Anza-Borrego Desert, California - April 8, 2024

 A stop at the Visitor Center showed me the best spots for wildflowers were near the town of Borrego Springs, about 35 miles from my campsite.  This is a lovely town surrounded completely by the state park.  With seven acres per person, the town has lots of open spaces, filled mostly with creosote bushes and other desert plants.  There is a range of housing styles, from downright shabby to very nice, pueblo style or ranch style.  Cost of living here is pretty high, due to the usual California factors plus the remoteness of the area.  Regular gas was $6.10 and $6.30 at the two stations in town, diesel over $8.  Milk was $4.00 for a half-gallon, a box of crackers $5.59.  I managed to avoid buying anything else.

The desert has many arroyos, so the roads can be somewhat like a roller coaster.  On the way into Borrego Springs, I entered the largest "dip", called Texas Dip because of its size.  I would guess it's about 75 feet deep and a quarter mile across.  The road into and out of it has a 10% grade.

 I did a quick tour of the town and saw some beautiful homes with gorgeous landscaping.  A couple of nice churches, one Catholic and one Lutheran, also caught my eye.  I'm sure there are others.  There was also an impressive shopping mall, but I didn't bother with photos of it.





The town is also heavily into the arts.  In fact, one artist has taken advantage of all the vacant land by placing large sculptures all over.  There are more than 100 of these scattered about.





Another piece of art was a 1953 Cadillac looking a little worse for the wear.  What a restoration project that would make.

Although the peak of wildflower season had passed, I still managed to find some patches that showed a glimpse of what the season may have been.  While chasing wildflowers, I met a woman sitting on a blanket near some wildflowers.  We spoke, then she asked if I would like to see the eclipse, handing me her solar glasses.  I had forgotten about the eclipse, so was happy to take a look.  I'd say it was about 40% at that location.














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