Run for the Border

We decided to make a run for the border, specifically the Organ Pipes National Monument.  The monument shares its 31 mile southern border with Mexico. The border crossing at Lukeville must be very popular because highway 85 which cuts through the monument and continues on to the Mexican border town of Sonoyta is a very busy road.  The border patrol has a very strong presence in the area.  Despite the signs, warnings and border patrol presence we felt perfectly safe during our visit.

The monument is a prime example of the Sonoran desert.  We were surrounded by organ pipe cactus and saguaros, with an abundance of ocotillos, teddybear chollos, creosote bushes, mesquite, and plenty of other prickly plants to keep you on your toes when hiking in the area.

Many of the plants were blooming providing an unexpected pop of color in the otherwise very green desert.

 

We even found Mickey Mouse disguised as a saguaro waving at us.

 The dead organ cactus reminded early settlers of church pipe organs and so they called these cacti organ pipes.

 

 

The campground at the monument is very developed with over 200 pull through sites, very nice bathrooms and a dump station.  What it does not have is hookups.  It was very warm (in the high 90s) and for some reason they have very bizarre generator hours, 8-10am and 4-6pm.  Not sure why the hours were so restricted, but they mean it.  We had the campground host knocking on our door at  6:08 telling us to turn off the generator, which meant no more air conditioning.  Bill was not a happy camper.

The next morning we headed north the the small town of Ajo.  From 1854 to 1984 Ajo was a mining town.  During the early 1900s the "City Beautiful Movement", a response to the squalor and overcrowding of most U.S. cities and major labor unrest prompted  John Campbell Greenway, the mine manager, to hire a Minnesota firm to design a town that would keep his workers content and productive.  The resulting town is a beautiful example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style with a town square surrounded by a park, mission churches and southwest style buildings.

 

Since the mine closed, Ajo is reinventing itself as an artist community.  The high school built in 1919, which is on the National Registry of Historic Buildings has been renovated into low income apartments and work studios to attract artists to the community.

Curley high school

 

We arrived in the middle of the Ajo Street Art Project.  A group of young artist were transforming an alley behind the town square.  It was fascinating to watch the artists at work and view the various stages of the murals.

In the town square there was an exhibit of shoes from illegal aliens found in the local desert.  It was a fascinating exhibit highlighting the challenge of controlling illegal immigration verses the humanitarian need to aid those people in true distress in the desert.

 My 3 Fun Facts for today:

     1.  The organ pipe cactus produces its first flowers at around 35 years.
     2.  The organ pipe cactus may live 150 years.
     3.  The Curley High School had a ghost which resided in a broom closet until 2007 when the building was renovated.