Our cell phone is back working, yahoooo!

Not the one that Larry took hot tubbing with him, it had been a tough phone to stop over the years but boiled for over 30 minutes was the kicker!

We have a new one thanks to Telus who went above and beyond to get a new phone to us here in California and sent it as a gift to boot, thanks Telus!
We sure love having our phone again!

Honey, I shrunk the hummingbirds!

Well, the bees have discovered the nectar! I have read about this since their arrival and tried the solutions to no avail. They chase the hummingbirds away! The hummingbirds usually get here in the morning and get filled up but once the bees show up they own the feeders. One site said it was the yellow flowers on the feeder that attracts them so I painted the flowers with orangy red nail polish, they did not mind! We moved them as the article said they are stupid and will not notice a new location, they are not stupid!

There are feeders with a bee proof flower, the flower has a grate over it so that the bees cannot reach the food but the long nosed hummingbirds can. So I will get those next year!

Birding is a big thing here, there is a group counting the Swainson Hawk, that shows up here at this time of year, I usually see a flight of about 11 or so beside our RV park several times a day.

A website for birders who are fortunate enough to be here at Anza Borrego is http://www.miriameaglemon.com/San%20Diego%20Bird%20Pages/Sites/Clark%20Dry%20Lake.htm

Other birds we see often are the Great Egret, hanging out on the water's edges on the golf course

And this little guy, the Canyon Wren

And this little cutie, the Verdin

Karl's Post for Terri, who is one of his admirers and special cousin Quotes from his furry lips!

When did that dog get here, I better tell him about the dog park. I check this window every morning for the new kids, I like to think of myself as The Springs canine host!

And thank heavens there is cable here, I coulda missed the Westminster Dog Show

You gotta be kidding me, even with my ears flipped back, I could win more ribbons than these dogs!

Did ya noticed how I got a better seat, this show is gonna be 2 hours long!

My Dog Park Days

Bojo is a serious showoff, I could catch him if I really wanted to!

OK, I let Bojo catch me, I try to be a good role model for the pups here!

I think I better explain the rules of this park, no one goes home until I win!

Who has the brains in this family, everyone is standing around in 80 degree heat except yours truly!

Now this little terrier, Jack, they call him, needs some come-uppance like all terriers, he is a baby though so I will be gentle

Bite me!

Now that I have your attention!

Ya give yet, huh? do ya?

Hey look, Jack, here comes some more dogs!

Don`t ya just love camping here Jack, I do.

This Past Week... Wind Storm, Karaoke, Desert Bonfire ... just a typical week at the Springs!!

We had a windstorm on Superbowl Sunday that set records down here, nothing like it in a hundred years!! Some of the power poles were cracked in half near the RV park and we all lost power and the Superbowl party had to be moved from our Activity Room to a neighbouring subdivision that had power, Merrilee and Bruce's house. I watched the storm through the windshield and it went from blowing to being a wall of sand at times.

And Larry won the football pool that day... 85.00 bucks!!!

Storm coming is the first photo and the next one is of the wall of sand:




Last night Joan and Bob hosted a desert bonfire in the Anza Borrego State Park, I smelled like smoke after but no matter, it was a beautiful spot, before it got dark all I could see was the desert and those beautiful mountains! And when it got dark the stars were like pot lights up there, amazing always here!
We met some locals there as Bob and Joan have been coming to the desert for many years and have a hiking group that they hike with here.






These next two photos are at Assagio's Italian, can you believe food like Quantro's but prices like Denny's, what a fantastic place, my fave is Chicken Assagio. Can I say it is better than Larry's Italian chicken and not get in trouble with him!! The second photo is Pete who is showing Garvie how to get a cork out of a wine bottle with a napkin!! Larry will master this for our dinner parties back home!

Oh and I just have to show two little cuties having a happy hour here with us!!

So the deal here is Dan puts on a wine and cheese for his RV guests every Thursday night and on most of these nights we have Garvie on guitar with some vocal accompaniment of ladies that can sing (what do you mean, I was not one of them!).

But this past Thursday, it was Karaoke. I missed a few shots at the beginning when the room was standing room only, I did not know the card was full but these are what I got after getting a new card!

It has been hitting about 80 these past couple of days, hotter than usual, I personally love the low 70's but of course we are not complaining!!

And....our cell phone is not working right now, Telus is sending a new one.

Larry took the cell phone into the hot tub in his pocket, so about 30 minutes of boiling water pretty much cooked it!

Some Social Outings

Back to the Krazy Coyote

This time I took lots of shots of the hotel that I so love. We were joined by a local artist, Barbara, whose paintings are in the background of the gallery shots. We went to Barbara's daughter's gallery for a little wine before dinner. Breta Matson, Barbara's daughter is an amazing artist of glass fusion. You must see her work, especially the countertops on her website. http://www.bretamatsonfusedglass.com/index.cfm?CFID=9680324&CFTOKEN=80201167

some interior shots of the KC, it is like being in the 40's and you half expect Frank Sinatra to show up!

Prime Rib or?

Before Dinner photos of Breta's Gallery in Borrego, husband Sheldon on guitar, mother Barbara with Earna Rae her sister

Larry chatting with Jerry, Earna Rae's husband

Barbara's paintings in the background of these shots.

Breta has this piece in the Palm's at Indian Head hotel (home of the Krazy Coyote). And she has a piece of her work on a Princess Cruise ship elevator door done in conjunction with a metal artist of Borrego Springs. See their work at

http://www.warmglass.com/gallery/Matson2.htm

And the entrance shot of Krazy Coyote as we walked in

The Red Ocotillo

named for the desert cactus that is red in the spring (turning red now some of them)
A great bistro style with the best breakfasts and burgers anywhere. They have a dog friendly patio that we have taken the dogs to for burgers a couple of times, shared of course!
It is an old Quonset hut and very funky, there are often rows of Harleys outside, riders love the Montezuma hill. I will get a shot of that in the daytime soon.

This day we had breaky here with Susan and Bob. You can see Larry and them on the left far side and back of the room. And here are Moshi and Kibo, brother and sister and great RVer's!

Kibo

Moshi

Pablitos, another night, Mexican Food

Larry and I had lunch there one day on the patio, it was very authentic and I will get back to take some outside daytime shots to show you on the blog later. Here are some dinner shots with our RV buddies, Joan and Bob, Bojo's Mom and Dad, Bob and Susan, Moshi and Kibo's Mom and Dad, and Barry and Brenda. The food is great and very generous there. We have another Mexican restaurant down here, Carmelita's that we have all gone to and it was also great food and drinks, and there are a couple more that we have yet to try.

You would think we would gain weight with so much of this eating and drinking but the golf, pool aerobics and cycling are keeping it off!!

We got our feeders up on the window!

He is the first Hummer to sip the sugar at our window!! It is great to sit here and watch, you can here them arrive, their wings create such a buzz!