Red Ocotillo Cafe | Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Friday | 12 January 2007 | Indio, California: Hello from the Palm Springs area. We have rented a site here for one month, so you will all be bored with this dateline, but I assure you we will not be bored in Palm Springs.

We woke to a non-windy morning and were up early and exercised before most people had stirred. Before leaving Borrego Springs, there was still one restaurant we had to try - a funky little cafe in an ancient Quonset hut - The Red Ocotillo Cafe. As the signs painted across the front of the restaurant say: BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY / COLD BEER / LUNCH / GOOD COFFEE / WI-FI ACCESS / PET FRIENDLY PATIO. All true, though it was a bit too cold this morning to enjoy the nice patio behind the cafe. Our waitress today was the same girl who brought our bread basket last night at the co-owned Krazy Coyote. She said hello - I guess we are getting to be regulars?

Breakfast in a Quonset hut

Omelets and Eggs Benedict are the specialties at the Red Ocotillo Cafe. They serve traditional Eggs Benedict and also a smoked salmon version. Since breakfast is served all day, options outside of traditional breakfast items (eggs, pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc.) include burgers and salad. Basic diner fare. Just better. I had a smoked salmon and dill omelet, while DT tried the breakfast burrito. Delicious, huge portions. Though we tried our best, we could not eat even half of the food.

 
This is great American food: omelets and breakfast burritos at
The Red Ocotillo Cafe in Borrego Springs, California

We both really, really, really liked Borrego Springs, but we had to leave today. We hitched-up the Honda and headed towards Palm Springs. Driving through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, towards the Salton Sea, was a beautiful drive through an area known as The Badlands. It looks exactly like the Badlands of the Dakotas!

Badlands Babe, posing at Coyote Canyon

BORREGO SPRINGS NOTES: On Friday mornings there is a Farmer's Market in the traffic circle. There is an ATM at the traffic circle. In the Mall you will find another local bank, Kendall's Cafe and the library. The Post Office is located behind the mall. Across the street from the mall is The Center. The Center has the largest supermarket (in the rear) and there is a recycling center in the grocery parking lot. The Center also has a liquor store, a video rental store and a beauty shop.

We quickly arrived to the Motorcoach Country Club in Indio. We have stayed at the Motorcoach Country Club many times before, however this is the first time we have been here in January. The campground is completely full. I have no idea why I even call this place a campground. We are total trailer-trash here. Our Intrigue is a mere poor-cousin compared to the fancy hardware in this RV resort. Many of the coaches are Prevost conversions, averaging at around two MILLION dollars each. The owners then pay around a half million dollars for a place to park their rigs and then sink another two hundred thousand into improving their Motorcoach Country Club "campsites" with pools, cabanas, outdoor firepits, circular drives and on and on and on. Amazing place - and we just love staying here - even if we are only "renting". Don't forget - many of the campsites have their own private boat dock!

Believe it or don't: it is so cold here tonight, the Governator has actually declared a "Weather State of Emergency". Half of the local population is employed in the fields tonight - with huge fires and giant fans - to keep the multi-million-dollar citrus crop from freezing. DT has unhooked our coach from the outdoor water system just in case the pipes freeze. California is in the midst of a cold wave.

RV Park: Motorcoach Country Club in Indio