Fifty-One Years and a Lovely Drive (Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument)

(Clicking on the pictures will open them up larger.)

Sunday, December 13, 2020

It was a beautiful day with blue skies and just a few clouds floating along to spend driving down the Ajo Mountain Drive. If you can only take one of the rides through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, in our opinion, this is the one to take. Stop at the visitor center and pick up the guide booklet before starting. There are 18 listed stops along the route including the crested Organ Pipe Cactus which sadly will not be standing much longer. The last time we took the ride in March of 2018 I listed all 18 stops, if you would be interested click here. (Side note: you do not need a four wheel or high clearance vehicle for this drive.) Today we took this ride with Doug and Yuma and if you want to see some beautiful pictures Doug's Blog, Miss Adventure Travels, has several. I did eliminated quite a few pictures but you still should be aware there are several pictures below. Most of them will not have captions because they speak for themselves.

Our first stop was the sign

to take some pictures

in front of it, of course.

We first stopped at the Visitor Center then back 

across AZ-85 and we are at the entrance of the 

Ajo Mountain Drive. 

There is a water barrel under that flag. 

Illegals do come through here.

Tom checking things out with his binoculars

and Doug taking a picture 

Organ Pipe Cactus.

Mexico in the distance.

This is a Crested Organ Pipe Cactus

I took these pictures, March 18, 2018

This is sadly what it looked like today, December 13. 2020.

I understand there is a season for everything 

but it was still sad to see.

This Saguaro looked like a bird condo.

If you enlarge the picture you will see what I mean.

Do you see what I see?

I told Doug I did not remember seeing this before but when

I looked at the blog from the last time we took this ride 

there was the same picture...lol

Ocotillo still the favorite even without the little green leaves.

Our last stop on the Ajo Mountain Drive 

the Teddy Bear Cholla.

Of all the different Cholla I

 think they are the prettiest. 

We had hoped to also take a short ride down Puerto Blanco Drive to Quitobaquito Pond. Even though we have been down this road we had somehow missed seeing it and so Doug was going to show us where it was. Unfortunately, the Road is presently closed. Instead we continued south to Lukeville and the border. You can see they are working on the wall here.

Last stop today was to show

Doug the Crested Saguaro.

If you are traveling to the Organ Pipe Cactus National 

Monument it is right near the highway on your right

just before mile marker 74.

Leaving the Monument behind Doug

going through the Border Patrol Checkpoint which was not

manned. Just cameras though there was an agent in a truck.

So today we celebrated our 51st Wedding Anniversary with a lovely ride looking at beautiful scenery. We enjoyed the day with Doug and Yuma and when we arrived back home we all agreed we were tired and to call it a day. 

Looking back over the last 51 years it hardly seems possible it has been that long.  So far we would have to say it has been a good life and we look forward to many more years together. We feel lucky to be able to say we have our health and so do our children and grandchildren. Who would have thought 51 one years ago when we got married on a day it was snowing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan we would be living our retirement dream sitting in the desert toasting to a wonderful day and sunset.

 

We would like to thank everyone for the wonderful Anniversary wishes we received on the 13th.  We appreciated every one of them. 

We are so glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.

The Ride To and From Green Valley Market and Thursday

(Clicking on the pictures will open them larger in a new window.)

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Today's goal is to visit the Green Valley Market and to check out the Green Valley area. At some point down the road, after our house in Escanaba sells, we will want to have another sticks and bricks home and we are thinking we would like that home to be in Arizona. No real plans at this time just looking. Just like when we purchased the Stinger "B" we will know when we have found the right place and the time is right. For now our home is on wheels and we are loving it.

We are headed west on AZ-82.

I think I have mentioned it a couple of times before I do love windmills.

Sonoita, we will be turning right and head north on AZ-83 here.

Another wonderful windmill.

Welcome to Sonoita.for those approaching on AZ-83 going south.

Border Patrol Stop.

I have never seen one like this before.

We are headed down

with lots of curves.

Beautiful scenery on the way down.

Just before our turn left on to Sahuarita Rd.
I am not sure anyone else will see what I see. There is only brush here.

An Ocotillo in the midst of all the Prickly Pears.

The sign says open range but there was fencing on the sides of the road.

Then we saw a Saguaro and I am smiling.

We really had thought we had seen the last of the Saguaros

when we left Tucson behind last week.

Then I saw a crested Saguaro. I usually do not enhance the pictures I take
but because this one was into the sun it was hard to make out the top of it.
Click on it to make it larger and you will see the face at the top.

Then we arrived at the Green Valley Farmers and Artisans Market. What a wonderful stop this was. Beautiful artisan's work for sale. Crafts, food, coffee, pastries, breads, fresh vegetables, plants, clothes, hats, and jewelry just to name of few of the items we saw as we walked through. Yes, some of our cash stayed there. From what I read it is held every Wednesday and if we are in the area we will be back. Thank you, Nancy, Kissack Adventures, for mentioning this place in your blog. We just wish we would have ran into you there. We were looking for you.

After visiting the Market we stopped for lunch then took a ride around the area and looked at the outside of  a couple of houses Tom had seen on the internet. We wanted to see what was available for the price we would spend and if we liked the area.

Arizona does do a nice job of decorating their overpasses

even underneath is nice.

This was on the walls at an exit we took.

One thing we found interesting, on I-19 the signs are in Kilometers not miles. 

We did stop in Tubac and went into a few shops but no purchases today.
This is the only picture we have of the stop.  

We have visited the Tumacacori National Historical Park just south of Tubac. It is a worthwhile stop but not on our agenda today.

We are turning at Nogales, AZ to connect with AZ-82 and make our way back to the Stinger "B".

A "wiggle worm" sign.

When they said there was a narrow bridge ahead they meant it.

There is no water in the Santa Cruz River.

We are on AZ-82.

We stopped at this Historical Marker-John Wade's' Ranch.
There is a close up of the plague below
if you enlarge it you can read about it there.

This was up the hill from the marker.
There is no connection.
This is the Telles Family Shrine.

The plague above the door reads: Telles Family Shrine, Begun 1941, Erected by Juanita and Juan Telles, Based on a Vow to God for the safety of their sons in war, re-dedicated November 18, 1988, The Pimeria Alta Historical Society.

Except for the statue of our Lady of Guadalupe
all the statues are damaged. Either from the
elements or deliberately there is no way to tell.
This statue just may be newer.
Yet you will notice below there is damage on the marker.

As you can see there are bullet holes in this plaque.
This is not the first time we have seen a Historical Marker damaged like this.
It is a shame that some people have such little respect for this type of thing.

We saw a lot of these wild poppies today.

Patagonia

Another Historical Marker

Camp Crittenden

When we leave here we will miss the wide openness of this area.

This grassland area is beautiful.  

 

Thursday, March 28, 2019

We started today with the thought that we would be leaving tomorrow. Since, when we leave here we will be mostly putting miles behind us there are things we wanted to accomplish while we have full hookups. After putting in a load of wash I headed into Sierra Vista to pick up some groceries and Tom said he would get the vacuuming done while I was gone. Then we talked on the phone and decided to stay until Sunday morning. So we are going to take two days and just relax before we start putting miles and the southwest behind us for this adventure. It just was not time to leave yet.

The sun setting on our day.

Today was a day of re-thinking, when we will leave, the route home, and what stops we will make. Tomorrow will be a day to sit out and enjoy the sunshine.

So glad you stopped by for a visit and hope you enjoyed the pictures.

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.