Home Is Where Your Story Begins: Dash to the Desert

Going on camping trips during the school year can be a real challenge due to schedules, school activities (both for the kids and for Augustus as a teacher and speech & debate coach), church, etc. Thankfully, though, we close enough to the desert to get there in just a little over an hour and Anza Borrego Desert State Park is at our disposal. In times of economic hardship and budget crunches, with outrageous camping fees at California parks and recreational areas, the bargain price of camping for FREE (yes, you read that correctly) is great! All we do is drive out to a pull-off on one of the roads in a designated recreational area, park the van, and set up a tent. Another huge bonus is that it is legal to have a campfire in a protected enclosure, so we bring the basin to our fire pit which fits the bill. We have our favorite area in the park called Blair Valley and there are several short to moderate hikes right there that are great for the family during the day. So, last weekend, knowing that we could only go for a short trip, we dashed out to the desert on Friday afternoon and came back on Saturday around lunchtime, with enough time so that Augustus could get cleaned up to go and chaperone Homecoming.

Four really cool highlights from our trip: (1)The three older girls got up in the morning, with their Dad already off hiking, and decided to take a hike of their own. They started up the big hill directly behind our tent (in my full sight the whole time) and made it half way up. I loved seeing them go out on their own adventure, helping each other along, and developing camaraderie as sisters. (2)As we ate breakfast, we heard the tale-tell sound of an Air Force jet coming (the military does training out over the desert). As the jet came into sight, it was so low, if felt like you could just reach up and touch it and then a second later it had darted over the next hill and was gone. (3)Before leaving and after packing up, we went on a short hike to a historic Native American village sight were there are morteros, deep indentations and also more shallow indentations for both grinding grain and rolling out the dough; the Native American people came to these areas seasonally. Once the girls got going, they kept looking all over to find evidence of more morteros and also old cooking sights in the boulders and campsites. It was fun seeing them imagine being out there in a different era, having to fend for themselves in that terrain. (4)And finally, the highlight for me personally was seeing the most brilliant shooting star that I have ever witnessed. It was glowing red and yellow on it tail end, light a natural firework flying through the sky. Both Augustus and I were aghast and in awe of this evidence of God's wondrous creation.