Good Samaritans Came to Our Rescue

As we were driving into Borrego Springs on Thursday we noticed some wonderful sculptures in the desert near town. We decided we would come back for a better look when we were not driving the Alfa, which is what we did after our Ghost Mountain hike. 

This Columbian Mammoth was simply joyful in its expression.

There were many horse-like critters, but because I had once done a sculpture of a prehistoric horse, I realized that from the shape of their heads and their upright manes they were extinct, not modern equine.

All were in very active poses. 

On the other side of the road some Sabertooth tigers were hunting them.

There was also an Aiolornis in its nest with chicks all silently squawking below. 

The feather detail was incredible.






We wondered what the story was behind this marvelous display. We did see a sign that said "Galleta Meadows Estate", but no other attributes.

Our day continued with a pleasant walk on the grass of Christmas Circle in the center of town. I'm limiting the number of pictures I include because internet access is so slow at the park. While there we noticed the Art Center across the street and walked over to ask about the sculptures in the desert.

There are many articles about them on the internet, but I think this one best summarizes their beginnings. At the Art Center we picked up a free Village Guide with a map to the locations of some of the 130 sculptures in the valley.

After a short mid-day rest in the coach, we again set out by car to see more of the ones located along CR3, a well-paved county highway. Over the years many cars have driven off the road and into the desert to get a better look at them.  We did too.

After our morning off-the-pavement experience, we became more confident about driving on the sand as the day went by.

We were able to drive right up to them, park, and view them up close.

[From Craig] The full-frame image was better, but Merikay cropped her butt out of this version!

The ground around these two was more like concrete than sand. 

But on the other side of the road, when we drove in to see the Sloths, the sand was much looser.

So loose that as we started to drive along one of the well-worn paths, the front wheels of our Accent sunk into the sand.

We were stuck.  Craig started digging into his wallet for his Coachnet card when two men and two women from another car came over to offer assistance.

With five people pushing and one driving we managed to get free.  Thank goodness for Good Samaritans!  It might have taken all day to get a tow from Coachnet! We actually got a little stuck a second time, but were soon assisted to more firm ground.  We thanked them and they said they were just glad we were in front of them because they would have gone the same way and it may have been harder to get their larger car out of the sand trap.

We looked at several more sculptures and ended the day at my favorite, the Sea Serpent. His body extends quite far with the road crossing his middle.

The detail work on his face and scales was outstanding! I'm 5'7" tall, so this hump has to be more than 15' tall and the head much larger than that!





One of the things I think we are going to enjoy about full-timing, rather than simply taking vacations, is the time we will have.  We are here for a week, and will be back out another day to see more of the sculptures just a little way up the road. There is a Peccary, a Giant Tortoise, and Velociraptor that we want to see.  If we were just on vacation, we might pass on them because we had less time.

To quote other bloggers, RV life is good.