This year for President's day we had to decide what to do. Should we go to Nixon's Presidential Library or take a trip to the desert? It wasn't pouring rain this year (see "President's Day" link below for our adventure last year) so we went to the desert. C'mon, would you waste a sunny day on Nixon's library? The things the boys enjoyed about Reagan's library - jelly beans, air force one - were not going to be there. We spent the night at a resort in the town of Borrego Springs. Not much to the town itself - but plenty of sun and a warm swimming pool.
The boys swam as soon as we arrived and then right up until check out time the day we left.
We snagged lunch in the "village" and tried to look for all the prehistoric animal sculptures that were supposed to be spread around town. We couldn't find anymore to the town, so this pteranodon was all we found to pose with. BTW, pteranodons like Sierra Mist.
Borrego Springs is in the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (east of San Diego.)
We took a hike up Palm Canyon. We started over closer to that mountain behind these guys.
Here's a pic of the boys taking a break on the Twizzlers bench, and lucky us, we happened to have Twizzlers in the bag.
The hike involved a lot of boulder hopping (they weren't necessarily on the trail but they had to be hopped anyway.)
Destination: palm tree oasis
Boys on rocks at oasis
And even though it was a desert oasis - that water was cold.
Is this the fore deck or the poop deck?
The colored sails tend to hang out together and the white ones together. Purposeful?
Steam tugboat with colorful sailboats in the background.
I don't think Nathaniel was supposed to ring the bell. It drew the attention of a docent who came over to tell the (long) story of how the bell was rung every half hour because the sailors didn't have watches. He described how many "dings" would be rung for a particular time and demonstrated by saying ding that many times with meaningful pauses.
In front of Eureka - a fancy ferry that used to run between San Francisco and Sacramento.
Nathaniel loves to explore and try things out. We visited the park and museum for him and the Ghirardelli shop for Davis.
Russian Hill in the background (Davis wasn't fast enough to get out of the shot).
Photo-willing family members with Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
Of course, what trip down to the waterfront could be complete without a visit to Ghirardelli Square. The hot chocolate is a definite desert, not just a beverage.
