Borrego Springs – Family Vacation
Last month, both of the kids had the whole week off of
school. Over the years on the second week of February school attendance would
be down the week of Presidents Day. Most parents would pull their kids out of
school the entire week. The school district got smart and just cancelled school
the entire week. For two working parents, situations like this tend to be a
logistical nightmare on what to do with the kids during the day when both of us
would be working.
For many years now, neither my wife nor I have taken more
than 3-4 days off at a time, let alone together or as a family. The opportunity
presented its self to take a family vacation. I had some vacation time saved up
at work and the salon running smoothly enough for my wife to clear her
schedule, the planning began.
The idea of having 9-10 days off of work seemed unreal. I
planned to schedule the family vacation in the middle of the week and relaxing
at home on the weekends before and after. Planning a vacation was harder than it sounded.
At first I was looking into renting a cabin in Big Bear and do what every other
person was doing. The cabin rental sites and lodging places must have caught on
to school being out because prices tripled over night for places to stay in the
mountain. Next I looked into camping, but any decent camping areas are really cold
this time of year for a family of tent campers. After that I looked into cruise
ship, but none of the dates worked into the schedule. We ultimately decided to
go camping but not in tents and not in the cold mountains.
The in-laws recently acquired a 30ft Class C Dutchmen R.V.
and allowed us to borrow it for a 4 day adventure into the great desert area
called Borrego Springs. Before this I researched a R.V. campground and booked a
site at the Palm Canyon Campgrounds. The planning of what we would do in the
dessert once we got there was yet to be planned.
The idea was to get off the grid, away from the traffic and all the stress of work and school. It was to be a retreat for the soul and family bonding time. After I took care of securing a site I looked into what activities we could do out there. After a short search, I realized there was no much offered in the desert. Some of the options included a 4x4 off road jeep tour and horse back riding. An ad popped up for star gazing in Borrego Springs and it caught my interest. I thought the whole family would enjoy the experience, so I booked it. I will talk more on the star gazing later in the story.
Leading up to the vacation, the idea was to have the weekend to relax before setting off on our vacation. This didn't happen. Saturday was Valentine's day, so I planned to cook dinner at home with the kids. I had a few displaced friends with recently acquired dates, so I invited them and their kids over for dinner, what was going to be a casual dinner turned into 3 couples and 6 kids and a long night. The following day and the day before our vacation was to be a BBQ for my wife's birthday which was actually on the day we planned on leaving. This lead into 25+ guest with probably equal amount of children and another long night. Needles to say, this was not the quite weekend before the vacation.
I spent whatever time I had in between parties, shopping, packing and prepping for the trip. Monday morning came around and we where off. The road out to Borrego Springs is over a mountain range. The road is steep with many curves. My wife was not to keen on riding out there in the RV, so she opted to take the kids and follow in the car. A few hours later we arrived and spent some time at the visitor center and campground. We set up and set out to check out the area in the car. We did a little exploring of rusted statues placed all over the desert till sundown and headed back to the campground to settle down for the night, relaxing around the fire. Many do not notice the statues around the area. There is no rhyme or reason for their placement, no markers, or clear defined roads to them. It is all part of the adventure.
The next morning we set aside the day to do some hiking. The first hike we did in the morning was to the Oasis. A water stream and pocket of water in the middle of the desert that feeds a group of palm trees. It is literally a Oasis. Along the way we spotted many big horn sheep that live and inhabit the area. Supposedly these are rare to see, so we feel fortunate to see about a dozen of these.
After the hike, grabbed some food and headed to another location just outside of Borrego to a trail known as Slot Canyon. This is another area that has no signs or obvious exit from the highway. Once you exit you take an unmarked dirt road till you reach an opening, which some may consider a parking lot of sorts. Once you get there you have to be careful not to drive off the canyon.
The trail was literally a slot that in some spots you have to squeeze through. The kids did not have a problem. The canyon seemed to have no end, so we walked to we where content. It was amazing to walk through the shadows of the canyon and hear nothing but the footsteps of the family.
It was a full day of hiking, but the day was not over. Before the trip I set up a star gazing tour for the family. The star gazing tour was lead by a guy named Dennis Mammana. Come to find out, this is is life and passion. He wrote many books and has studied astronomy for over 40 years. This guy knew what he was talking about. He had a 14" Dobsonian telescope that allowed us to see a few star groupings, the comet lovejoy,the zodiacal light, the Big Dipper, Polaris (the North Star), Cassiopeia (the “W”), the Winter Oval, Orion's nebula, Sirius, Aldebaran, the Pleiades, Eta Cassiopeiae, Canopus, Mars, Venus, Jupiter (and it's moons), and the winter Milky Way, along with a few newly formed galaxies.
From the little reflected light coming from the eye piece of the telescope you could see the kids smile on their face as they view planets and stars that they have only seen pictures of in books. They learned a lot about the stars that night and I was happy to be able to provide them with such an experience. It was an early night after hiking all day and spending the night in the open desert exploring the sky. The following day I had more adventures planned.
The following day I had planned to take a road trip from Borrego Springs and head towards a little town called Niland, located just east of the Salton Sea. On the outskirts of Niland is a a location know by the locals as the "last free place on earth" and to others it is commonly known as "Slab City". Leading into to Slab City is a place called Salvation Mountain. This place was depicted in many documentaries and the movie "Into the wild". I have visited Salvation Mountain many years ago by myself and I knew the family would love to experience it. In a nut shell it is a small mountain in the middle of the desert that is covered in paint with christian saying and bible versus. A man named Leonard Knight moved out there years ago and for the last 40 years has been painting the mountain. He recently passed last year, but a volunteer program has started in his place to preserve the mountain.
Although we are not religious, there is a bigger picture beyond the sayings and versus. Leonard just wanted to spread love. It was an experience that the kids took away from knowing the little wonders on this earth in the most likely places.
After spending the day driving to and from the Salton Sea, we settled in for the night. The following day we packed up the RV and drove home. It was amazing to separate yourself from reality, traffic, noise and all other distractions and immerse yourself in little adventure and hidden things in the middle of the desert. To hear the kids speak of the adventures made me feel accomplished of the trip I planned for the family. Now for a couple days to relax before diving back into the daily grind and work, so I thought...
As mentioned, I planned the trip in the middle of our time off to decompress before and after the trip, before didn't work out, but neither did after. The following day I set off to ride out to Yuma, AZ for the weekend to a private party. My wife joined me out there with some other friends. After another long night of drinking and staying up late, the following day would come quick. The weather in Yuma was nice that weekend mid 70's to 80's during the day. The ride out was nice and pleasant, the ride back not so much. Over night a storm system came in over San Diego county and in the mountains. After riding back through the desert in warm weather, slight hangover and sleep deprived. The weather turned from a cool 75 degree to 44 degrees, 20-30 mph wind, rain and fog which only allowed you to see 10 feet in front of you. Traveling with 6 other bikes side by side made it really interesting. Not the way I wanted to end the weekend. After getting home and picking up the kids from the in-laws. I finally settled in for the night for a few hours of sleep before waking up at 6am to go back to work.
The vacation was over just like that. Once thing I learned from all of this...I need a vacation from my vacation...
The idea was to get off the grid, away from the traffic and all the stress of work and school. It was to be a retreat for the soul and family bonding time. After I took care of securing a site I looked into what activities we could do out there. After a short search, I realized there was no much offered in the desert. Some of the options included a 4x4 off road jeep tour and horse back riding. An ad popped up for star gazing in Borrego Springs and it caught my interest. I thought the whole family would enjoy the experience, so I booked it. I will talk more on the star gazing later in the story.
Leading up to the vacation, the idea was to have the weekend to relax before setting off on our vacation. This didn't happen. Saturday was Valentine's day, so I planned to cook dinner at home with the kids. I had a few displaced friends with recently acquired dates, so I invited them and their kids over for dinner, what was going to be a casual dinner turned into 3 couples and 6 kids and a long night. The following day and the day before our vacation was to be a BBQ for my wife's birthday which was actually on the day we planned on leaving. This lead into 25+ guest with probably equal amount of children and another long night. Needles to say, this was not the quite weekend before the vacation.
I spent whatever time I had in between parties, shopping, packing and prepping for the trip. Monday morning came around and we where off. The road out to Borrego Springs is over a mountain range. The road is steep with many curves. My wife was not to keen on riding out there in the RV, so she opted to take the kids and follow in the car. A few hours later we arrived and spent some time at the visitor center and campground. We set up and set out to check out the area in the car. We did a little exploring of rusted statues placed all over the desert till sundown and headed back to the campground to settle down for the night, relaxing around the fire. Many do not notice the statues around the area. There is no rhyme or reason for their placement, no markers, or clear defined roads to them. It is all part of the adventure.
The next morning we set aside the day to do some hiking. The first hike we did in the morning was to the Oasis. A water stream and pocket of water in the middle of the desert that feeds a group of palm trees. It is literally a Oasis. Along the way we spotted many big horn sheep that live and inhabit the area. Supposedly these are rare to see, so we feel fortunate to see about a dozen of these.
After the hike, grabbed some food and headed to another location just outside of Borrego to a trail known as Slot Canyon. This is another area that has no signs or obvious exit from the highway. Once you exit you take an unmarked dirt road till you reach an opening, which some may consider a parking lot of sorts. Once you get there you have to be careful not to drive off the canyon.
The trail was literally a slot that in some spots you have to squeeze through. The kids did not have a problem. The canyon seemed to have no end, so we walked to we where content. It was amazing to walk through the shadows of the canyon and hear nothing but the footsteps of the family.
It was a full day of hiking, but the day was not over. Before the trip I set up a star gazing tour for the family. The star gazing tour was lead by a guy named Dennis Mammana. Come to find out, this is is life and passion. He wrote many books and has studied astronomy for over 40 years. This guy knew what he was talking about. He had a 14" Dobsonian telescope that allowed us to see a few star groupings, the comet lovejoy,the zodiacal light, the Big Dipper, Polaris (the North Star), Cassiopeia (the “W”), the Winter Oval, Orion's nebula, Sirius, Aldebaran, the Pleiades, Eta Cassiopeiae, Canopus, Mars, Venus, Jupiter (and it's moons), and the winter Milky Way, along with a few newly formed galaxies.
From the little reflected light coming from the eye piece of the telescope you could see the kids smile on their face as they view planets and stars that they have only seen pictures of in books. They learned a lot about the stars that night and I was happy to be able to provide them with such an experience. It was an early night after hiking all day and spending the night in the open desert exploring the sky. The following day I had more adventures planned.
The following day I had planned to take a road trip from Borrego Springs and head towards a little town called Niland, located just east of the Salton Sea. On the outskirts of Niland is a a location know by the locals as the "last free place on earth" and to others it is commonly known as "Slab City". Leading into to Slab City is a place called Salvation Mountain. This place was depicted in many documentaries and the movie "Into the wild". I have visited Salvation Mountain many years ago by myself and I knew the family would love to experience it. In a nut shell it is a small mountain in the middle of the desert that is covered in paint with christian saying and bible versus. A man named Leonard Knight moved out there years ago and for the last 40 years has been painting the mountain. He recently passed last year, but a volunteer program has started in his place to preserve the mountain.
Although we are not religious, there is a bigger picture beyond the sayings and versus. Leonard just wanted to spread love. It was an experience that the kids took away from knowing the little wonders on this earth in the most likely places.
After spending the day driving to and from the Salton Sea, we settled in for the night. The following day we packed up the RV and drove home. It was amazing to separate yourself from reality, traffic, noise and all other distractions and immerse yourself in little adventure and hidden things in the middle of the desert. To hear the kids speak of the adventures made me feel accomplished of the trip I planned for the family. Now for a couple days to relax before diving back into the daily grind and work, so I thought...
As mentioned, I planned the trip in the middle of our time off to decompress before and after the trip, before didn't work out, but neither did after. The following day I set off to ride out to Yuma, AZ for the weekend to a private party. My wife joined me out there with some other friends. After another long night of drinking and staying up late, the following day would come quick. The weather in Yuma was nice that weekend mid 70's to 80's during the day. The ride out was nice and pleasant, the ride back not so much. Over night a storm system came in over San Diego county and in the mountains. After riding back through the desert in warm weather, slight hangover and sleep deprived. The weather turned from a cool 75 degree to 44 degrees, 20-30 mph wind, rain and fog which only allowed you to see 10 feet in front of you. Traveling with 6 other bikes side by side made it really interesting. Not the way I wanted to end the weekend. After getting home and picking up the kids from the in-laws. I finally settled in for the night for a few hours of sleep before waking up at 6am to go back to work.
The vacation was over just like that. Once thing I learned from all of this...I need a vacation from my vacation...
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