Road Trip

We figured we should head down Why way so on Friday, we packed our outfit and headed east. The plan was to stop at a park in Gila Bend that we have frequented before, it is a nice place, well set up and best of all it has a great laundry facility that is open 23 hours a day, and we needed to do a few loads, before we headed south to Ajo and Why. Thought we might see a different scene as well for our camera's to shoot.

That shot was from the side of our rig after the sun had set. The bright lights on the right are the Calgon Carbon Corporation. Before sundown we went into town to a Sofia's Mexican place, a small local place, been there for 23 years and by the quality of the food and the service we received they shouldn't have any problem making it another 23 years. Somewhere along the way someone pointed out to us that the border crossing into Mexico at Lukeville was closed and had been for a couple of weeks. They have an invasion going on there, reports of lots of folks jumping the border, cutting down the walls and fences. Mainstream media, says maybe 10,000 a day, now we know those guys sometimes get the numbers wrong, but if it is even 10% of that number sitting out in the desert along the route those folks will take to get anywhere doesn't sound like the smartest plan.

But the sun still rises in the morning so I got out, walked a little, shot a little sunrise and then we got our laundry caught up. Once that was done I took a run north up to Aqua Caliente, looking for a spot that might come in handy another time. Different country up there, but it might work some other time.

Early in the day we figured we should head over east towards Picket Post an old favourite spot and hole up there for a couple of weeks over the Christmas season. But we'll sleep on that decision before we hook up and head that way. Meanwhile if the sun comes up, we all know it will slip over the horizon in the evening and if we are lucky we will catch it at an opportune moment and save that image for our old age.

When we got going this morning and looked at the long term weather for Picket Post, it seemed that we would have to break out our coats and long pants for much of the days over there, and things down along the border looked not so bad with that in mind. But a little caution was needed, and a quick text told us we knew where there was a vacant spot and maybe even some hungry neighbours that would be glad to see us and our sugar supply back in their neighbourhood. So we lifted the jacks and headed back west looking for warm temperatures and friendly neighbours.

Moving On!

We had a great time hanging out at Gunsight Wash, just chilling and watching the world go on by. The weather was great and we had a couple of good meals, one at Estrella's in Ajo, a great burger, and then down to Why to Granny's Kitchen where I had some pretty good chicken enchilda's and Brenda had another great burger. They are only open Sunday to Friday 6AM to 2PM though.

We are still getting used to being back on the road, and all that comes with it like laundromats and somewhat limited internet. Amazing when we were last footloose and fancy free, 5GB was doable, but now it seems like that is not enough to get us through the week let alone the month. Feeling our way around the rig and figuring out our water usage, those skills never go away it seems though, we had things pretty well timed our black tank was just about full and our water tank was empty about the same time. Coincidentally we were moving on today so we stopped in the Coyote Howls park in Why and dumped the tanks and then headed East.

We have friends here in Pearce, Mike and Janna, and we are living it up here tonight, full hook-ups, even mooching their wifi connection, after a great dinner, and visit. It has been a couple of years since we got together with them but what with Janna's great blogging and Facebook we never missed a beat, felt like we could pick up our conversations just where we dropped them way back when.

Why Not

This morning we thought we should wander around the neighbourhood a little. We loaded the muttski’s in the truck and headed south for the Organ Pipe National Monument.

Ajo Mountains

Thought we better give it a look see before Donald Trump turned it into Walmart distribution centre or something. It bumps up against the Mexican border and just across the border the Mexican government has a couple more of these protected areas creating a pretty good sized biosphere. We poked around in the Visitor Centre but passed up on the 21 miles drive through the heart of the monument, we did that back in 2008 and I am sure not much has changed since then. We had to cross through a Border Patrol checkpoint but it was pretty relaxed, just a couple of young fellows wishing us a good day and waving us on through. In the past here at Gunsight Wash we were struck by the frequency of the Border Patrol vehicles roaming around but today was the first time we have seen any in the area. Not sure what that means either folks are not coming this way or maybe they are just not coming anymore.

We stopped in at the Why Not Travel Store to see if they had any potatoes but just chips, not much else there when it came to groceries. But they do have some beautiful murals there. And then it was back to Dogpound Anywhere to while away the afternoon.

Why, of Course

Blogging is a little different on a Mac than a PC when you are away from the internet. Sure miss Live Writer so I am trying writing this in the note App on my Mac and copying it over to blogger when I get online.

Well the deal is done, Dogpound South is no more, and Dogpound Anywhere has slipped her bonds. We pulled out of Thunderbird Farms early Saturday morning and headed for the desert. We started our boondocking adventures back in 2008 with friends at Gunsight Wash near Why, Arizona and thought why not go back there. It is on the road to Rocky Point/Puerto Penasco, Mexico just north of the Organ Pipe National Monument. The highway south is a little busy throughout the day but at nights there is nothing here but the foxes and a few high flying fighter jets using the range to the north.

A-10 Warthogs

Once in a while the A-10 Warthogs make a run on our rig, I do think they use us as pseudo tanks as they sometimes are only a few dozen feet above our satellite dish. We have a few neighbours here but as usual in the desert they are a couple of hundred yards away as most folks out here are refugees from RV Parks and like their space. A couple of days ago we wandered over and had a visit with some folks from Alberta who were hiding out here in the desert to kill a week until they were allowed back into their membership park over at Yuma Lakes.

We also ran into Ajo to do a little grocery shopping although I think the prices there drove Brenda away. She said butter was over $6.00 a pound and as our longtime readers know Brenda does know her butter so it she says that is outrageous it is outrageous. The only thing I noticed was a bottle of Crown Royal that was $19.95 in the Walmart in Maricopa was going for $30.95 at Olsens IGA in Ajo, pretty high markup so I am glad I didn’t need any.

I took a run about 10 or so miles west up the wash yesterday with Blue II, it is a nice drive, smooth, if a little dusty. Lots of shady overhanging trees but nothing that got in the way. I didn’t see a soul out there but did spot some far off dust that might have been Border Patrol folks. One thing that is different than a few years back, we are not seeing many Border Patrol units heading out into the desert here. Years back when it was full moon they were back and forth all night, even hauling horses out past our rigs. Maybe the traffic has moved elsewhere or slowed down considerably.

We are not sure how long we will be here or really where we are heading next although we have never really been down around Bisbee country before so might like to wander over that way for a look see. Time to figure out where the Bayfield Bunch and Ivan and Hailey hung out down that way. Close enough to see the sights but far enough off the beaten path to miss the crowds at night. One thing about the desert the sunsets and sunrises are pretty nice as well as the Super Moon

Sunrise

Sunrise

Super Moon setting

Sunset