After too many frosty days in Paso.....I know, I know, it's nothing compared to places where it snows but when it's in the 20's outside it's in the 30's in my workshop and no fun at all! So, I decided to hightail it to the desert for some sunshine and warm weather! I might not have a workshop there, but I can go junkin'...
I'm a walker....I'm not a big fan of exercising in a gym; but I love to walk and hike and work in the workshop for exercise. Yesterday morning, I asked my husband if he wanted to go for a hike in The Cove with me. I love hiking The Cove. It's only a five minute drive from the house and there are lots of great trails. You see, once upon a time, the Coachella Valley used to be under water...that's why they call this area The Cove.
It's such a strange and unique landscape. I wish I would have taken more pictures! There's this one spot with these HUGE rocks over a very large area. To the right (outside the photo) is what looks like a ginormous empty pond and then a spot where water can be released. My husband says they have these all over the valley to control the runoff during flash floods. I can't imagine that since the average annual rainfall here is about an inch. But I guess it can happen. We do get snow on the mountains around us and I guess when it rains, these mountains are so rocky the water just runs off instead of absorbing into the ground. I bet there are a lot of snakes and lizards living in this field of rocks!
Being the cautious one, I let him go ahead and check it out... After all, I've been to The Living Desert (a great local zoo) and I am aware that this is NOT the zoo, this is the wilderness desert, and we do have mountain lions, coyotes, and all sorts of wild animals so I'm thinking one might be sleeping in that den and decide to stay down here where it's safe and take a picture....just in case.
After walking for a half hour or so, we decide to cut over to the wash. I like walking in the wash because it's great exercise for your legs. It's like walking in very coarse deep sand with rocks scattered around...much harder than walking on a path. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the wash...next time.
That's when I spotted it!
Okay, confession....this isn't exactly where I found it...but I was sooooo excited and shocked that my husband was actually willing to haul it out of here and home that I forgot to take a picture! Seriously, you have to know my husband...he's NOT a junker and has never been excited about me bringing more junk home. But he truly loves me and just wants to see me happy. So...when I was sincerely excited to see this bedsprings lying there, not so much rusted as perfectly baked by the desert sun, and I blurted out that this was like gold in my industry....he said, "well if it's like gold...and we'd probably be doing a good thing hauling it out of here." Who knows how long it had been there. Where we found it in the wash, the wood frame was still laying charred on the ground in a rectangular shape but almost totally disintegrated. Not a thread of fabric in sight and bits of scrub brush where the bush had just grown up through the springs.
We pulled it out of the brush and my husband decided this would be a nice little upper body workout hauling it out of here...
How lucky am I! I know I told my husband that the bedsprings were like gold....but he's the real treasure!....
As we were hiking back out with the bedsprings, I was blogging in my head and realized I still have to get this thing back to Paso, I'm not in my truck, and I do have other things to take back with me....where there's a will, there's a way.
To get it home, we had to fold it in half since the FJ isn't quite long enough. Now, I'll just have to take it apart to get it back to Paso. A pair of needle-nose pliers should be all I need and I know we have a pair in the garage.
Just look at that patina! Not really rusty; nothing rubs off. But perfectly baked to a rich warm bronze color. I can't wait to get back to my workshop and see what I can create. I'll have a six hour drive to think about it....stay tuned.
I stumbled upon your blog by your pumpkins you made that I found on Pinterest. I LOVE this post...makes me want some warm sunshine, though today is pretty mild in Colorado. The sun is shining and feels so good.
ReplyDeleteI would have picked up those box springs too. I'm anxious to see what you did to them!!
Thank you, Amy. It's so nice to see a legitimate comment! I get so many that feel like spam. I agree with you about the weather...there's something wonderful about the warmth of the sun in winter....it's a beautiful thing! I'm glad to see you'll be checking back from time to time. I'm anxious to see what I do with them too :) ...it's always a big mystery!
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