Anza-Borrego State Park

Judith here, greetings from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California.  We are in a beautiful campsite (check out the views from our front door and back window below) and loving every minute of this scenic, diverse park.  It’s the largest state park in the lower 48, and aside from this park, there are 47 county parks nearby to explore as well!  San Diego County loves parks.

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Interesting scenery on the way included a windmill farm with over 3,000 of them in a valley near Palm Springs, giant agricultural fields of Palm Trees, the Salton Sea (-200 ft below sea level), a park totally devoted to ATV’s,  wild horses, and a visit to Mecca.

Here is a sampling of the wildlife we have seen in the past few days.  We are still on the hunt for the bighorn sheep…

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Even dead wildlife is interesting, we still don’t know what it was…

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Of course it’s best to let sleeping giants lie…

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What was that?

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Yes!  Evidently the #1 attraction in Borrego Springs is the 130+ life-size metallic sculptures that are scattered throughout private land, but very accessible to the public.  The artist’s daughter wanted a dinosaur for her birthday, so her Dad made one for her, and he went crazy from there.  Ricardo Breceda, go to www.ricardoabreceda.com for more info.  Very fun to drive around and have one pop up in unusual places!

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A hike up into Palm Canyon to the Oasis (who knew there was an actual Oasis with Palm Trees in the Southern California desert?) —

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And a golden sunset to end the day…  Followed by a starry night…

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For our botanist friends, here are more flowers than you care to look at.  A few days of rain have made the desert bloom spectacular.  My favorite is the yucca, which can grow 3 – 5 inches a day!  Mark’s favorite is the ocotillo, as evidenced by the MANY, MANY pictures we have of them.

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4 thoughts on “Anza-Borrego State Park

  1. I remember my friends from England visiting us and being overwhelmed by California deserts. I thought…..at the time….. that they were nuts! (I saw boredom and only death in Death Valley.) Now, I get it! There is much life & beauty, especially in the spring-time! Enjoy your life! Love, Al & Linda

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