fabulous!

Spoiled much? Rog rigged a fan so Riley stays cool. 

The desert is blooming!

Wildflowers for miles. Such a treat!

Rog in the Cholla Garden.

Close up of the Cholla buds. Yes they are edible, but ouch!

Give us a hug!
Nope!

The Mohave Desert area of the park is higher in elevation (over 3000 ft) and that’s where you’ll find the Joshua Trees, scrub oak and juniper. Oasis of fan-palms are also found wherever the groundwater hits a fault line and comes to the surface. Since the trails are off-limits to the pooches, we just enjoyed the pull outs and views. We stopped for a picnic lunch at the base of some really cool boulders.

Joshua Tree. Gotta say, I do prefer the redwoods. Lol.

Love the huge piles of granite boulders.

Yes! Riley finds shade in the desert. 

Mr. Sandy Lips dropped his cookie and half the Mojave stuck to his face. Yuck.

Thursday evenings Palm Springs hosts a street fair called VillageFest. It’s dog friendly so we loaded Riley up and headed over to check it out. With over 200 vendors, live music, a dance competition, and crazy crowds it was a bit overwhelming for both him and us. He did great though and was a solid hit. He is so patient and handled all the adoring fans quite well. For being such a good boy, he talked Mom & Dad into getting him his own dish of ice cream. Clearly his favorite part of the evening. Riley attracted the attention of a videoblogger at Joshua Tree National Park and at VillageFest he had lots of pictures taken with The Great Bambino, a well-dressed Sharpei with his own Instagram following. Riley may be a media sensation yet. Lol. 

 At VillageFest in Palm Springs. 

Good dogs deserve a treat. :) 

Saturday, we drove back to the town of Joshua Tree for their farmer’s market, which is also dog-friendly. We picked up produce, local cheese and baked goods while Riley charmed the ladies yet again. Lol.

Joshua Tree Farmer's Market.

Such a charmer.
Takes after his daddy. :) 

This has been a fun and relaxing week but we pull out tomorrow (Sunday, 3/10) with plans to boondock somewhere around Borrego Springs, CA. We’ve read so many good things about the area, we’re excited to check it out. Don't be alarmed if we're out of touch for a bit, we may not have much in the way of cell service or internet connectivity (yes, I will miss the resort's wifi!).