Desert fun -- to Friday, the 31st, 2025

 

We do all right, me and Jimmy, no matter what.  There's always something to do, even if its simply relaxing (I'm learning!).  We've been in the desert a tad more than a week and have been Out and About quite a bit.  Three group bike rides, one desert museum visit, a longish hike, an RV toilet repair (necessary, doncha know), read a couple of books, swam each day, did laundry, plus a grocery shopping run and an entertaining "concert" here at Catalina Spa this afternoon.

Our weather has been weird, coolish with some rain and clouds, and even hazy the past two days.  Where we live in Nevada City, rains have begun in earnest; we won't miss the atmospheric river event.  We plan to keep enjoying our days down here in the SoCal desert.  Right now we're listening to a murder of crows having a loud and lengthy discussion regarding the price of eggs and gas (not related), though we people know why.

How about a few pics of our week?

Lotsa great hikes at 1000 Palms.  A neat fact is that the infamous San Andreas Fault runs right through it.  Luckily, the earth stood still while we were on the trail.  Another sign says:  "The Palm Oasis is made possible from water that comes up from the aquifer and through faults in the earth."

The boardwalk is now closed where you see Jimmy and no longer connects to the McCallum Trail.  So, after many steps left and then right, we backtracked to hail the McCallum.

You just gotta love these beauties -- Desert Fan Palms (Washintonia filifera), the only palm native to California.  Their skirts of dead leaves (fronds) serve as habitat for insects, birds, rodents and snakes and protects the palm trunk from summer's intense heat.  They're BIG.

Some are bent!

Azure sky showcasing the palms.  A good part of the trail was fluffy sand and hard to walk on/in.  We appreciated firm footing when we found it.

Go ahead.  Touch it.  I dare you!

This particular blooming Brittlebush is the only flowering plant I've seen in the desert this year.  Guess this lucky guy was near enough to water.  The bees were all over its blossoms.

We somehow wandered into this gorgeous, serene grove (Loey's Grove?) of ... Tamarisks?  Seemed like a wonderful place to eat our lunch.  We were all by ourselves.

Made it to Vista Point.  Last year this site was crowded with tourists.  Again, we were alone.  Smartie is far, far away (white x)!

The elusive McCallum Trail disappeared and we were hiking on Moon Country.  Looks aptly named.  We climbed a lot higher than Vista Point.  (when does this path start downhill?)  Rated moderately challenging.  OK.  

We climbed down a canyon full of rocks and boulders to the "wash," which took us back where we began.  By the time we reached Smartie, we were footsore and ready to quit, but we did enjoy being out here.  Our hike was 6 miles.

Thanks to alla y'all.

Friday morning:  Da biker Dudes, heading out for breakfast.  Jimmy wasn't going this time, but he's included in the Dude Gang.  We were saying adios to our friends ... this was Wayne's (far left) last ride.  He and Betty and Gaffer were leaving, heading north to British Columbia.  Safe travels to you!

Me and Betty and Gaffer.

We'll miss you guys!

Hard to make it out, I'm sorry.  This afternoon Jimmy fetched our collapsible chairs so we could sit in comfort to listen to the music these folks played from 1-3, all tunes we knew.  I'm pretty sure it's an all-volunteer group, but they were great and we were glad we came.

So ends our first week.

Cabot Museum, Tues, 1/28/25

I bemoaned the fact that both 10,834' San Jacinto and 11,503' San Gorgonio wore no snow bonnets when we arrived in the desert last Wednesday.  Fret no longer!  Look at Gorgonio, below, with a copious snow blanket, tinged sunrise-pink, and what a joyful sight to see it so when I opened the curtain this morning.  Desert Hot Springs didn't net much rain from the storm, but the mountains certainly got their fair share of snow.  Hallelujah!

After reading about the Cabot Museum in a small/ish Desert Hot Springs booklet, Jimmy and I decided to tour the place this afternoon. (morning: laundry and swimming). I can tell you straight away that "It's All About the Water."

Fascinating is the word I'd use to describe the pueblo-museum.  Above, Jimmy waits in the sunshine for our self-guided tour to begin.  The day was cool and temperate, but clouds were all about.  If you study the picture, you'll notice that there seem to be rooms every-which-a-way, piled on top of each other, like a rabbit warren, a labyrinth.

Let me fill you in:  When he was 58 yrs old in 1941, Cabot Yerxa began building his pueblo by digging into a hillside to create a back wall for the structure.  He finished it nine years later.  It was his home and museum till he died in 1965.  He did most of the work himself; he had no blueprint.  Much of the building was covered in tarpaper, with cement applied over it to create an adobe look.  It's always been a tourist draw, and we could see why.

Cabot arrived in the desert in 1913.  His first home was a rock house with no windows, dug into the side of a hill.  While digging a well, he discovered the hot mineral springs which he called "Miracle Hill."  I guess so -- this turned into the modern spa resort destination where we are:  Desert Hot Springs, though the city wasn't founded till 1941!  "It's the Water!"

There he is -- making a 5,000 sq ft house with 35 rooms, 150 windows and 65 doors.  He was known to reuse, recycle and reduce before its time.  Most rooms are "intimate," irregularly shaped, with odd-shaped and small windows and narrow passages utilized to intensify desert breezes.  Our guide said that in the dead of summer, those breezes were just flat-out HOT.

These tools and artifacts were Cabot's.

Nearly everything in the museum is original.

Above is the part of their kitchen, pretty much the way it was when the Cabots lived here.  He may have been a character, but he wasn't a hermit -- he married twice and had a child.  His second wife, Portia (I never knew anybody named Portia) lived with him in the pueblo.  That's a window above the stove.  

He built an upstairs "apartment" for Portia.  Kinda nice.  I don't know if/when electricity was hooked up.  I do know they have a bank of solar panels behind the building. 

Peek-a-boo!  This is a section of her bathroom.

It had all the amenities, including a big blue bathtub.

He was also an artist and several of his works hang in the rooms.  But imagine living in the desert all year without air conditioning!  It's a harsh climate, temps to 120° for months on end in the summer and freezing in the winter!  They're a rare breed who can live like this.  I sure couldn't.

Cabot was born on a Sioux reservation in Dakota Territory in 1885 and his home is filled with Native American art and artifacts.  Above is a gift from Semu Haute, an Indigenous artist, called "Ah-ah-ota," it translates to "two-faced white man."  Seems apt.

Then again, some might consider this an eyesore ... as it's surrounded by nice new adobe homes.  Not everyone's cuppa tea, but it really is an amazing feat.  We recommend going if you get the chance.

The grounds are filled with desert plants.

Bougainvillea, Silver Cholla, Barrel Cactus.

 

We walked up the hill to the Well House, not much to see, just a rickety old building, the glory of hot springs in the desert.  Yonder sky was growing darker; I could smell rain. 

This towering 43-foot sculpture is wonderful!  "Waokiye" ("Traditional Helper" in the Lakota language) Carved by Peter Toth from a single Sequoia Redwood, the feather from an Incense Cedar.  The history of the carving and its artist is amazing.  Google it. 

One last look at the sprawling complex known as Cabot's Pueblo Museum.  It was time for us to leave, the day growing colder and rain imminent.  We spent a couple of hours wandering the rooms and grounds, enjoying every minute.  You have to appreciate someone who can build something out of basically nothing but scraps, using ingenuity and his bare hands, and leaving it for us to admire.

At Catalina, January, 2025

 

We are here!  Roughly 580 miles from home, with one overnight stop at the Elks Club in Wasco (near Bakersfield), Jimmy and I checked our motor home, "Tergel," in at Catalina Spa and RV Resort on Wednesday, 1/22/25.  We encountered no issues, fire-or-smoke-wise, and actually had a pleasant drive.

Such a lovely sunset from the Wasco Elks parking lot.

Catalina Spa in Desert Hot Springs, is a large RV resort, but there's plenty of room for everyone.  This is our third (or fourth?) time to stay in this park.  Our Oregon friends, Sue and Mo, were camped across from us last year, and we enjoyed fun times together.  They're coming later this year.  It's easy to make friends here; in fact, two people we met last year were here to greet us just after we pulled in this year.  And they invited us to go on a small-group bike ride the following day (Thursday).  We said, "OK!"

With their two bikes and our two bikes in the back of his Dodge Ram truck, Wayne and Betty, drove us to the meet-up spot in Palm Springs.  The day was sunny and mild.  Great for riding.  We tooled around the streets of the city, admiring homes ($$) and landscaping and green-green golf courses.  I think we had 12 in the group.

After a couple of miles, it's a quick break for lunch,

and then the group continued on.

Betty and Wayne's doggie, Gaffer, loves to ride in the basket behind him.  (and ride, she does, 'cause Wayne does all the pedaling!)  She doesn't bark or try to jump out, she just gazes at her surroundings.  Above, we were stopped at a traffic signal.  Excellent introduction to life at Catalina Spa!  Thanks, Betty and Wayne!

* * * * *

One afternoon, Jimmy and I went for a walk beyond Catalina, to an area we remembered where we could access a pond, like an oasis, but the durn gate was locked today, so we couldn't get in to see all the birds, just a photo of a duck paddling away from us.

And on the way we found a sort of Jurassic Park!  Private property, of course, surrounded by chain-link fencing, but not off limits to a camera.   All these critters were big, a lot taller than either of us.  We saw others, and more that were being built, but our question was, why?  Uh-oh, Triceratops, bottom right, has a broken front leg!

Isn't this fantastic?

We spotted goats in a different enclosure, with one cute li'l baby goat who loved to run and jump and chase the chicken you see in the photo above, right.  Interesting walk!

* * * * *

The desert is dry, drier than usual, I think.  No wildflowers are in bloom, and most plants and shrubs in their natural setting appear dull and dun-colored.  Tiny Creosote leaves are curled and crispy, hoping for rain, desperate for rain.  I was shocked to see Mount San Jacinto and San Gorgonio both barren of snow!  Been a very long time since the area has had appreciable moisture.  Ah, but look at the sky on Sunday, above!

Jimmy and I were again invited on the Palm Springs small-group bike ride.  With a weather forecast of afternoon showers, we almost didn't go.  But, you only live once, so what if you get wet!  That's Jimmy, above, riding toward a very dark sky!  I felt three (I counted them) raindrops; he felt one.  Wayne's truck wasn't far from where we were at this point.  We didn't get wet.  Another fine ride!

Da Biker Gang!

The big draw for me is the pool, above.  Odorless mineral hot springs.  We were done for the day and Jimmy in his red shirt is ready to return to our motor home.  The swimming pool has a temp that hovers between 88°-90° and I love slipping into water that caresses you like a lover.  Every day I swim.  It's good for me.

Jimmy loves the hot "tub," actually a large pool.

It's a hot pool!  (as in HOT, over 100°)

Heavy clouds moved in over Catalina Spa while we were in the pool (after our bike ride).  Yup, time to go home, I said, before it rains.  As soon as we closed Tergel's door behind us, we heard raindrops pinging our roof.  Oh boy.  Oh Yay!  Rain!  And, a rainbow!  By gum, a gentle rain fell, off and on into the night.  It's a start.  Perhaps we'll see desert flowers blooming before we leave in February.

Monday, 1/20/25

 

Yes, it has been a while since my last post.  Christmas and New Years Day are long past, holiday decorations put away, and we're deep into the first month of the year.  I can hardly believe we're one quarter into the 21st Century (Time:  Whoa, why the hurry?  Racing to the finish line?  Hold up!)  I've taken few photos the past six weeks, busy doing other things maybe.

I can tell you that we've had no snow so far this winter.  Nary a flake.  Is this unusual?  We think so, at least judging from our 12 winters here in NorCal.  We've had weeks of rain (yay, rain!) ... wherein you tire of it and wonder if it'll ever quit.  But we've gone two weeks now seeing cloudless blue skies, and we could use a good dousing.

Before Christmas we gave away Evie's "little kids" swing set, replacing it with this sturdy wooden set. More usable for her with the monkey bars and trapeze.  Merry Christmas!

When the rains come, the 'shrooms will follow.  We discovered these gorgeous displays on several of our (sometimes muddy) walks.  I wish I knew their names, and if any is edible.  They are huge!  You can see my foot in the lower right pic.

Some days we'd step out to the canal trail and be encompassed in a fog, or low clouds, soundless and ethereal, and exceptionally peaceful.  We feel so grateful to have this wonderful trail nearby.

Back to fungi!  The two beauties were in our yard.  The big-as-dinner-plates 'shrooms on the right are growing on an old stump amid snippets of still-green yarrow.

This pretty boy (Anna's Hummingbird) perched in a dripping Pacific Dogwood, was just lookin' around.  Its feeder is at right, out of the picture.  Much to my delight, our hummers stick around thru the winter.

Wow, look at this prize-winner!

On the 9th, Jimmy and I walked a bunch of miles on the Newtown Canal-Deer Creek Tribute Trail in Nevada City, one of those neither too hot nor too cold days.  When we descended to the creek, we found the Mother Lode of Ladybugs nearby!  Tens of thousands piled up together to a) stay warm to survive winter, and b) to find a sweetheart and mate.  You might see some coupling going on above.

I am always thrilled to see this sight!  Today is the third or fourth time we've been honored to witness the Ladybug coming-together.  This is one area, we saw lots more, left and right.  Imagine!

Those pesky water hoses are disconnected and the hose pipes covered in case of a deep freeze, 'cause tomorrow we're driving south, aiming for the odorless mineral hot springs at Catalina Spa and RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs.  THE POOLS!  (I need a new bathing suit, but the thought of trying them on and standing my aging, white body before a full-length mirror does not sound like fun!  Woohoo! 😄 Never mind, I'll model if/when I get one!)

I hope it rains while we're gone or even, uh, a bit of snow?  We plan to be camped in the desert for a month.  Don't hold me to it, though.  Stuff happens.