Awesome Ride and Owen's 1st Swim...

Our Tuesday begins with a sunny, calm and most beautiful sky, here in Desert Hot Springs, CA.
 
With a quiet Sunday on the books, Jeanette and I felt like riding and, with no real destination in mind, headed east on Dillon Road and south on  Highway 86.  At the corner of S22, we rode west towards Borrego Springs.

Nice day for a ride.

Both surprised by the low volume of Sunday traffic, we decided to check out a few RV parks in Borrego Springs.  Of particular interest was 'The Springs @ Borrego'.  

Very nice looking golf course.  For me, this is a major attraction.

We have friends who have spent time at 'The Springs' and we could certainly see why.  The sites are very well spaced.  There are several long drive through sites too.   Due to its recent design and build, it was focused on 'big rigs'.  The site designers really came through in this park.

We both felt so attracted to this area that it may well become a drop in for our RV activities in the future.

Beautifully sculpted golf course with water and sand bunkers.  It's easy to see how it would test a golfers metal.

Having had a good look around the RV park, we rode into the town of Borrego Springs.  This place never disappoints.  It is quaint, organized and clean.  It offers the amenities most RVers would need.

Borrego Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 3,429 at the 2010 census, up from 2,535 at the 2000 census. Many residents are seasonal while others remain year round. Borrego Springs is completely surrounded by Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest of California's State Parks.

The village of Borrego Springs has a pueblo-style Visitor's Center & Chamber of Commerce near the heart of town. There are 2 shopping malls, several restaurants, accommodations of every kind and unique shops. There are no stop lights in Borrego Springs and night time lighting is kept to a minimum to protect the extraordinary magnificence of the starlit sky. Many describe Borrego Springs as a Palm Springs that existed 50 years ago.

Beautiful town.

Heading further south from Borrego Springs.

That we were early in Borrego Springs had us thinking about riding further south and west to the wonderful town of Julian.  We had been there several days earlier but we were attracted to go back again.  The weekend tourist trade proved far busier than our earlier mid-week visit but it was still a fine day to drop in.

Busy town....and a magnet for motorcyclists.  We understand why.

It was nice and warm and it was time for a motorcycle break.  Lunch seemed to be a draw for us and we found another quaint little bistro style restaurant that met our expectations.  The food was very, very good.  The waitress offered up a dessert menu but, having shared one large sandwich, we chose to ride further west to the little town of Santa Ysabel for a dessert treat from the Julian Pie Company.

We thoroughly enjoyed our drop in here.....and the coffee with pie was well worth the ride.

Santa Ysabel (Diegueno: 'Ellykwanan^[1]) is an unincorporated community in California, in the east half of San Diego County. It is home to Santa Ysabel Asistencia, a Spanish mission. The town is located near the San Diego River just north of the Cleveland National Forest at the junction of Highway 78 and Highway 79.
Some other notable sights of the small town are the famous Dudley's Bakery, and Julian Apple Pie factory, The town serves as a gateway to the mountains of San Diego County, including the Laguna Mountains, Julian, and Palomar Mountain.

The photo below, with the door handles, spells the truth about entering the Julian Pie Company.  The smells are so, so dramatic.  The fresh baked pie smell emanates the entire building and captivate tourists to purchase a slice or two.  We could not resist.

Nice entrance to the Julian Pie Company.

By 3:00 pm, we continued our ride north on Highway 76 and later, we turned east on the route that would return us to Highway 74 and the final leg over the twisty and every changing elevations in the Santa Rosa Mountains before our descent into Palm Desert.

At an elevation of 4,000'

Monday was set aside for a visit with Courtney, Owen and Deni.  They came over for breakfast and a swim.  The swim in the resort facilities would be 2 1/2 month old, Owen's first ever swim in a pool.

Hanging out while breakfast preparation was underway.

Our little fella, Owen, was his usual happy little guy - unless hungry or needing a diaper change.

Sitting outdoors on such a beautiful day - with a beautiful little family - is hard to top.  Owen was pretty happy lying about and watching us enjoy the food.

A relaxing time as Deni engages his mom in chat.

With breakfast completed, Owen had to join in with us and loves this sitting position.  He can see what everyone is up to.

Time to head for the resort pools.

Owen's parents - his grand parents too - were quick to get the little fella to the spa pools to let him enjoy a nice soak.  This is Owen's very first swim since birth. He loved the event.....other than being splashed once or twice.

Ready.....set.......GO for the first dip in nice, warm water.

He was most relaxed with his dad in the pool.

 What a treat for Owen to share a nice swim with his mom and dad.  Nana, Jeanette, looks on as the little fella is swirled around water.

Very near the end of his first swim, Owen sends signals that he is ready to shower and dry off.

Before long, Owen and his folks had showered, dried off and, once dressed, made their way back to our site in preparation to drive off to downtown Palm Springs where they would be meeting Courtney's mom, Barb, for some shopping.

The little family left very early this morning for the drive back to Las Vegas and their flight back to Edmonton, Alberta.  While here though, their visit was thoroughly enjoyed.

That covers things from here for now.  Thanks for dropping in.