Blooms for all Seasons...

This photo of the Calla lilies in our patio was taken on Easter Sunday afternoon. What's been so exceptional about the callas this year, is that they started blooming before Christmas! There are still a few new buds finding their way up, but this incredibly long season, no doubt the result of all the winter rains, will sadly, but most certainly come to end soon.

Easter Dinner...

The centerpiece of our Easter dinner with good friends, Chuck and Christine Sweeney, was a Pork Loin stuffed with Apples and Raisins. When we take out our spring floral tablecloth and add Easter egg colored tulips to the table, our every day dishes work just fine!

Our Second Anniversary...

We are so thrilled to have the beautiful tapers and Unity Candle that Margaret's dear friend, Terri, sent for our wedding day. We can bring them out each year to remind ourselves of that wonderful day in April, 2009, when we started a new chapter in our lives together. This year we made plans for a two night getaway in celebration of our anniversary - the first experience for both of us at staying in the California desert. We learned quickly that we aren't really "desert people", so future travels probably won't be back to that area. That was one of a few reasons that we ended up cutting out stay a night short... Those things aside, we enjoyed, as we always do, traveling to a new place, seeing wondrous new sights and rejoicing in our lives together.

On the road again...

There are a couple of options for routes to the part of the desert we were headed, and one of them takes you through the town of Temecula, in the heart of the Southern California Wine Country. We lunched at a great barbeque place in the old downtown district, before checking out two highly recommended wineries in the area - Baileys and South Coast. The grounds around both were quite beautiful. When we pulled out of the South Coast Winery, we took a wrong turn. It seems that our GPS didn't know how else to get us back on track but by taking us on a several mile giant circle through a gorgeous housing development with enormous lots overlooking rolling hills of vineyards. It turned out to be a great tour of the area, even the part that was on a road not yet paved! We really liked Temecula and the surrounding area - a place we'll add to our list of good get-away spots for the future.

Our first view of the desert floor...

We began climbing soon after leaving Temecula, and the terrain became increasingly more rugged and rocky. Soon the two-lane road became a series of one after another switch-backs. Suddenly, we reached the top and caught our first glimpse of the expanse of desert below us. This picture was shot from the window of a moving car - no "scenic turn-out" available to soak up a view that was rather breath-taking in its starkness.

The Borrego Springs Resort and Spa...

Set away from town, the hotel we chose to stay in is a study in contrasts - with stark desert on one side and the lushness of an irrigated golf course on the other! Resort amenities included not just golf, but tennis, a work-out room, Spa, pool and hot-tub. We suspect this place is especially popular with golfers! The on-site restaurant is named the Arches - which explains Larry's photo of the row of arches... Gusty winds probably explain the blurriness of the sunset photo.

Sunrise...

Our private patio was especially nice on Monday morning - giving us a perfect view of the sun rising over the mountains.

Desert Architecture...

As we left the hotel, we drove around the area a bit to get a feel for desert home design. Also, you can just barely see a solitary cross silhouetted against the bordering mountains.

An amazing art gallery in the desert...

It was the giant hawk or raptor we saw first as we were heading away from Borrego Springs on our way home. We made a U-turn to go back and get the picture. Then we saw another sculpture, and another and another. Eventually we left the pavement and followed narrow dirt paths that took us to the sites of even more of these amazing pieces. It wasn't until we got home that we looked on-line for more information and discovered that we saw only a very few of the pieces that have been placed in this open air collection throughout the Galleta Meadows Estate.

If you want to see more of this incredible exhibit, cut and paste this link into your browser
http://www.galletameadows.com/

A toast to us...

Glasses from our tasting adventure at one winery, a bottle of chilled Sauvignon Blanc from the other. We continue to celebrate our two wonderful years of marriage.

Lunch with the little ones for Larry's birthday...

Heather called a few days ago and asked if we were planning on going to the fairgrounds on Larry's birthday for lunch at the Food Trucks and some Farmer's Market shopping. If we were going, could she and the kid's join us? Well of course! It was great that we could spend some time with them on his birthday! We finished up with chocolate chip cookies all around, and love the picture of Joshua, who looks like he was wearing more of the chocolate than he had eaten!

Our first Flash Mob...

We'd seen advertised that there would be special entertainment going on at the Food Truck area today, but had no idea what it would be. When we heard the music begin and people started dancing around us, we knew that we were in the midst of out first Flash Mob. (We learned afterward that it was put on by a group from a local Y.) Great fun to watch, especially the one little boy who decided to go join the dancers.

A sure sign of spring...

When we put bunches and bunches of daffodils in Margaret's mother's English pitcher, we know that spring has truly arrived!

The Santa Ana Art Walk...

Downtown Santa Ana (just a few miles inland from us) has been going through major restoration for quite some time now. One of the areas that has been most affected has been named the Artist Village - four blocks of buildings that house art galleries, working artists' lofts, and great restaurants. On the first Saturday night of each month, the galleries and lofts open their doors to the public. After months of saying we "should" go, we finally made it last Saturday evening. We had dinner at a soul food restaurant, Memphis, then strolled the Artists Promenade, peeking in several places. We were especially taken by a couple of sculptures and an exhibit of photographs all taken with I-Phones! (Three are pictured here - two landscapes and the horse.)