This afternoon, the kids came running in to tell us that a Desert Tortoise was crossing our road.  This was pretty exciting, since Desert Tortoises are a threatened species, with densities thought to be as low as ten individuals per square mile:

Terrance, as we decided he would be called, made a run for it:

He managed to get out of the road:

When flies landed on his eyes, Terrance would pull back his head against his leg to get them off:

Terrance loves salad:

Today we also saw an Osprey flying by:

Trish practiced her drawing:

…and we got ready for Shabbos:

Good Shabbos from Imperial Dunes National Recreation Area!

One of the reasons we came here was for me to fly over the Algodones Dune Field a few miles south of here. Unfortunately, yesterday’s high winds continued today, so I’m temporarily grounded. I spent part of the afternoon turning ten hours of Salton Sea PPG video footage into a nine minute video. I’ll post it next time we find WiFi.

The kids drew flowers and made their drawings into buttons as part of studying Russia in Geography through Art:

At sunset we went for a family walk:

The road north from here is very soft in spots, so I think we will leave here by driving back the way we came, even though in that direction the road is also very soft.

Today we drove up Rockhouse Road to see how far we could get before the road became impassible.  There were plenty of spots where tire placement was important to avoid scraping the undercarriage of the truck.  At one point, Trish and Zaide held back a Desert Lavender bush so we could get through without scratching the truck:

Surprisingly, we managed to get all the way to about half a mile from where the “road” ends.  At this point, it may be passable for an ATV, but we weren’t going to push our luck:

Fancy hiking hair:

M waits for us to get going:

We hiked up the canyon for about a mile, where a wall of large boulders encouraged us to turn around.  Here we are coming back down to the truck:

On the way back, we stopped to hike down an “authorized vehicles only” road to find a water tower and manufactured home on a private inholding within the state park:

M had B photograph him fragmenting dried mud with his flying fists.  Look out, Chuck Norris:

After our action-packed off road adventure, we reluctantly said goodbye to Bubbe and Zayde who will be heading back to Las Vagas.  We got ready for our third Shabbos here:

Good Shabbos from Anza Borrego State Park:

Today we gave my parents a break and had an art day.  B practiced techniques from a “how to draw dogs” book she checked out from the library:

M practiced his culinary art by making a plate of scrambled eggs for me.  Thanks M!

B decided to paint the rocks that the kids had previously laid out to spell our blog name.  I hope it’s water soluble, “take only pictures and leave only footprints” and all that: