I thought it was a "cosmetic fixer", but my husband felt our new casita needed more than a little makeup. So we have been busy, with the help of a great local contractor, remodeling the kitchen (new cooktop, dishwasher, counters and tile backsplash...oh, and a new floor, sink/faucet and a coat of paint), gutting and re-doing the master bath (with a beautiful freestanding tub), putting new counters, fixtures and floor in the main bath and adding a solar swimming pool heating system on the roof.
We furnished the place with "extras" from our Seattle home and on-line purchases (thanks Amazon.com and Overstock.com). The bulk of these goodies went into a U-haul trailer that we rented in Seattle and pulled behind our Subaru Tribeca. Two 10-hour days of driving and *POOF* the "house in a box" was in Borrego Springs.
Some would say this feat would not have been possible had it not been for my obsessive compulsive tendencies (that's an understatement). For three months before the closing I gathered items for a house 1) we did not yet own and 2) that we might never own. When Tom told my brother, Gary, what I was doing, Gary said "Tom, if you and I were married, I'd be doing the same thing". Clearly the OCD tendencies run in the family! (We'll save that for another blog.)
If you've been to Borrego Springs, you know why we needed to bring our own stuff. Borrego Springs has about 2,500 year-round residents. I think the biggest retail store in town is the True Value Hardware. Borrego Springs doesn't have a stop light, a Starbucks, or even a Chinese restaurant. Doc (one of our contractors) said the Chinese restaurant in town closed and the locals really miss it. I asked when it closed and he said "about 15 years ago".
What Borrego Springs does have is magic. A vast desert full of life, swaying palms, space to breath and star-filled night skys.
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