Wednesday trip to Ajo

   Time to come to town for groceries, a visit to the library to pick up ordered books,  a chance for R to get her hair cut, a chance to send some emails, a chance to make a few phone calls.  Cell reception is iffy in ORPI at best so we take advantage of the time when we are in areas where coverage is better.  I have a new phone and I am still learning it's features, because I don't get to use it much at ORPI.
    The library is in the town square which includes the Post office, a pottery store, a deli, a second hand store, the chamber of commerce, and a small food store.   Across the street are two churches the city hall, a bank, and a restaurant.  That's most of the downtown.  Ajo is a small town

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Do it Yourself Trailer

   On Monday my job was to "Rove" in the campground and put up the new weekly schedule on the seven bulletin boards.  While doing that I had the opportunity to visit with many of the folks who were camping with us.  Many of them were first timers who had planned to stay for a day or two and had ended up stayed amny additional days because of the serenity and beauty of the area.  The others I visited with have been coming here for many years and love this place.
   During my rove I met a couple from Port Townsend, Wa. who have retired and live, pretty simply.  The husband made their trailer.  The frame was custom made and he built the cabin from Western Red Cedar.  It was beautiful and well-made.  My photos do not do it justice, especially my blurry one, but I wanted you to see the interior.  It does have electric lights,  a sink, storage under the bed, a spot for the porta potti. and a shelf for the portable stove, if they decide to cook indoors.
   Nice people, nice conversations are the essence and rewards of roving.


 

View

Bad Day

When you think about the bad days that you have had, think of this fellow.  He has had some tough times.  But if you look at the ends of "trunk" and the arms, you will see that they are turning up.  The new growth will grow upward toward the sky and upward to life.  He continues to survive.

How to Volunteer.

   I met a newly retired couple the other day at the VC and we got to talking about life after retirement.  I mentioned volunteering as a way to travel and stay at interesting places for next to nothing and to keep your brain from turning to mush.  Two sites come to mind.
   1.  Workamper.com    for someone who want to supplement their income by getting paid for working at a gift shop in a national park, or helping out at a RV park, or even conducting tours for a concessionaire at a park (ie. the red busses at Glacier Nat Park).  The jobs and conditions are not the same, but roughly you work 40 hours for a wage and you get free or reduced camping fees and maybe other compensations.  

   2. Volunteer.gov   for voulunteer positions for Federal agencies ( National Park Service, BLM, Forest Service, Corps of Engineers, etc).  The most common position offered is campground host where you stay at a specific park and collect fees, clean campsites and bathrooms, answer questions, etc for free camping.  However, the other jobs offered are many and varied, from tours guides, park rangers, maintenance helpers, visitor center personnel, and many more.  After logging into the webpage, select a state that interests you and maybe a keyword to help with the search.  After hitting the enter key, sit back and read the paragraphs that pop up.  As you scroll down you will see something that requires further investigation, so by clicking, you can read further.  If the position sounds interesting, there will be a place to click to fill out an application and send it in.  Also there will be an email address to find out further information. 

   So if you are thinking about the volunteer life, check these sites out.

A Window

 A view of a friend on the way to Dripping Springs.

Dripping Springs Trip

The trip to Dripping Springs was great!  The weather cooperated with sun and warmth but not heat.  The group consisted of the three Interp couples and our Supervisor, Krystina, and another seasonal ranger.  After a slide show given by the park archeolgist, we hopped in the government van and proceeded out the North Poerto Blanco Road.  After eleven miles the van was parked, and we hiked up the glentle slope to the base of the mountain.  After a short climb, the spring was reached.                                                   The "water" is about 7 feet long by 3 feet wide and is over 4 feet deep.  (we know because a walking stick was immersed that deep into the pond without hitting bottom.  We spent some time discussing the spring and taking in the sights and sounds, then climbed the steep trail up to the top of the ridge above the spring for a view to the south.  Actually the views in all directions were quite nice.  It will be a place that I will want to come back to again. 





This view is looking to the northeast.  Ajo is behind the small peak to the left.

A cristate Saguaro along the road to Bates Well

This Saguaro was cause for a stop on the way to Bates Well.  Cristates are growth anomalies that occur infrequently in many types including Saguaro, Organ Pipe, Cholla and even Barrel cacti.  Notice all the mulitple brancing going on toward the top.  Also notice how the ribs do not go just straight up and down.  Instead, they seem to add and subtract folds and the folds appear to meander as they make their way up the plant.  Cristates are always fun to find and explore.

Dripping Springs

Thursday is a field trip to Dripping Springs,  a new place to explore.  I will tell you about it after we return.

Days Off

                                                      Wednesday Jan 15, 2014

   Today is Wednesday, our second day off.  Days off are fun.  It is beautiful, sunny and bright the wind of the last two days has moved on.  Yesterday, R and fellow volunteer, Vickie, went into shopping in Ajo.  Tuesday is not a good day to shop at Olsen's Grocery store.  There were no bananas or oranges. New shipments must come in on Tuesday night. 
   Below is a mural that is on the outside wall of the bakery.  "Night of the Lepus" is one of teh four movies that were filmed in Ajo.  All four are available for checkout in the Ajo library.  The mural is better than the movie.
   

   I stayed home and Jeff and I put up little white lights on the patio of the volunteer house. Now it looks festive in the evenings.  We will have them lit when we have our weekly get togther.  Everyone is invited to come and share their mealtime with each other.  A time to come together. 
    

Bates Well

Another field trip, another van ride into the "hinter lands" of the park.  The ranger staff took us interp volunteers to a place called Bates Well Ranch in the northwest section of the park an area that is open to the public but not visited very often. 


   Ranching and the National Park Service do not often agree on philosophies and such was the case with the Gray family.  But they maintained several ranches in what became within the park boundries for many years after the national monument was formed in 1937.  (Until 1976 as a matter of fact)  It is now part of the history of this unique place/

Tuesday Jan 7,2014

What a great day!  The three couples who are the interp (interpretive) volunteers took the van and did the AMD (Ajo Mountain Drive).  The purpose was to familiarize, or in our case, refamiliarize ourselves with the flora, fuana, and just generally, the area so that when we start leading AMD trips we will be prepared.  The van tours and other programs start next week and I am excited to be "getting underway".  Our first evening program is scheduled for Friday Jan. 24th.  We will be ready, more of less.  :)
   Getting back to our day, the six of us jumped in the van and headed up the AMD.  The schedule had us leaving at 9 and returning in time for lunch.  Well, we got back to the VC about 3pm!  We were busy talking and learning from each other.  We took a couple of short hikes; a mile or so up Arch Canyon, ( made me want to return and go further) and a half mile up the Bull Meadow trail.  The weather cooperated and gave us sun and temps in the 60's. 
   We learned so much more from the conversation and interaction than we would have ever learned reading a book about this desert.  Tomorrow the group goes on a field trip to Bates Well and Alamo Canyon.  I will not forget my camera this time.

   

Sunday Afternoon in the sun

I stepped out the door of the volunteer building and took this photo at 2:53 pm January 5, 2014.  I hope you enjow the view.

Back on the Adventure

Here it is January 5th, 2014.  It has been a while since I have been at the keyboard.  I will catch you up.

Left Canby on Thursday Dec. 26th.  Fueled in Eugene, Up over Willamette Pass.  No snow but worries of black ice meant that the trucks were out throwing pumice on the wet road.  Our rig covered with it by the time we reached the summit.  The weather was too cold to rinse it off, so the truck and trailer stayed dirty for the remainder the the journey.  Half of the trailer is still untouched.'
   Had a great time with J & T in Klamath Falls and left Friday morning.  Arrived in Reno about 3:30 pm.  Had great conversation and food with our friends there.  Left Reno on Saturday morning, traveling thru Fallon, lunch in Hawthorne, supper in Vegas, and on to Cal-Nev-Ari where we found a RV park for the night.  Only pulled out the bedroom slide because that was all we wanted to do.  Sunday, we headed south, into California and turned east into Parker, got some groceries, and onto Quartzsite.  There we found our friends Bob and Betty in their usual spot in La Posa South.  Parked our trailer on the desert near them and relaxed.  we were able to pull out all three slides and actually put away many of the items we had not packed before we left Oregon.  It helped to have things put away, or mostly out away.
   Monday, New Years Eve day, we drove the rest of the way to ORPI.  Stopped in Buckeye for a few items.  Arrived at the VC at about 3:15, checked in, said hello, and drove to the VIP campground to set up.  Met our new neighbors, chatted for a few minutes before I backed into our spot.  Everybody was watching, but I did it well enough that I did not provide them with much intertainment.  The spot is pretty close to the volunteer building, which is what we like.  The door of the trailer faces west which is not what I would prefer, but otherwise the site is fine.  The views of cacti out our windows are great.  The cell coverage still is lousy.  WiFi is iffy, but otherwise life is good.