Just love these birds, i had no idea how many of them hang out at the Salton sea, black ones, white ones, the dried up edges of the sea are littered with feathers, which i collected with joy, but they ended up in some plastic bag and were lost, anyway, the sea is drying up, very fast, we could see that once upon a time, this area was very popular for vacationers, but there is really not much water left, and all along the beach area, which is now very wide , dead fish lie drying, lots of dead fish, i believe that this area will soon totally dry out, predictions are that California will run out of water , this year, so they say, the State totally relies on ground water, we were in several campsites where we were not allowed to fill the tank of the Westy.
The toilets were working but not the taps at the sinks, everything is so incredibly dry……
Like everyone else, i am very concerned about the environment, and yes, do i dare say it, global warming, i heard yesterday that this term is now outlawed in Florida, people are not allowed to mention it any more!!!
Well, what does that tell you…….
All around the Salton sea, the buildings are broken up, falling apart, some people are still living there, but anything to do with the Salton sea is gone.
I keep a close eye on things happening in relation to the environment, and after this post will tell you and show you another big concern, one very few people are still not aware off….

White pelicans!!!!!

Our family and friends, Roel and Ineke were on their way towards Palm Desert, and we planned to meet them there.
We headed to the Tamarisk Grove campground in the park.
The Anza Borrego park is the largest state park in California. It contains 500 miles of dirt roads, has 12 wilderness areas to explore, and miles and miles of hiking trails.
The park is named after the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza. The spanish name Borrego means bighorn sheep.
Here the desert is truly wild, and very, very dry. Across our campsite were two hiking trails, the Yaqui well trail and the cactus loop trail.
We hiked the second one, it wound up the hill side, so we could overlook the area and the campsite down below.
One of the many strange plants growing here, is the Chuparosa, also called the hummingbird bush, when it blooms , it has long red flowers, the little hummingbirds just love them, both the Anna’s and the smaller Costa’s hummingbird live here year round.
This park is known for flash floods, some years though, it receives less then two inches of rain !!!
I tried to find some evidence of coyotes as a large pack of them howled most of the night, close to us.
It truly is a magical place, this desert, and i would really like to go back sometime, when the cacti bloom.

Cactus loop trail.

Bert among the cacti

The road down below, and the campsite, nestled among the Tamarisk trees.

We liked the atmosphere at the RV place in Oceanside, plus the spot they gave us the last time, was so nice, we were totally surrounded by gardens, the Westy fitted just nicely in that spot, it would be way too small for a large unit. So, that’s where we headed, to spend Christmas. We bypassed San Diego, leaving that for another time.
It was great to see the ocean again, and this time the weather was a bit warmer.
Christmas eve we watched the movie, “a Christmas carol” the old version with Alister Sims, then we watched the version with Jim Carrey, i love the way they did that one, so very well done.
In the morning we went for a bike ride to Carlsbad, sat at one of the little coffee shops, out in the sun, and truly enjoyed ourselves.
We took our time going back, it was so nice and warm, people were out on the beaches, watching the surfers, you could sure tell which of the surfers had a new board as a gift for Christmas, and had not done any surfing before!! The pelicans dove into the waves, right alongside of them, and as we watched, two dolphins swam towards the surfers, and started following them, playing in the waves all the way.
What a strange feeling though, it being Christmas day, no snow, no cold, no logs in any fireplace, just sun, sand , and flowers blooming everywhere.
Once we got back, we jumped in the pool , there was no one around, and after a swim, we sat in the hot tub, what a life!!!!
This truly was very special, and we were and are very grateful!!!

cozy Christmas in the Westy