Back in January, my dad and I took a long weekend to head down to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We visited some historic landmarks and did some hiking and off-roading. The park is now on my list of favorite places in California. I hope to get back down there and explore some more. We were too early to see the wildflowers, but the advantage to going in January was that we missed the crowds. According to the people we met in town, the previous weekend had been really busy, and the following weekend would be busy again, but that the first weekend is January is always dead. It was a great experience to explore the park with hardly anybody around.

Giant metal desert dragon sculpture