This past weekend some friends came down from San Diego to visit us and to meet V. While they were here we went out into the desert to a place called the High Tanks in the Tinajas Altas Mountains. It was about a two-hour drive through the desert to get there but only about an hour to get home, thanks to the decision to stick to the main dirt road out there. It required us to get on part of the highway for the return trip but was well worth it since it cut an hour off of a bumpy, desert dirt road experience.

Anyway, the High Tanks were not the tall, columnar things I had envisioned, but rather depressions in the side of the mountain where hundreds of years of dripping water have hollowed out areas where water collects. Some of them were smallish but one was large enough for Charlie (our friend's dog) to swim in, although the water was nasty and smelly. To quote AJ, "it smells like a zoo." Yes, yes it did. And the flies and deer poop didn't add any aesthetic appeal. At least for me it didn't.

The tanks were staggered up the side of the mountain so, since we took V, Atlas and Charlie with us, we went in shifts to rock climb and see them. I've never been afraid of heights per se, but have always had a healthy respect for them. Ok, maybe too healthy! Anyway, I was much slower than J.E.B. at climbing and walking across some of the boulders.

J.E.B. and I forgot our camera but luckily Ben was smart enough to remember his!

Ben is sitting mid-way up (I think) looking back down to where J.E.B., V and I are waiting with the dogs

 

Charlie just hanging out as is his norm. I really haven't seen a dog more mellow than him!



AJ and V hanging out while J.E.B. and I took our turn at climbing

 Gotta love trying to get a nice family picture with a dog and a baby