7-6-2022 BORREGO SPRINGS, CONT'D

Our camp is The Springs at Borrego RV Resort and it’s mostly empty and pretty quiet right now, as this is the “off season.”  It is very hot, topping out at 105F, but hey, we are used to that.  We loll around in the pool in the daytime and grill out in the late afternoon.  Night times are unearthly black and there are so many stars it is like a solid blanket, punctuated every now and then by meteors traveling halfway across the sky.  Breathtaking, really.

Noobee sitting quietly.

Serene and quiet, just like we like it!

Part of the golf course

 

Dennis Avery was a wealthy guy, artist, philanthropist and lover of all types of art and history.  He was the heir to the Avery fortune, the brand with which you may be familiar that makes Avery labels of every kind.

 

Dennis loved the Borrego Springs area.  He purchased 3,000 acres of land to prevent it from being developed.  Because he was so interested in archaeology, anthropology and history, he commissioned an artist, Ricardo Breceda, to design and construct metal sculptures to stand and be on display on his acreage, which is now known as Galleta Meadows.  Some of the art is phantasm, such as the dragon, but a majority of the sculptures are accurate, scale 1:1 recreations from artifacts and fossils that have been found in this area.  There are more than 130 of these sculptures and one can drive on flat, well-manicured sand roads to view them.

Giant tortoise (extinct)

Looks like the score here is saber-
tooth cat - 1, horse - 0

Rob's into T Rexes (whimsy - none
of these was found in this area)

Harlan's ground sloth - carrying her "baby" 
on her back.  The fossils were found
just this way.  The animals date back
to 2.3 million years ago.

Columbian mammoth - fossils date
back 4 million years

Details of the wind god bird's tail feathers

Dragon's head 

The dragon is 350 feet long and
snakes along under the roadway

Bugs.  Ick.  Rob likes 'em.

Aiolornis incredibilis, the incredible wind
 god bird (twice scale) - the largest flying bird
 in North America dating 3.5 million years ago.
Fossils of 3 have been found in this area.
This one has captured its prey, a great
big ol' boar.  Rob wants to caption
this photo, "When pigs fly."

 

Badlands, indeed!

"So this is a 'trail?!'"

Next on the agenda was Lindy’s wish to hike a canyon called, “The Slot.”  We had heard about this from a fellow in the resort pool and I was mysteriously fascinated with his description.  Rob was not fascinated at all but he was a sport and created our map to the area.  I know nothing of the history or geology of this phenomenon.  It was just Lindy’s “had-to-do-this,” for some unknown reason.  “We shall never pass this way again.”  More than that, “We shall never be younger than we are right now, so let’s go for it!”  This area is located in what is called, “The Badlands,” for obvious reasons.  This place really quite resembles Hell, although I have no personal experience in this category, yet.  It was hot.  We carried water.  It was very fucking hot.  We only made it about halfway and had to turn back.  Did I mention that it was hot?

I'm making it!

Yup, this could be called a "slot."

 

We arrived back at camp and cooled down in the pool, feeling very smug and proud that we hiked "The Slot.”  Tomorrow, we say good-bye to Borrego Springs and you, our friends, just for this time.  As Arnold would say, “We’ll be back!”

"I made it!"

"Me, too. I'm dyin.' Let's get the Hell outta here!"