A Black-tailed gnatcatcher nesting at the visitor's center.
Wildflowers grow among the cholla.
Entry sign at Anza-Borrego State Park.
The Sam's Radio Hams Chapter of the Good Sam Club to which we belong held an RV campout in Borrego Springs, California. We spent the first night, Monday, March 9, parked at the Peg Leg Smith's area out on the desert near Borrego Springs. The wind blew and rocked the rig that night, but each day it got calmer and warmer.
On Tuesday, we moved to The Springs at Borrego, an RV campground that was quite luxurious . . . heated pool, four hot tubs, golf course, club house, library with wireless internet, etc., etc. Twenty rigs and 41 chapter members made up the group.
Our first activity was a wild flower tour lead by a volunteer with the Anza Borrego Foundation. We formed a car caravan and drove into Glorietta Canyon about six miles from the center of town. With the help of our guide, we identified 43 different desert wildflowers. And were they gorgeous! Varieties included desert dandelion, brown-eyed evening primrose, checker fiddleneck, Parish's gold poppy, purple mat, desert chicory, blue heliotrope, various mustard plants, and chuparosa. The hummingbirds love the red trumpet shaped flowers of the chuparosa, but my favorite was the ghost flower. We found them growing right out of the boulders and blooming with waxen, grey-green folliage. We picked the best week to visit; in a few days they will all vanish as the desert heats up.
We also did a little bird watching. A black-tailed gnatcatcher (photo above) was nesting at the Anza-Borrego Visitor's Center. There were also nesting verdin at our RV camp. Also saw cactus wren, roadrunners, black-throated sparrows, a king bird and a kestrel.
It was great visiting our friends at the campout. We had invited Dean and Ann Dierks and John and Phyl Cade, longtime friends of Gene, and they enjoyed meeting the Sam's Ham group. We had many group meals, played games, attended a wine tasting and campfire cookout hosted by the Springs, and overall had a wonderful, relaxing week.
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