January 2, 2002
Happy New Year to you all! And I really mean that. I hope you spend lots of time this new year trying to make others happy.
This is likely to be the last posting for a while. On Sunday the 6th we leave for a month of boondocking at Quartzsite, and have no idea whether we'll be able to find a phone line. That little town has a permanent population of about 1900, and, from January through March, swells to over 200,000 because of people like Barb and me.
We left the TTN (Thousand Trails/NACO) park on the 30th, and drove 24 miles to the Catalina Spa & RV Resort here in Desert Hot Springs. That word "resort" has many different meanings we've discovered. The Emerald Cove Resort that we drove through with friends Frank and Susie didn't have a teaspoon of dirt/sand that we could see except what was in the sand traps on the in-park golf course. Nothing but wonderful grass and pavement and water and lovely landscaping wherever you looked. And that's the way it should be for at least $35 per night. More for the spaces on the golf course. Here at Catalina, the spaces are wide enough for our slides and the awning (if we wanted to put it out) but nothing more. Pretty well packed in here and very full besides. Only 3 openings when we checked in. Glad we fit into one of them!!
On the left are Susie and Frank at the Christmas day potluck. We'd met them at Lake Minden, the TTN park near Sacramento in July. It was fun to see them again. Not only because while it's nice to always be making new friends, it's fun to see some old ones once in a while, but we enjoy their company a lot. The fact that they are old-timers here in this area and know all the good things to see and do, and let us ride with them in their Cherokee as well, didn't hurt the relationship at all!! On Christmas eve, the park had a dinner that we'd gone to but not knowing anybody we didn't stay long. At the potluck on Christmas day, we were joined by Frank and Susie and stayed at the table long after everybody else had gone home. And the next day Barb and I took off to Indian Canyons. It's part of the Indian reservation and after paying $6 each at the gate, we could wander wherever there were trails or roads. The picture on the right is from the "Trading Post" looking down into Palm Canyon. Gee, I wonder why they call it that. The San Andreas Fault lies right under us, and wherever the fault has shifted considerably, the water is forced to the surface and there is a spring. Some larger than others. And wherever there is constant water, the indigenous fan palm grows. Along with many other plants, of course. An Oasis in the true sense of the word.
This shot on the left is looking up the canyon to the source of the water, and then there's Barb standing right at a small spring. It just bubbles up through the sand and runs down hill into the stream. There are actually many of these forming the stream here. The rocks have been laid to give some outline to the spring, but you can see the water seeping through the sand around Barb's feet making it dark.
Can you see Barb standing on the rock in the picture on the left? Pretty big trees, and the sides of the canyon are steep as well. And on the right is the road we took to get here. Twisting through an area that would be flooded in the event of a summer storm. The palms indicate water in the area anywhere from on the surface to 30' below the surface. They can't live without a constant source of water.
And yeah, it was close. But we had about 3 or 4 inches on each side of the mirrors to clear the rocks. As long as I took care to change direction in the middle!
It's hard to see, but the writing on the post by Barb says, "No Rock Climbing". Since she didn't have to really climb to get up there, I guess it's OK. Besides, we figured the sign was for the rocks behind her. Interesting formations all over the place!
For an additional $3 each, we could get a guided tour by one of the "Rangers". Since some fellow who came up to look at Moby Dick when we were parking suggested we take the tour because we'd see so much more, we did it. And we were fortunate enough to get the only Ranger who lives on the reservation. He was full of good stories, some more believable than others. Like the black streaks on the rock in the picture on the right. His story was that sometime in the distant past all the different clans were represented at a council meeting here to settle some disputes, and that black marking is from the smoke of the fires. Well, maybe. Or maybe it's just the natural occurrence of a lichen that appears from time to time on these rocks.
And life goes on. The guide is taking us up the Andreas canyon, and the shot on the left is of a tiny palm tree just beginning its 50 to 75 year lifespan. And on the right is a shot of the variety of plant life here near the water.
Now these shots aren't just of some nice rocks. They're to show how sturdy the cactus is in this desert. In the middle of the picture on the left are a couple of barrel cactus, and on the right there are at least a dozen more growing on this cliff. And yeah, there's some of that lichen I mentioned, making the dark streaks here and there.
It's hard not to be impressed with this clear, cold, clean water here in the middle of the desert that our guide indicated he drinks at home. And then there's Barb playing peek-a-boo with me.
OK, so it's not very big by some standards, but this little waterfall is at least a waterfall, isn't it? And then on the right can you see the two homes? The one in the foreground that looks like it's tipped, and then the one up by the palm trees? The guide said that at one time all this land "belonged" to the Indians. (We were standing at the fence on the reservation boundary when I took these pictures.) Anyway, despite the issue of the spoils of war, keeping or breaking treaties, etc., there are several homes in this area that belong to some kind of ownership sharing thing. People come to stay for a few weeks during the winter, but the association owns them. There was some talk of railroad ownership as well, but the story was kind of convoluted and I didn't follow it real closely. They pump their water up from the stream we're walking along side of. And, oh, no heat or electricity either.
The stark contrasts between where there is water and where there is no water is sure noticeable in this part of the country. The trail we're on and the area we're walking through were part of a large village, according to our guide. There were some stones that were quite smooth that he said had been used to grind seeds on.
These were taken from the reservation out toward Palm Springs. In the picture on the right, there is a huge water tank about 1/2 way up the hillside. The valley between the hills we're on and the hills on the other side is called the Coachella Valley, and almost all the dark growth is palm trees. Most the other native growth is various shades of brown this time of year.
Every Thursday night, Palm Springs shuts down about an 8 block stretch of the main drag for a street fair. Sonny Bono started that when he was mayor of the town. All kinds of vendors, and reminded us a little of the Pike Place Market in Seattle. This guy is playing what he claims is a 5 stringed electric cello. Well, it was electric alright, but the cello part is questionable. He really was quite good and fun to watch and listen to. Sort of a new-age type music, and he had tapes playing as accompaniment. He had a strap over his left shoulder holding it, and the base of the instrument had a post that went to this outrageous buckle on a belt that was at least a foot wide. He had on black leather pants and matching boots, and altogether quite a showman. Selling his CD's for $16 each or two for $25. We took a pass. When the weather is warmer, he wears a huge breastplate that the post from the instrument sits on, but when it's chilly like it was this evening, it's just too cold for that much metal.
And among the t-shirts, food of all ethnic varieties, jewelry, and art of all kinds, were the magicians, ventriloquists, and musicians. This group of young men were playing some very (to my way of thinking) sophisticated jazz. And the white unit in front of them was an electric heater. The city has electrical outlets all along the route for the vendors to use. 52 weeks a year every Thursday. Well worth it. And then there's the weekly "flea" market. Except if there was a flea there, it was well bedecked in jewels, or furs, or fancy leather or all three. Very much an upscale flea market here at the University of California extension campus in Palm Springs. Again, every weekend all year long. There must have been half a dozen vendors with watches; no telling how many t-shirt vendors there were; lots of exquisite art work and sophisticated creations; a whole isle devoted to food of all kinds, and some "farmers" (we have yet to see any vegetable farms in the area) selling fresh veggies.
It just dawned on me. I seem to be including lots of pictures of musicians and waterfalls. Wonder why. This group was playing and selling Andean/Mexican music. And they looked like they were having way too much fun. And then on the right is some more art, this made out of metal, and because of the twin gecko's I had to include it for friend Hector, who sports a tattoo of twin geckos.
And Susie getting an acupressure massage with this little vibrating gadget. Couldn't have been all bad as she didn't leave until the vendor quit demonstrating it. And then I discovered that Barb isn't the only person who can't pass up the chance to harvest free fruit. The campus has many grapefruit trees, and much of it going to waste on the ground. Only not these few! Wonderful, ripe grapefruit.
This very full prickly pear cactus is part of the landscaping in the RV park we're in now in Desert Hot Springs--beautiful! And of course, since we're staying in Desert Hot Springs, we had to visit the Hot Springs Park. Only the water coming out of the fountain was cold water. Seems the aquifer that supplies this spring isn't deep enough in the earth to have been heated. Not many are as it turns out.
Yesterday we took the day and toured the Joshua Tree National Park. Wonderful experience, marred only by the fact I forgot to take the camera. So we'll be going back and I'll be taking lots of pictures of that very interesting park to be posted sometime in the future. Until then, Happy Trails!