The Alamo Canyon Trail

Good luck to any illegal trying to cross this most inhospitable territory of vicious cactus especially the Cholla (bottom photo) which punctures your clothes and skin as I found out to my demise and horror! Illegals follow "social trails" which are not at all like the easier hiking trails we tramp. In addition there are rattlesnakes, coyotes and other threats waiting including border patrol agents on ATV's. Note third pix is the park namesake Organ Pipe Cactus.

Mini SW Adventure Reunion

Organ Pipe Cactus NM time for a SWAD 2016 Reunion in Ajo AZ Saturday morning Farmers Market expedition and lunch at Estrella! With Bob Martel, Lisa Sessa, Margaret Broad, David Broad, and Charlene (non-SWAD)..... Randy and Xan Rinehart left for Yuma for repairs... we all go our separate ways on Sunday..... great crossing paths and sharing activities with friends from past caravans!

The big hole in Ajo....

Millions of years ago this area used to be the core of a molten volcano and as luck would have it the magna was rich in copper and precious metals. Discovered in the 1920's, the New Cornelia Mine took about 60 years to dig out and extract 6 billion pounds of copper leaving a pit 1-1/2 mile wide and 1,100 feet deep, and required 300 miles of railway track to access the crater! Since its closure it's now become viable to reprocess the byproducts of the original refining process which cover a vast area (whitish on the satellite map), so large, that it is one of the only three visible man made objects from space!

Costco pit stop

Long enough in Tucson to pick up asparagus and prosciutto at Costco! Few days later we wrap the asparagus and pop in oven for 30 minutes... delish hors d'oeuvres for our cocktail hour with traveling companions at Organ Pipe Cactus NM...

Organ Pipe Cactus NN

Loved our campsite in OPCNM surrounded by massive Saguaro Cactus with their weird arms! No campground services, just pull in those sun solar rays that generate 100 aH a day and a Honda generator - converted to propane - to fill in for espresso power and microwave blasts. Camping!!

Victoria Mine Trail

Just a four mile round trip hike in the Arizona desert to the abandoned mine starting at 10 am before the heat builds up! Five of us, Bob and Lisa, Charlene, David and Margaret! All returned safely and well exercised!

La Posta, Mesilla, New Mexico

Dinner at La Posta in Mesilla near Las Cruces! For more than a century and a half, these adobe walls have withstood the attack of elements and man, sheltering such personalities as Billy the Kid, Kit Carson, General Douglas MacArthur and Pancho Villa. A roaring Wild West town during the late 1800's, Mesilla was the largest town in the Southwest between San Diego, California and San Antonio, Texas. I'm enjoying the beef fajitas dish which I could not finish... so good!! One comical thing they say about New Mexico.... it's not New and it's not Mexico!!

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Abandoned Airstreams

Marfa Texas is an artsy eclectic town close to the Mexican border. Lots of public artwork of an unusual nature and amongst it all several Airstream in various states of disrepair! Lots of restoration dreams and future fantastical hopes when you speak to the owners! The lower AS currently has an active bee colony making an inside visit positively deadly!

Great Church Gates

Evangelical Covenant Faith Alive Cowboy Church has an impressive set of gates - seen in Marfa Texas....

Donald Judd

Concrete boxes in the desert at Marfa, part of a group of 20 exhibits by Donald Judd and his Chinati Foundation....

Another day in Texas....

What a very different day! Drove through Big Bend SP along the Rio Grande, found these teepees for a lunch stop, went to an art installation in Marfa, had a great dinner at a local restaurant, found about 10 of these sculptures arrayed in a field next to our campground. And this is west Texas!

Tumble In Tubular Art

A semicircle of a dozen steel metal tubes faces in the direction of the mystic lights in Marfa Texas. At night unique designs appear through a cut out on each tube to reveal alien like outlines. Looks like recently installed artwork based on previous satellite images and no info published about this new Marfa site. First two pix in morning light, last two at night in portrait mode.

Coyote looking for breakfast!

Whiley coyote or prairie wolf is on the prowl for breakfast as we head up to Panther Junction this morning....

Lunch trip to Mexico!

Birthday celebrations always last longer than a day! So for day 2 we took a midday trip across the Rio Grande river border by John boat and a mile long burro ride to the local restaurant in Boquillas for a lunch time treat... I felt sorry for Goldie my burro especially after lunch... Margaret's burro Lopez fared a much lighter load...

Balanced Rock!

Valentine Birthday!

Posing Margaret under a delicately balanced rock was not the most appropriate wish for many more happy Valentine ❤️ birthdays to come! However the hiking trail in Grapevine Hills was pretty interesting as it weaved between jaggy crests and finally rise up to the peak where we found "Balanced Rock", the geological gem at the end of the trail... rare cell phone reception was a bonus in the vast dead zone of environmental and electronic wilderness.

A short ride over the Chisos Mountains

A short ride over the Chisos Mountains at Big Bend Texas

Roadrunner!

He really does live up to his name! So funny to watch them run, stop and start, and scurry across the road! Desert amusement!

Santa Elena Canyon

The Rio Grande river takes a sharp turn and cuts through the Mesa de Anguilla to form a stunning river canyon with 1500 ft walls on either side of the border. This is the perfect border wall! Does a splendid job of stopping the gringos from heading south!... and it didn't cost a dime! Just beware the 14 ft storm runoff surge that sweeps through occasionally!

Hot Springs on the Rio Grande

The Rio Grande river is the border between US/Texas and Mexico and usually has low water flow which makes it very easy to wade across or jump across using shallow stepping stones. Mexican street vendors come over every day and set up their market on the hiking trails on our side of the border. This hot spring sits right on the Texas riverbank so you can bath in the 100 degree spring and turn around and cool off in the river.

The US border wall!

This is a pretty effective barrier along the Rio Grande to entry into the USA! About 50 ft high sheer limestone cliff with a 100 miles of vicious cactus and rattlesnakes stretching out behind it! There are easier ways! No modern constructed wall needed in this section of the border....

The Texas Oil Kingdom...

Everywhere we traveled along the Gulf Coast is oil intensive - from Houston to Galveston, through Port Aransas to Corpus Christi we encounter oil rigs, refineries, servicing ships. The oil rig museum in Galveston gives you a close up tour of the Ocean Star rig operations and drilling platform plus loads of technical info about oil exploration. A huge investment and very high tech!

Use your imagination!

Imagine this sunset over the beach, just steps apart...Port Aransas on Mustang Island boasts 18 miles of shoreline and this gorgeous beach. We'll get a beach permit for the truck next time! This time we walked, checking out the fishermen. This was ground zero for Hurricane Harvey. Mounds of debris line many roads and they project another year for recovery of many buildings and businesses. On the Beach RV was full after we arrived. Lucky find!

Airstreams love ferries!

What could be better than arriving on a Texas gulf island by free ferry?

Smolik’s BBQ Mathis TX

Another yummy breakfast / early lunch at one of Texas' award winning smoke pit! Thanks JT for the research!! Brisket and pork ribs with creamed corn and onion rings... got a lb of brisket and half bbq chicken to go! Wilderness in the National Park beckons for the next two weeks so we stocked up with treats!! db

Killen’s BBQ

From the moment you walk in until the satisfied time you leave Killen's is life total perfection. Lining up and mentally drooling under the blackboard with all the delights and do watch for the easy to miss specials board on the floor to your left, chatting with the first chef who chops up your favorite bbq, sliced brisket or turkey or ribs and preps it to your specification and passes the dish to the second serving bay where sides are added - more decisions! Pay up and get drinks and then find a table and start your feast! I ordered a lb of sausages to go, two beef links and two pork links. Enjoyed fatty tender brisket, a short slab of ribs, fries, creamed corn and baked beans. Margaret had pulled pork and coke slaw. Just perfect! After our meal I wandered around back where I could see smoke rising and was lucky to have a tour of the smokers, 3 to 4 hours for ribs and breast, up to 14 hours for a butt. Smoke provided by a mix of oak, mesquite, pecan and a couple of other varieties! One of the best late lunch stops or early dinner stops at 3 pm when the queue and wait time is manageable! A must visit bbq spectacular!