Get me to the church on time

October 29, 2021

Borrego Springs loop, take 3

After breakfast this morning we went over to the local farmer's market to see what we could find. With as many farms in the area, we figured there would be all sorts of goodies.

But we were very disappointed in the market. It was quite small with mostly artsy booths and only one produce stand. And the prices were out of sight! Zucchini squash for $4.00 a lb!

That was ridiculous, even for organic. It reminded us of some of the markets held in Denver. We ended up buying only one thing - some romanesco broccoli since it was something different.

As soon as we got home, we hopped on the bike for our ride since it was already heating up.

Today Don had mapped out a route that took us south of town. We rode by a number of churches on - Church Lane! I couldn't figure out why they had all been segregated on this one street, but the architecture was interesting to see. I thought of my friend Greg and his "Church of the Great Outdoors"!

They were all built in a Spanish Mission style no matter whether or not they were Lutheran or Catholic. But no Baptist or LDS. Interesting.

From here we kept going south as we rode by more of the metal sculptures and headed up Yaqui Pass Rd. The climb was too much for us today and my foot started to complain about the push. So we turned around at the medical center. Don had hoped to wander around a golf resort next door, but it was gated off, so no go.

Turning north again, we zoomed back down the hill to the main drag and continued onto a road that was located east of the campground.

This area was again mostly undeveloped desert with a large citrus farm where we spotted tangelos being grown. Not ripe yet, which was too bad.

We also rode by a a farm with a few date trees, their fruit bagged up under the fronds to protect them from thieving birds. I keep wondering where in the heck are all of these dates sold? Maybe just large retailers and in commercial food processing.

We saw none at the farmer's market which I think would have been a prime spot. Oh well, we'll keep searching.

When we reached the end of the pavement, we turned around and rode back to camp. It was after 12 and already very hot out again but it's not too bad sitting under our awning as there's usually a light breeze that comes up in the afternoons.

I ended up just relaxing while Don wore himself out running a couple of errands - getting propane and filling up the truck (over $5.00 per gallon!!), and going to the other grocery store. He said he wasn't overly impressed with that one either - not very big, not much selection and high prices on most things.

People living here must drive quite a ways to get to a larger, chain grocery store up north in Mecca. We could have done that as well, but didn't want to burn gas when it's so expensive. Plus we would have had to drive that horrid rough section going to Salton City.

I would have liked to take a drive around the Salton Sea but again we don't want to burn gas on sight seeing trips. Hopefully AZ gas will be a lot cheaper than here in CA!

The evening was uneventful and neither of us could keep our eyes open after dinner. I guess the heat is getting to us. But at least my foot felt pretty good even after the longer ride.

Another beautiful sunrise on the mountains west of us. Every day was been totally clear skies which is amazing! No smoke haze and no clouds anywhere.

This is the Catholic church in Borrego Springs. A very nice Spanish MIssion design.

Going south from town we started to climb and found a forest of ocotillos. It would be beautiful in the spring when they were all blooming. Ocotillos seem to prefer slightly higher elevations than other desert plants.

There are more metal sculptures south of town, including these 2 stallions.

We found these date palms among the citrus trees on this one farm.

The farmers bag up the dates as they ripen to protect them from birds.

We've encountered several large tree farms in this valley. Mostly they appear to be selling various palms, but this one had saguaro cacti. I wonder how expensive the ones with more arms sell for?

Don tried something new for dinner tonight. Pizza topped with some of the romanesco we purchased at the market, along with onions, mushrooms, chicken and cheese. Very tasty!

Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 390 miles (628 km)

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