From Casa Grande, we met Sheila and Chuck for a few days on Darby Wells Road – the trail that circles around the mine at Ajo.
Fred, Chuck and Sheila went out exploring the road and found this interesting Cemetery they said was Mexican.
We had been told about a place in Sells, (the centre of the Tohono O’odham Nation) that served traditional Tohono O’odham food and finally found the Desert Rain Cafe. As Betty said “Every item on the menu has at least one ingredient which has been part of the traditional Tohono O'odham culture. Hummus made using tepary beans, agave used as sweetener. My favourites were the dark tepary bean hummus and the Cholla bud Salsa: Fred liked the Prickly Pear salad dressing. Different and delicious.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
We took the van tour again. This time our guide was Sardius – otherwise known as Ranger Rick because nobody could pronounce his name, His passion is the cacti and he managed to find ever so many anomalies for us to o-o-o-o and aw-aw-aw over.
There is an abundance of cacti up around Ajo and the mine but there was little other vegetation and therefore, wild-life or birds. I think I like the Why area better though.
Our Love-Hate Relationship with Yuma
We have an interesting Love/Hate relationship with Yuma: we keep going back and we keep leaving!
Mostly, we are drawn there by the best winter weather in the US Southwest; some exceptionally good friends; an easy trip to Algodones, Mexico; good shopping; and an Escapees Co-op Park that offers good spaces, good laundry; good people and a great hot tub.
On the other hand, we have been there so often and toured the area so much, there is not much new to find. As Sheila says, we’ve just seen too much. So, after we spend good quality time with friends; do our Algodones thing; shop ourselves out (or run out of space-whichever comes first); and spent too much time in the casinos; we are ready to leave the city.
Well, the four of us (Sheila, Chuck, Fred and me) headed off to California and Ogilby Road.
And we thought we had done our visiting!!
First we got a phone call from Don and Jan saying that Jan had fallen and broke her ankle so we wanted to visit them while they were still around. Then Stan and Tracy, a couple we met at the RV Lifestyle Seminars in Kelowna some eight or nine years ago – then they came out. Then an email from Colleen and Marc, new RVers we first met in Casa Grande a month or so ago; then Judy and Terry emailed that they were coming out!!
Busy, busy busy – it’s tough to have quality time with so much company and it’s nice to have friends that you can tell that you just can’t take so many people all at one time and they understand and are not offended!
While we were out there, Chuck and Sheila got the sad news that a friend of theirs had been killed in an ATV accident near Florence, AZ.
We consoled ourselves by finding one of the finest Mexican buffets I have experienced. We did a day trip up towards Indio, CA did a bit of casino hopping and came back pleased; stuffed; and readily comforted.
Our rule-of-thumb (when we are dry camping) is to move when the waste tanks are full and that usually takes around 7 to 10 days - Our next move was back to Casa Grande for a massive clean-up; re-energize; and re-stocking.
So now we are back at Why and feeling somewhat liberated. We’ve only been here for a couple of days and Fred has been out taking pictures and I have been working on this post and enjoying watching the birds and little wild things.
