Ocotillo Wells Bonfire

We just returned from Ocotillo Wells, a California state part designated for off-road vehicles and dry camping. This is our third trip there. This time it was just Holden and me. Huong, Riley, DJ and Aiden all had other obligations for that weekend.

There is a tradition that on the weekend before MLK Day, everyone brings their dry Christmas trees and puts them in the middle of circle of RVs to be burned on Saturday night. Some of the guys built an A-frame over the Christmas trees and loaded combustibles above the pyramid. When the sun went down, Roman candles were handed to all the kids to shoot at the trees and watch them quickly go up in flames. It was safe and fun, as far as I can tell.

While we were waiting for the big bonfire, we lit Chinese candles which gently floated up in the air to about 2000 feet and then floated down. The next day, we used quads, motorcycles and feet to retrieve the spent candles.