We left Mesa on February 1st, and headed south towards the Mexican border. We spent a week in a small town called Ajo (pronounced Ah-ho); which was roughly 40 miles north of the Mexican border. While there we met up with some nice people, Pat and Phip, from Wisconsin. We shared lots of stories and a few meals with them while there.
We spent one day touring around the Organ Pipe National Park; and were again wowed and bedazzled by the beauty of the desert. I had never seen an organ pipe cactus before and it was quite the introduction to them.
At this time, we also met up with Kelly and Al, from Ontario; and decided to look into boon docking - aka dry camping. We found a beautiful place roughly 8 miles outside of Ajo on BLM land (Bureau of Land Management). This land is free; and although there is a 14 night limit; it was on day 12 before the ranger caught up with us. So we got a bonus 11 nights there. Our closest neighbour at this time was about 1/2 mile up the road; and it was so quiet and peaceful.
We only have 1 battery on our rig; and thought that we would only last a few nights. A week later, our battery was empty as well as our water tank; so off to Ajo we went to recharge and dump/refill our tanks; and then right back out we went.
We ended up spending 23 nights in total in the desert; and absolutely loved it! Mike and I used to drive deep into Northern Ontario, load up our canoe; and paddle for hours looking for peace and quiet. So this was a real treat for us. Having a nice bed to sleep in; a shower with hot water; and all the comforts of home.
We spent our days going for hikes; bike rides; wood runs; and just enjoying mother nature at her best. We were serenaded by coyotes on a regular basis; and had a nightly camp fire. The night sky was incredible there; constellations that we had never seen before; a full moon cycle; and strange lights in the night sky... which turned out to be flares dropped from the military planes flying over the desert. We were fairly close to an airbase; and during the week warthogs flew over us - night and day. Glad that we found out that they were just flares... and nothing to worry about. While there, the lunar eclipse happened and it would have been the perfect place to see it; but unfortunately the sky was overcast that night; and we missed the show.
We were also surrounded by mountains and a wide variety of cactus. Molly ended up getting some cactus spines in her; and we had to use pliers to pull them out.
We went back to the Organ Pipe national park a few weeks later; and were met with 1000's of blooming desert poppies. As far as the eye could see. It was really pretty. We also went into Mexico, just briefly; and then right back out to the desert. We thoroughly enjoyed our time while here; and would go back in a heart beat!
No comments:
Post a Comment