Go Around the Bend: 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!