Humdinger

Leslie in front of Breceda Dragon

It has been an incredibly beautiful week in Southern California, our first really hot days but well complimented by a nice breeze. Leslie and I decided to check out the desert Sunday and drove out to Borrego Springs.

Burts circa 1930

We stayed at the beautiful resort La Casa del Zorro. Awesome place. There weren't a lot of other guests and it felt at times like we had the resort to ourselves.

The rooms are really, really nice, we got a downstairs suite that opened up to a nice pool and jacuzzi. There are five pools on property, this one had a few cabanas so my fair skinned sweetheart was able to stay out of the hot sun.

The rooms are really cheap, about half the price of Two Bunch Palms and the environs aren't sketchy like they are in Desert Hot Springs. A pool view room can be found for eighty five bucks on Expedia. We paid about thirty five bucks more for a deluxe room. Peanuts. Some people we met at breakfast flew over from Carlsbad in their plane and there is a convenient shuttle from the airport.

La Casa Del Zorro started out as the Burks Ranch in Borrego and opened as the Desert Lodge Hotel in 1933. In 1960 it was bought by San Diego newspaper magnate James Copley. Copley was very conservative and his Republican books and signed memorabilia still litter the foyer. The Copley Family sold a few years ago after David's passing and the new owners have done a very nice job renovating and bringing things up to a first class level.

It also houses quite a few paintings by the late stagecoach artist Marjorie Reed, many of which still reside on its walls. The Butterfield Overland Mail passed through Borrego on the first overland mail delivery between St. Louis and San Francisco. The 2,812 mile trip took 23 days, 23 hours, and 30 minutes.  Operations were suspended in 1861.

We would go back in a heartbeat, an hour and a half drive through lovely backcountry between Fallbrook and our destination.

We ate at Carmelitas in the evening, I am a nut for their mole. In the morning we decided to try the fare at the resort. Bit pricey but my corn flake french toast was best in show.

Would love to get a bunch of couples out there, have a party, rent a bunch of rooms one day. You in?

We got back home to a yard that was teeming with beautiful flowers, including many of my gladiolus blooms that I have been eagerly awaiting.

This hummingbird to our left is feeding on a flower of the lovely desert bird of paradise plant or Caesalpinia macrantha.

It has been a nice addition to our garden and I can't wait until both it and the Palo Verde Tree Desert Museum reach maturity.

I grabbed my camera and a chair and watched the hummingbirds cavort around the buds for a couple hours, an activity I plan on repeating all summer.

Herding hummers is far from easy. They don't exactly like to land where you want them and they are as fast as dragonflies.

Protea for lunch bunch

But I discovered a trick to get them to come hither. Turn on a sprinkler, they like to play in the water. As do the many mockingbirds on my property.

Should be a very nice summer. At least as far as the birds, bees and flowers are concerned.

Will keep you posted.