South of Ajo, Arizona, four miles north of Sonoyta, Mexico, we found these 516 square miles of Sonoran Desert. Organ Pipe National Monument - A Biosphere Reserve. The rangers like to say this is the "heart of the Sonoran Desert." It must be. We camped smack dab in the middle of thousands of saguaros, chollas, prickly pear and organ pipe cacti, along with creosote bushes and ocotillos just coming into bloom.
Because two rainy seasons occur here each year, summer and winter, the park is lush with desert vegetation.
We liked it so much we stayed one night too long. That is, we got up this morning to leave and the Pickle's battery was DEAD! Michael has always said three nights without power is our limit, but the evening before last we had driven the 4 miles south to Lukeville, AZ (border crossing to Sonoyta, Mexico) and left the engine running for a good 15 minutes while shopping in the convenience store (did it really take that long to decide between Bud Light and Corona, Michael?) We feared it wasn't long enough to give us another night, and yep, we were right. (Schultz claims that if he had remembered to disconnect the connector between the house battery and the engine battery before trying to start the engine this morning, the engine battery wouldn't have drained into the house battery. Yeah??)
Camper neighbors are friendly, especially at Organ Pipe. The '69 VW bus from New Jersey had a jumper cable and our next door solar powered Montana neighbor had a diesel truck. Together the Pickle came to life!!
Highlights of our stay at the park included a 5-mile desert hike to the remains of an old silver mine, a Honda ride on a gravelly road through a dense population of saguaro giants, two evening talks with Ranger Stalker in the campground's outdoor amphitheater (of course, one talk was "Star Stories") and sitting at the top of the Desert View trail at sunset while FaceTiming with granddaughter Lillian. She received a cactus identification lesson from Grandpa as well as a view of Mexico.
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| Ocotillo coming into bloom |
Oh, and did I mention it was warm?
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| Cholla cactus |
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| Organ Pipe cactus |
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