Anza Borrego Desert, prehistoric creatures and concretions

Three day weekends need to include some sort of road trip, it just doesn't seem right otherwise.  Marla, the girls, and I set out for an adventure in Anza Borrego Desert.  Anza Borrego is so close, and there is so much to do (if you find beauty in the desert like I do).

We first examined the metal sculptures on Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs.  In 2008, the owner of the property, Dennis Avery, commissioned a Perris artist, Ricardo Breceda, to construct life size prehistoric creatures (some of them abstract) on his 3 square miles of undeveloped land.  There are 129 creations in total.  I have seen maybe a third of them which makes me want to return to find the rest.  

The 350 foot serpent, whose body extends under the road, is the most popular piece of artwork.  It cost $40,000 and took 4 months to create.  

With just enough light in the day we head out on a dirt road to find what is known as the Pumpkin Patch.  It is only accessible by four wheel drive.

It felt like I was playing Mario Cart.  I wish the whole way was like this but most of it was in a wash so it was extremely sandy and uneven.  It was nothing the Subaru couldn't handle.  

The pumpkins that make up the Pumpkin Patch are concretions, a spherical mass of mineral matter embedded in a rock of different composition.  Because the minerals are more firmly cemented together the surrounding sedimentary rock erodes and leaves behind the concretions.  Wind and water erosion continue to shape the round rocks.  

Geologically speaking, the Pumpkin Patch is one of the most interesting things I have ever seen.  

Nature is incredible.