Super Super Bloom, Anza Borrego Desert

Eric and I woke up at 6am to get to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park somewhat early, since we heard about the Super Bloom enthusiasts, and the not-so-super Super Bloom traffic.  

Technically, we are Super Bloom enthusiasts too... I know I couldn't miss it!  

Regardless of the crowds.

It was pretty exciting to come down into Borrego Springs on the 22 and see more flowers than I have ever seen in Anza Borrego.

We started off just north east of Christmas Circle, on DiGiorgio Road... with everyone else.  People had moves too, rapid exits off the road as if they had spilled hot coffee into their laps, in order to avoid arguments from backseat drivers...  

We had no plans to go to the Visitor Center, which was completely full anyway, lines of cars miles long crowded the sides of the streets.  There was even a cop directing traffic into the Visitor Center.  

You would have thought that we were at Disneyland.  

Part of the problem is the name?  

It is as attractive as bees are to pollen... 

Super Bloom!

How lovely.

I get it.  

Who doesn't love flowers?

We had no plans to spend too much time with the masses, not too long after our arrival, we headed off for some solitude.  Anza Borrego is 600,000 acres after all...

We are pollinators.

We drove five miles down Pinyon Wash to Harper Flat.  Although we passed a car or two on the one lane wash, by the time we got to the parking area, we were the only ones there (okay, so the road was a bit treacherous... it was best for everyone that I was not driving).  

We had every flower to ourselves...

This is the Anza Borrego that I know.

Although the flora was abundant, so was the fauna. We saw a jack rabbit (see it?!), countless birds, lizards, and butterflies, and even a fat rattlesnake.  

I was so hoping for a rattler!

Hello, Friend!

The desert is incredible.

Tecate

Tecate always seems to have something new to offer, while holding on to its traditions and culture, and all of the things that I love.

Casa de la cultura, which is open on Saturdays and every week day, has a bunch of new murals.

I had a chance to get a tour from the art teacher, Herón, who has taught there for the past nine years.  He was more than happy to show off the amazing work that his students are doing, from statues to pastels to ceramics.  

The brewery is under construction and is currently closed to the public, with no grand re-opening date, so we will all have to wait patiently for our free cerveza, and to see what their new beer garden will look like.  It appears as though they are going to expand to the other block (it already takes up three blocks).  Also, I am guessing that since they took all of their historical artifacts back from the Tecate Community Museum, this means there will be a museum component as well.  

Ugh, I can't wait!

Tecate is modernizing a bit, but it will always be stuck in time.  

Río Hondo Bike Path

Eric's childhood home in Downey.

Before he moved out of this two bedroom at the age of 15, there were two adults, three kids, two ducks, a tortoise and several cats living here.  

Today we took a trip down memory lane, which just happened to be more of a memory path than anything else, the Río Hondo Bike Path.  Eric spent much of his childhood here, both supervised and unsupervised, so the stories vary in degree of danger... 

The views and sounds change abruptly as you ride along the Río Hondo; soccer fields, petting zoos, horse stables, shooting ranges, remote control airplane fields, train crossings, freeways, and dams are just some of the sites.

This fenced in part of the bike path is to protect people from defiant remote control aircraft.  The hobbyists like to fly low over the bike path, to show off their skills.  Skill level can be debatable, huge divots can be found all over the fence, and chunks of planes scattered around.

We ended in South El Monte, at Taco Nazo, where I had the most amazing potato tacos and michelada.

I thought your mother said not to go into the canal...

We thought about riding around in the parking lot until we hit 20 miles, but then decided it was fair to round up.