The day before we left the desert for our trip to Bend dawned warm and sunny. We took a walk to the west, towards the sand dunes. Previously we stayed closer to the mountains, thinking the flat desert was too boring. Wow, were we surprised, first of all by the flora, then the fauna! We crossed paths with not one, but two Desert Tortoise!

This first Tortoise was in a small wash, probably munching on some breakfast plants, evidenced by his green smudged mouth!

The second tortoise was out in the open, walking across a dry gravelly hill. Maybe he/she was looking for some breakfast, or maybe a mate?

Late February sun and warmth brought out many blossoms.

Blue Phacelia

Dune Evening Primrose with some Sand Verbena on the side.

The bright yellow Brittlebush was blooming all over the desert, rivaling the sunshine!

The Desert Lily was popping up in the most inhospitable looking places, a little early for it’s common name ‘Easter Lily’!

Our jeep adventure took us right along the U.S./Mexico border, marked only by small posts in the sand, until we reached this monument. Well watched by the Border Patrol, this truck approached as we emerged from the dunes and the officer made contact with us, very polite and helpful, but definitely on the job!

As soon as the officer left, we had fun, knowing we were still under the scrutiny of the Border Patrol!

Our friends Glen and Barb took us on a jeep adventure in the Algodones Dunes, part of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area. We had a great ‘e-ticket’ ride through the dunes!

Who is that? A desert Sheik, an illegal border crosser, a desert hitchhiker? It’s Glen, our expert desert jeep driver, navigating the dune ridge ahead!

Roberts alias for geocaching is ‘Itchybob’. We met the Nahoma Band on our first day of geocaching, they are from the northwest as well and were very encouraging to us.