Saturday, March 8, 2008
Desert boondocking near Ajo, AZ: Feb 13-17
We planned our Benson departure to allow us to join up with an encampment of Escapee Boondockers in a beautiful locale near this southwest AZ town. This is the 2nd time we have enjoyed company with them here. We actually were here only for the 2nd week of a 2-week stay. Our friend Bill Garmire arrived shortly after we did -- it was good to see him again.
The evening that we arrived there was a program on Dine/Navajo Code Talkers at the local library, given by Dr Laura Tohe, a professor of English (her second language!) at ASU, whose father was a Code Talker. He did not tell his family until the late 60s, shortly before his death. The talk was fascinating, inspiring, and a little saddening.
Another outing was an afternoon excursion to the Cabeza Prieta NWR to watch the sun set. The 860,000-acre NWR (larger than Rhode Island) was set aside in 1939 to preserve desert bighorn sheep habitat. It shares 56 miles of its boundary with Mexico, which is the subject of quite a controversy between Homeland Security & environmentalists. We felt none of that as we watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon in almost total silence, broken only by the occasional chatter of birds. 
The section that was open for the sunset is only open to the public for 6-8 days a year, since it is located near strategic parts of the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range.# posted by Doug and Willie @ 7:57 PM 
