Last month a group of 25 Actioneers went camping at Bow Willow campground in Anza Borrego State Park. Located 16 miles north of I-8 in the southern end of the park, Bow Willow has about 20 campsites and is perfectly situated for exploring the park. Most of the group had come camping with the group previously but there were a few “newbies”, Mike Goldman, Annie Frederick, and Pat Miller (Shannon’s son).
Most everyone arrived at camp in time for dinner the first night which consisted of grilled chicken, burgers, brats, Hawaiian Baked Beans, and salad followed up with tasty desserts such as Keylime Pie and Apple Pie. It was a pleasant evening. Everyone enjoyed sitting around the campfire talking, and gazing at the stars.
The next morning, after a tasty breakfast, everyone laid out their plans for the day. Several hiked to nearby Mountain Palm Springs, a small oasis in the desert of palm tree near a spring. Ken Hodge, Tom Sekreta, Tess Zwicky, Martha Way, Barb Perkins, Rick Cole,Greg & Margie PytanowskiandGary Jahnsset out on that trek.
MeanwhileTom Walters, Tom Sullivan, my brotherSam, and I decided it was going to be too hot (a high of 90 degrees) to hike so we decided to drive around the desert in my air conditioned truck.
We drove through Canyon Sin Nombre which is a beautiful meandering wash surrounded by huge cliffs of dried mud that were carved out by erosion over milenia. The road took us to Arroyo Tapiado, a similar wash where there are mud caves. We’ve explored the caves several times in the past so we drove on through the canyon and out of it onto a plateau where the road got very sandy.
Unfortunately my truck is only 2-wheel drive and eventually we got stuck. Bummer! There was nobody around to tow us out, but luckily my wheels were not buried too deep, so we dug the sand out, put several flat rocks in front of the back tires and everyone pushed while I drove and managed to get back onto solid ground. The guys were pretty sandy when they got back in the truck! I We were relieved we got back to camp in time for Happy Hour!
Happy Hour was a nice time — beer, wine, and margs complemented by chips and homemade salsa plus brownies made by Carmen Jahns. Everyone enjoyed lounging in the shade under the pop-ups while the temperature finally dropped to a more comfortable level. Dinner that night was a feast of grilled tri-tip, salmon stuffed with crab, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, and dessert. Camping Action-Style!
Another great trip with a great group of people, and I want to say thanks Tom Sullivan and Tom Walters for all of their help with the cooking and thanks to Carmen for the goodies she brought.
Finally thanks to everyone who came, I had a great time hanging out with everyone!
John Thomas