December 17-25, 2022
Sunday, December 18, 2022
The drive to here from Tucson yesterday was about 140 miles. Laura took off ahead of me, she drives faster than me generally, and it has become our way of traveling from place to place, when the distances are longer. We drive our own pace, stop where we want, and meet up at the destination. Much of the drive was on a Native American reservation, the Tohono-O’Odham Nation. There were a few small towns, but most of the drive was across what appeared to be uninhabited land. It was a landscape of cactus and scrub brush. There were mountain ranges to bypass, including a rugged looking range that is home to Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Being here at Organ Pipe, simply arriving here, felt magical. We are far from anything. Well, so I thought, but we learned this morning there is a border town next to Lukeville, AZ (population 25) named Sonoyta that had a population of 12K in 2010. We could see lights to the south last night, and, after consulting the map, we found out about this. Well, it is still magical, being here. 😊
This morning, we sat in the van, Laura had her coffee, I had my tea, and we listened to Hearts of Space music. This week’s is titled Sacred Songs of Angels, Christmas Themed Voices. In the afternoon, we went for a walk on Desert View Trail, where I happened to cut a trail and touched a cactus with my leg. It broke off a piece, and several strands of prickers went through my tights right into my leg! I was able to pull them out. A couple had a little blood on them! We walked back to the campsite to make sure I got everything out. I called the ranger station and spoke with someone who told me that if there was any residue it would be like a sliver, working its way out eventually. We then went for the hike as planned. The reason I was off the trail was that Laura saw what she believed to be some Mistletoe growing within another plant. It seems there is a lot of it around here. I was led off the trail by a woman leading me towards Mistletoe. (Not what it might seem 😊)
Monday, December 19, 2022
It is a beautiful morning. Laura is talking with her Mom on the phone. She is wrapped in big blue, my fleece blanket. It was 37 overnight, colder than the night before but still okay. It will get up to 66 today, with sunshine, so it looks pretty good. In the morning, we worked together on a spreadsheet that we had begun. It lists all the campsites she and/or we have stayed at, in daily sequence, since the beginning of her trip in September. It has the day, dates, and locations, as well as hi/lo temperature for the day, weather, highlights of the day, and music featured that day. We both like to listen to music, a lot! In her journal, she has a little box she draws daily for each entry. She writes in the name of some songs listened to that day. It’s a Music Box! Today’s music featured Pat Metheny’s Secret Story.
I also gave her a set of the little Rosary beads I have with me. She likes them, and she wrapped them around her fingers. These have ten beads on them, that's all, instead of five sets of ten. It is interesting that so many religions throughout history have utilized prayer beads. According to several verified sources, the English word bead derives from the Old English noun bede, which means a prayer. (This Wikipedia article provides the sources as well as other information.)
Last night, we were sitting at the picnic table talking, and I said, at one point to Laura, “It might be time to go to bed soon, it’s almost 9PM.” I looked at my watch and it was 7:23. It was a very funny incident.
I went for a bike ride around 11:30, came back around 3:30, riding 43 miles out and back on the main road, 3 hours 9 minutes. When I returned, Laura was dressed in comfy summer clothes for the warmer weather. She was drawing and painting, working on a series of Dall Sheep, working from a photo I took at Valley of Fire State Park. There were four iterations of the drawing. I imagine it to be very energizing. Later in the night, we had a mesquite charcoal fire! It burned nicely, but it was kind of breezy, too, and chilly.
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Laura and I woke early and watched the sunrise. We did more than watch it. We took part in the sunrise, we fully experienced it; that is the better way to express it. These sunrises and sunsets in the desert are just so amazing. The combination of the variety of cactus, multiple species of singing birds, occasional coyote yelps, miles and miles of desert valley leading to high mountain ranges, an expansive sky above, and hanging out together - is hard to beat. The experience simultaneously energizes and quiets body, mind, and spirit.
We spent the evening with long-time friends of mine, Sue and Jim, who arrived from Boulder today. I first met Sue in 1984 when I first visited Boulder. They plan to stay tomorrow night as well, so we can spend some more time with them. After tomorrow, they are heading to Baja, Mexico, and they are planning to be there until early February or later. We had a great dinner that Jim prepared, he loves cooking, and then we enjoyed a great sunset.
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Winter solstice. We were up early watching the sunrise again. Jim and Sue joined us a little later and the four of us wandered down a trail that went to the Visitor Center.
I took a ride on my bike down to the border in Lukeville. It was not too far, about 15 miles roundtrip. It is a scenic road. At Lukeville, there is a gas station and some stores, but most of the stores looked out of business or closed up. There is a border crossing there, which looked to be very much high security. After I rode back, Laura said she’d like to ride down there, too. I was not sure we had the time to do it, before sunset. I should learn to not doubt Laura when she has an idea. We started out on the main road and she took off, pedaling like she meant business. There would be no turning around until we reached Mexico! We arrived there and returned easily before dark.
Later in the evening, Laura and I discussed the next leg of our trip. Here is what we came up with. We leave Organ Pipe the day after Christmas, 12/26, and spend one night at Chiricahua National Monument, which is in southeast Arizona. There was no availability for additional nights. We can get there around 1PM or so and do a hike and stay the night. Next day, we will drive to White Sands National Park in the morning. Or maybe stay a little at Chiricahua and head to White Sands late morning. There is a New Mexico State Park, Oliver Lee SP, 30 miles west of White Sands. We could stay there 12/27, then head to Carlsbad National Park 12/28 and Guadalupe Mountains National Park 12/29. From there we will head to Big Bend National Park for up to a week possibly. After that, we are not sure exactly where we will be heading, except that we will finish our trip together at Gulf Islands National Seashore, where we already have a reservation. We might go to Padre Island on the way to Florida, though it appears impossible to reserve a campsite at the National Seashore. Laura mentioned she’d like to visit Austin. With my plan to arrive home Jan 20, it is getting sort of close. With me heading North, it will mean time for Laura and I to part ways, at least for a little time. That will feel weird. This trip has been as much about us getting to know each other as much as seeing the places we have visited. It’s been wonderful, a great experience.
Thursday, December 22, 2022
We did the 41-mile drive into the back-country in her 4Runner. It was a beautiful, blue sky day! It is a dirt road, with warning signs about it being rough and requiring 4-wheel drive. As our luck would have it, it was recently graded with heavy equipment. The majority of it would have been passible for just about any regular car, though there were a few miles near the end that one might want higher clearance. We passed the heavy equipment just before that section.
Music of the day: Laura said there could be an ONP musical, and started with “On the first day of Christmas, Tom gave to me …” (She has ideas for other musicals as well)
We stopped at an old mine to take a look around and have lunch. There was a picnic table there. I had a peanut butter sandwich. Laura had an orange and something else. After we ate, I held out my hand, wanting to take hers and say a prayer of thanks for the beautiful day and the time together in this awesome place. Laura did not know this at first. Instead, she apparently thought I was putting my hand out to take her orange peels, so she dropped them into my hand. It was pretty funny, we had quite a laugh, then we prayed thanks. 😊
We continued the drive to the southern boundary of the park, heading to a spot called Quitobaquito. It is a watering hole, an oasis of sorts that has been around for thousands of years, so we read. We were told to be careful walking near the water as there may be swarming bees in the area. That made me apprehensive, but it did not seem to bother Laura at all.
Along the southern section, the dirt road heads back east following the border for about 10-11 miles. There is a tall, metal border wall all along this section, as seen in the photos. While we drove this section, we came across border agents with about 20-30 persons lined up, apparently having been caught crossing the border. It seemed mostly men, but there were some women and children as well. It was a sad sight. ☹ Laura drew a picture, seen below, top left.
We saw a few "rescue stations" on our drive. They are equipped with water. Once you use it, you will have some water, there will be a signal sent, and border patrol will be on the way.
Friday, December 23, 2022
We enjoyed the sunrise as we had on other days here. It was so easy getting up early and wandering out to see it. It rose far in the distance over some mountains. We had our breakfast with coffee and tea shortly after. Later, we drove up to Ajo, which was about 30 miles north. It is the largest town in the area. It was once a mining center, and the buildings and town square reflected that, at one point, it had been a well-to-do place to live. They have restored much of it, and it looks quite nice these days with its large village green and surrounding businesses. We walked around the green and town square. We also went down the road a little to an IGA grocery store and stocked up some, including getting some ice for our coolers.
There is also something in Ajo that we had been told was an art collective. That is not what it was, in my opinion. It seemed more like a Goodwill Thrift Shop, where individuals rented space or stalls and would sell a variety of things. There was a Native American named Victor running it. But outside, on the walls of the building, there were murals painted. I think this is where the idea of it being an art center came from.
Music: We listened to Little River Band Greatest Hits going to town, and Long John Baldry Everything Stops For Tea all the way back to Organ Pipe Cactus.
Saturday, December 24, 2022
We rode our bikes on the road between the visitor center and the campground. We did not ride too long, some together, and some apart, just long enough to get in some exercise and feel good. We stopped at the visitor center to show the photo I had taken of a spider in the bathroom. The ranger on duty was named Kim. She had given a talk on bats a couple evenings earlier we remembered. She told us the spider was a blonde tarantula. I have never heard of one before. It seemed smaller than the black ones I have seen, in person and in photos.
Later in the day we took a walk to do Christmas photographs, posing in front of a large Saguaro. That was fun!
Sunday, December 25, 2022
I woke this morning to the sweet sound of Laura playing Christmas carols on her flute. Later in the day, two of our neighbors commented on how nice it sounded.
I gave Laura a piece of Petrified Wood for a Christmas present. It is about 6” X 6” X 3”. I know she really liked this stuff from the way she looked at it and handled it at the stores at Petrified Forest and in Holbrook. She gave me a rolled up scroll of a present and a handmade card with a drawing of Blue Mesa from Petrified Forest. In the scroll, there was an 8X10 drawing with notations from Artist’s Palette at Death Valley, which she did the day we rode our bikes on the loop. She also gave me two versions of her painting of the Dall Sheep at Valley of Fire State Park. She included several 4X6 photos, including one of us together on top of Picacho Peak. It’s all beautiful.
The low temp this morning was 50, and the high during the day reached 79, so we enjoyed some pretty nice weather for the day, and we spent a good part of it sitting in the Sunshine, just kicking back.
Being here for nine nights, it was our longest stay. It was exhilarating, it was also restful. We were actively busy most days, yet it was very relaxing. I want to go back again next year, maybe for Christmas, maybe a little earlier.
December 26, 2022
We were up early, had some breakfast, and off on the road we went in a timely manner. We had grown to love this place. A fun time was had by all! I was a little sad leaving, good times …. There’s always next year! 😊
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