Amelia in a field of Desert Sand Verbena & Brown-eyed Evening Primrose.

Surprise! The wild flowers are out. We are still in the grips of a severe drought, but there has been just enough rain to make the desert explode with color.  After last year’s disappointing flower season we weren’t even thinking about flowers.  We went up the easily accessible and always busy Coyote Wash the first day.  Our second day, we went up Henderson Canyon.  It was our first time up this isolated canyon, but definitely won’t be our last.

The mantra this trip was, “Where’s old man Birch?”  What was to be a nice little social trip boon docking with friends, ending up being a quiet Mr. & Mrs. trip.  It was a comedy of errors that would’ve made for a great half hour sit-com.  The ingredients were a voice mailbox that hasn’t been set up, phone ringers not turned on, not having everyone else’s contact info, and not a clear understanding of the Clark Dry Lake boon docking area.  At one brief point we were probably within a half mile of each other, but we never connected.  What a shame.

There was no battery stress this trip, which was a huge relief after the debacle in Tucson.  The solar panel kicked ass.  I guess having the sun out longer and up higher, plus the low temperature of 55, instead of 18 degrees, makes all the difference.

Hot Springs Mountain, elevation 6535ft. The highest peak in San Diego County.

Up close view of the Desert Sand Verbena & Brown-eyed Evening Primrose.

Desert Globe Mallow

Octotillo in bloom.

Perhaps the blue ribbon winner at the 2015 Del Mar Fair!

Pollen from the Brown-eyed Evening Primroses.

Sara sulking in the truck after the Park Ranger yelled at her for walking off the road. It didn’t matter that she was leashed.

Borrego Art Institute, definitely worth a visit. They did a wonderful job gutting and remodeling this old grocery store.

Can you see the lady’s face?

A row of nine foot Madagascar Palms at Borrego Art Institute.  These are the tallest ones we’ve seen.  We have a couple of two foot ones in our yard.  I wonder if we’ll be alive when they get this tall?

The first evening and best sunset of the trip.

The warm morning glow of our boon dock spot.

Pale Yellow Sun Cup

Desert Chickory

Desert Monkey Flower

Desert Gold Poppy, maybe the red ribbon winner at the 2015 Del Mar Fair.

Chuparosa, I like saying that word.

Desert Lavender, all fuzzed up before the purple flowers appear.

Trailing Windmills

Padre y su perro.

Desert Dandelions

Desert Star

Clark Dry Lake. It is a real trip walking on the lake bed.

File this under the little things in life are the best.  There’s nothing like driving through a lemon grove in full bloom on a warm evening with all your windows rolled down.  The fragrance is unbelievable.  Then pick a bunch of lemons and have your wife make fresh squeezed lemonade the next day in the afternoon.

Delicious.

San Diego County, what a great place.

There is this one particular episode that is still stuck in my mind. Every time we are in a great stretch of weather, which is often here in San Diego, I always think about it.

The episode was from 1977, I believe it was called Fallen Idol. There were a lot of things going on in that episode. But this is how I remember it.

Radar is in a funk, and all down on himself, wondering about his manhood, among other things. Hawkeye tells him to take an R&R and go to Seoul to get his bean snapped. Radar’s jeep hits a landmine, and Hawkeye then blames himself for sending Radar in harm’s way. So naturally he beats himself up. Gets drunk. Doesn’t want to work on an all hands on deck situation. Is forced to go in and has to leave the OR so he can blow chunks.

Later Hawkeye approaches Radar, and things just blow up, starting with Radar greeting Hawkeye as sir. From there it quickly spirals downward. Radar gets kind of harsh with Hawkeye. Then, Hawkeye just explodes and tears poor Radar to pieces. It’s very mean.

Potter lectures Hawkeye, then the Father gives him a lecture

Finally, days later, they break the tension at Rosie’s. Hawkeye is drinking a beer, Radar a grape Nehi, and I can’t remember which one, but I think it was Hawkeye, by saying, “It sure is some stretch of warm weather we are having.”

I bet I haven’t seen that episode in 30 years or more, and probably only seen it two or three times, yet there it is, always in my mind. Memories are wonderful.

Losing your mind, getting Alzhemier’s or some other form of dementia must be the worse thing ever.

What a great stretch of weather we are having. The few occasional rain showers we have had, has produced a lot of early blooms. Here’s one of our favorites, ceanothus.

And every evening, Mother Nature puts on a different show in our back yard.

Next weekend we are off to Borrego Springs for two of my favorite things, boon docking and blogging. Take care and savor your memories.