Snapshots: Arizona Part One

I think I'll do this in two stages, given the number of photos I have. A disproportionate number of those seem to be of the children eating. I suppose that isn't surprising, given that was the only time they really sat still. I mean, they spent as much time as possible swimming in various pools, but I don't have any pictures of that because I was too busy making sure no one drowned.

Anyway! Here we go!

First lunch break in a very nice town called Bosque Farms, in New Mexico.

The drive to Tucson can be done in one very long day from our house, but we always opt to lessen the pain and stop one night to camp along the way. A.'s plan had been to camp in the Chiricahua Mountains, but gathering clouds and van-weary children resulted instead in stopping for the night in Hachita, New Mexico. 

There are about 35 residents left in Hachita, a village about 40 miles from the Mexican border. It was very like our own mostly-abandoned villages at home, as a matter of fact.

Dirt roads and abandoned adobe houses? Feels like home.

The stone church built by the town's residents was of great interest to A. the Stone Mason.

Unfortunately, the inside is mostly gutted, but this building will stand another two hundred years. Stone endures.

While we were walking around, A. saw a sign in the window of the community center (formerly the Mercantile) that it was available for indoor camping. 

So he went down to the Hachita Food Mart (a teeny convenience store) and got the key and we stayed there. There was a visitors' log book in there, from which we deduced that a surprising number of people stay there. The Continental Divide Trail (a hiking trail that spans the U.S. from north to south) starts just south of Hachita, and it appears to be a popular area for international cyclists. 

As I showed you before, I got the one cot that was inside the building, and everyone else camped on the carpeted stage. Unfortunately, there were no windows that could be opened, and no air conditioning, so it was quite hot and stuffy. Also, the border patrol stopped around 2 a.m. and spotlighted our van--and thus, the entire building behind it--because they were chasing someone up and down the main road that leads to Mexico. A giant van parked near the Mexican border is always going to attract the attention of the border patrol.

So not a lot of sleep, but we were up nice and early and back on the road. Due to our early start, we were passing through Tombstone, Arizona, in the relatively early morning before it got hot. Jack is really into the Old West gunfighters at the moment, so of course we had to stop in Tombstone.

Tombstone is sort of like Disneyland with a western theme, so the kids liked it.

We walked up the main pedestrian street for a few minutes.

And then A. stayed with the dogs in the van with the air conditioner running while I brought the kids into the old courthouse/museum.

The boys of course were fascinated by the gallows, with this cage right next to it.

Although they liked Tombstone, they were very ready to be in Tucson, so we continued on and arrived around lunchtime.

The first thing we did was set the dogs up in their doggie refrigerator.

Otherwise known as my parents' air conditioned exercise room.

All of Arizona was under an extreme heat advisory the whole time we were there, and the temperatures well over 100 degrees meant that the dogs spent almost all their time sleeping in their crates in this room. They were perfectly happy with this.

I did take them for a walk every morning before the sun was actually over the mountains, when it was a refreshing 75 degrees and they could be outside without looking as if they were going to die.

Our Morning Walk road looked like this to start from my parents' house, although just at the end of the visible street was a dirt road leading to some new house sites. That's where I took them every morning. 

Those walks were always interesting, if not relaxing. The dogs were on high alert, and so was I. We saw javelina (known as peccaries elsewhere, they look like wild boar and are all over my parents' neighborhood in the foothills of the mountains); lots of rabbits; a few mule deer; and quite a few cars, landscapers, workmen, and other things that required me to keep the dogs under control. They were very good and stayed with me, but I think they found it a bit stressful.

Incidentally, I am very grateful to have highly intelligent dogs who know better than to chase down vehicles or go racing off through the cactus after rabbits. These dogs have still never been on leashes, and knowing they won't unintentionally get stuck full of cactus thorns or get run over is sort of essential. They come back when they're called, so I have to be very aware of our surroundings and keep them close, but they do stay with me.

There were ripe grapefruits all over the trees at A.'s dad's place. A. was shinnying up trees in the apartment complex so I could juice the grapefruits and we could all have fresh grapefruit juice. I did the juicing outside on my parents' patio in the early mornings, so as not to make a mess inside and to hang out with the dogs for awhile before they returned to their refrigerator crates for their daylong naps.

I must've juiced a total of two dozen grapefruits over the course of a few days for at least two gallons of juice. It was great.

I couldn't go a whole week without processing some sort of food, could I? Obviously not.

The children got to have their breakfast up on my parents' roof-porch a few mornings before it got really hot.

Breakfast with a view.

The spiral staircase that leads to this roof is one of the most fun things for the kids, although I must admit I find it a little nervewracking.

A bit dizzying, too.

I think we'll stop there with the first installment of snapshots. To be continued . . .