Thursday, February 23, 2017

Wayward Wind.......

6:58 am - PST - Thursday - 49º F, 52% humidity, wind 7 mph out of WNW......more like 15 mph.....windy all night long with gusts into the high 20's.......clear skies from horizon to horizon.  We were hoping the winds would abate this morning, but they continue.  Such is the life of the desert dweller!

Wednesday had a very benign beginning.....almost windless, partly cloudy, but the forecast showed winds picking up by 10 am and continuing throughout the day, and into the evening.  Since I was set on taking a bike ride.....maybe break the 20 mile barrier.....I set out to take that ride about 8:30 am.  Most often when I set out to ride I have a general idea of my route, but about 50% of the time I change my mind as I am merging on to S-22......will I go left and ride the 8.5 miles up to the 'Call Box', or will I head right and take S-22 into Borrego Springs, or will I take Henderson Canyon into town.....or will I do something completely different?  Wednesday felt like a 'something completely different' kind of day.


Wall of unpruned palm trees along Borrego Valley Rd.

.....when I did merge on to S-22 I did turn right intending to just head into town and then retrace my steps, but as I came to the elementary school at the intersection of S-22 and Borrego Valley Road I decided to turn left on Borrego Valley Road which is also the Julian turnoff.  I road westward to Borrego Springs Road (where the metal sculptures are) turning right and riding back towards Christmas Cirlce and Borrego Springs.  By the time I finished my ride back at Rockhouse Road I had covered some 24.1 miles, burned 1534 calories, and averaged 14.7 mph for the entire trip.  Just as I turned on to Henderson Valley Road for the final 4.25 mile leg home the wind came up and thankfully it was a tailwind......I ran before the wind at 23 mph for about 3.5 miles.....suweet!

Wednesday was also laundry day.......the last time we did laundry was 3+ weeks ago in Parker, AZ whilst we sojourned on the Colorado River.....it was time.  There is a nice laundry in town at the Palm Canyon RV and Resort on the northern edge of town......

We enjoyed the view from the laundry front porch.....

 Keep forgetting to take off my reading glasses.....

......it took about 90 minutes to wash, dry and fold two large loads by which time it was now 1:30  pm and time for a late lunch at Los Jilbertos Taco Shop in downtown Borrego Springs.  These folks make wonderful, authentic Mexican cuisine which we first discovered last year when we were here with our friends.  I had two large Carne Asada Tacos and TLE had to regular Pollo Asado Tacos (all a la carte) for just over $16 (included drinks).....we sat outside enjoying the slightly breezy air.....

Need to work on my charisma

......while we were eating I looked up to see Becky Schade waiving at me from a car that had just parked in front of Los Jilbertos......we first met Becky at Amazon in Fernley, NV back in the 2014 Peak Season.  She writes a blog called 'Interstellar Orchard' which I love to read.......very, very informative and well written from a single woman's perspective of the fulltime life, and she has written and self published a couple of books on similar topics.  We last saw Becky at Quartzite last January.  She is also boondocking with friends out on Rockhouse Road a few hundred yards from our location.  As I have often told people, Becky was one of those people we met at Amazon in Fernley that made our time there more enjoyable......there is nothing like shared suffering to bond people together.....:-)

We were back home by 3 pm, and by this time the wind was really kicking up its heels.....a couple of our patio chairs had been blown over, and we had to take down our wind chimes lest they self destruct in the freshening winds.  Normally I would sit outside reading the rest of the afternoon, and ultimately watching the sun set, but with the blustery, and ever so cold winds out of the north I opted for the more comfortable confines of the Newell.

We watched some TV, then read until it was bedtime.......thanks for stopping by!

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like a very nice productive day, you are doing a good job at turning up those calories.

    ReplyDelete

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