Sonora Desert
Oct. 26-29, 2006

It was time to head for Mexico with Ed and Pat, my cousin, and their friends Gordon and Diane. Gordon had planned a "pretrip" that included stops in Ajo, Organ Pipe National Monument, and Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona. The "pretrip" would end at Columbus, NM, where we were to link up with the caravan company for the trip through Mexico.

Ajo, AZ has a very nice looking town square. However, many of the businesses on the square had closed, so it was a pretty deserted place.

Ajo used to be a company town set up and owned by a copper mining company. This open pit mine is at the edge of the town. It was a pretty big "hole in the ground".

Next we headed for Organ Pipe National Monument, where we camped for three nights. This is an organ pipe cactus, which is pretty rare in the U.S., but is common in Mexico.

These little quail, called Gambel's quail, were to be seen all over the campground. They are funny little creatures, always scurrying around searching for food, and were not opposed to taking "handouts".

Camping - Arizona style. That is our Roadtrek in front and Ed and Pat's behind. Towering over our Roadtrek is a saguaro cactus. I have never seen these in California, but they were easily spotted as soon as we crossed into Arizona. Saguaro cactus grow slowly and, in this area, don 't develop branches until they are about 70 years old. The tallest saguaro on record was 52 and one half feet tall. Between the camera and our Roadtrek is a prickly pear cactus and a chollo cactus.

Sunrise at Organ Pipe National Monument.

Gordon and Diane had been here before and had "adopted" this saguaro that Nancy and Diane are looking at. So we had to check up on how it was doing. From its height and number of branches, one can assume that it is several hundred years old.