Easter Weekend in Anza Borrego

I wanted to share some of the highlights of a recent weekend trip. I was inspired by a the concept of the 36 Hour Adventure. I really resonated with the notion that we can miss lots of great short trips if we focus too much on the long expedition-style trips. Too often lately I'd been burning weekends reworking the sleeping arrangement in my van, or building a chuckbox.

Instead of waiting until we could manage an Epic adventure, we set out to see how much we could pack in to a weekend. Well, I think we did ok. In our 36 hours, here's just some of what we were able to accomplish:


Picnic and Deer-spotting in William Heise Park
After a morning of wine tasting, we picnicked on some pressed veggie and prosciutto sandwiches and a salad of english peas and haricot verts



Then down the other side of the mountains, and we explored some easy trails in the Big and Little Blair Valleys of Anza Borrego.



We only saw a handful of other vehicles the whole time we were camped, and our nearest "neighbors" were a dot of light on the other side of the valley.




Had time to catch up on some reading and coloring. Mom got the best seat in the 'house'.


Annika and I took a brief pre-dinner walk from our campsite to one of the cultural interpretive sites in the area - a set of ancient Morteros were the nomadic natives would grind gathered seeds into meal.



Dinner was a family favorite, Greek-style pita pockets with marinated tri-tip from the grill.



S'mores and shooting stars. We were hoping to catch part of the Lyrid meteor shower in the window between sunset and moonrise. Only a few shooting stars tonight, although Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter were all visible!



Once the moon came up, it was too bright for much else, so I turned the macro lens upward.



The Easter bunny managed to find us out in the wilderness, must be sharing GPS coordinates with Santa.


We have mixed feelings about bringing technology on these trips, but a few minutes in the shade with her tablet keeps the little one out of the way while we strike camp.


A half-hour's drive from Blair Valley is one of the best slot canyons I've ever hiked. Known locally only as "the slot".



This was our daughter's first hike that was more than a quick walk. She did great!


By the end of the morning, she considered herself an expert on the subject of hiking. Wanted to lead the way. Still required a little steering from the rear to keep her on the right trail and out of the cactus, though.


An obligatory stop on the way back out of the desert is the Miner's Diner in Julian, CA. Playing cards are substituted for order numbers at this joint. We shared her first Malt during lunch, and I was reminded that I'd had my first malt at the counter of the same soda shop when I wasn't much older than my daugher. Afterwards, we "mined" for treats in the basement "Candy Mine" before walking around town a bit. By early afternoon, a late night of stargazing, all the hiking, and two days without a nap had taken it's toll. Kiddo was carried back to the van, protesting "I'm not tired!", all the while slumped over daddy's shoulder. She and mom both slept on the drive down the mountain.

After we'd been home a couple of hours, Google+ pinged me that it'd had its way with the photos and video I'd shot during the trip, via one of their "auto awesome" productions. After a bit of tweaking, this was the result:





We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed the trip.