AND THE WAITER WAS PACKING A GUN!!

SATURDAY FEB 30/08
http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

The guy who served us breakfast this morning was wearing a gun. Yup, it's true!!

The days & nights are getting warmer & the last two nights we didn't have to turn our Blue Flame propane heater on. I even put on a short sleeve summer shirt finally. We didn't go to far on our morning walk because we wanted to take a drive over to some BLM lands about 3 miles from here & scout out a boondocking site for to-morrow. We were planning on moving to the Darby Wells area west of Ajo but I think we'll head out in the morning & set up camp at the area closer to Hickiwan for the week. That way we can still pop in & help Ray out with the computer stuff if he needs it. He successfully installed the Wifi antennae to-day which will cover the whole park. Only remaining glitch is figuring out why the website is taking so long to appear on the web. We'll probably go to Darby Wells next week.

There is lots of room in the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lands with other rigs scattered about here & there. Not as scenic as Darby Wells but a nice area just the same & people have been boondocking there for years. It's 2 miles south of Why at mile marker 55 on the west side. We'll be sooooooooooooooo happy to be out in the desert again where the dogs can run free & we can leave the doors & windows wide open for the birds & bats to fly in & out:)) Might even have a lizard or two in for afternoon coffee. Nothing like waking up in the morning with a couple of tumbling tumbleweeds tangled up in your socks. Ya just gotta love it!!

On the way back from the BLM scouting trip we made a snap decision to drop into a little Cafe we had been meaning to try out in Why. Three RV rigs parked outside & a few cars. Well, the Cafe was kind of a typical little small western town kind of place. (OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy)
Sorta sparse looking inside & the windows were crying out for a couple gallons of Windex but there were about a dozen people there so we figured we would give it a whirl. A young fella with a big Arizona cowboy hat about 2 sizes to big for him arrived at our table with menus. The cowboy hat wasn't the only piece of western ware this guy was wearing though. Besides the well worn dusty cowboy boots he was also packing a gun under his green T-shirt. We heard the couple behind us inquire about the visible gun barrel & he told them that he owned the Cafe & had a lot of cash in the register. Told them 2 illegal Mexican aliens had held the lady next door at knife point while they ransacked her house, so he wasn't taking any chances. And he was serious too!! I figured this must have just happened recently so the next time he came to our table I asked him when that incident had occurred & he said about two & a half years ago. Ooookay, I thought. I was his age once & any excuse to wear a big cowboy hat, dusty boots, & a real gun & holster would have been totally super in my world too. Yep, I understood this guy real good:)) I did take some candid pictures of him & in one you can see part of the gun & holster sticking out of his T-shirt at the back. (OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy) Anyway, thought it was kinda neat in a way. Oh, by the way, the breakfast was great & I even took a picture of it. Would I go back.......you bet!!) I like cowboys with oversized hats & real 6 shooters:)) Well, it's the real west ain't it!!


Not much doing for the rest of the day but for the first time since leaving home in October we actually flipped on the air conditioner for awhile this afternoon & also had a fan going. Weatherman says it's going to be even hotter to-morrow. WOW!!

Because of the warmer night air we were invigorated enough to jump on our bicycles after supper & go roaring out into the twilight desert. Hadn't gone far when Kelly tried to shift gears & her chain came off. These ka-zillion million geared bicycles are a real complicated mass of multiple sprockets, chains, de-railers, mosmagators, & so on. After looking at the limp & jammed up chain I immediately figured it was the end of the world & we might as well throw the bicycle on the junk pile & walk home.............but, we always have an ace up our sleeve in these dilemmas. Kelly!! Without further ado, complaining, or listening to my doom & gloom junk pile idea, she patiently set to work getting the chain back onto one of the sprockets. I helped out a little bit & within minutes we/she had the problem resolved & we were up to warp speed across the desert floor again. Because I always carry my camera everywhere we were able to get a few nice sundown pictures before weaving our way back to the park in the dark amongst the saguaros, chollas, mesquite's & creosote bushes. (OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy) I've always had excellent night vision so we made the quarter mile bumpy ride back to the park without getting ourselves pin cushioned to a cactus in the dark. Noticed some fellow RV'ers had a campfire going & we heard the strumming of a guitar. A beautiful crescent moon hanging over the warming desert floor made for more great Hickiwan memories to take home with us once again this year:)))))))))

WE'RE STILL AT HICKIWAN TRAILS

FRIDAY FEB 8/08 http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

They say a rolling stone gathers no moss but I'm beginning to feel a little mossy. We were hoping to have the wheels rolling this week but looks like we'll be here a few more days. We're still waiting for the Hickiwan website registration process to finish so we can make sure the website is up on the web & everything is running OK.

We are going to have to start keeping an eye on the calendar now because it is the third quarter of our travels & I can sense the vacation days beginning to wind down. Before this week it still seemed like we had endless days ahead of us but a month from now we will likely be starting the last long leg of our journey home to Canada from somewhere in New Mexico. Probably only have a couple more weeks in Arizona left before heading east to Columbus in southern New Mexico. (subject to change) From there it's up to Truth or Consequences to visit Kelly's sister & husband who are full time RV'ers working 3 months at River Bend Hot Springs. That will be our last stop before we make a bee line for home................. depending on weather conditions of course:((

To-day was a quiet day. Took our usual beautiful morning desert walk & this afternoon I helped Ray's brother-in-law set himself up a blogger account. Other than that, all was quiet on the RV front.

In yesterday's blog I had mentioned about meeting some fellow RV bloggers along the way. Kelly had a coincidental meeting with Froggi Donna a few days ago in Ajo. Kelly first came across Froggi Donna's blog last fall when Froggi D had posted a blog about vehicles she had owned. I noticed that I had once owned the same kind of vehicle. Might have been a Vauxhaul or something unusual like that. I put a comment on her blog & she answered. Froggi D also has a motorcycle & so do we & since then we have kept tabs on each other's blogs. A lot of the people who have dropped in our blog has come from Froggi Donna's site. Froggi Donna came to Quartzsite when we were there but we she had a very heavy schedule with the Escapee's Club & we didn't get a chance to meet her. A week ago she arrived in Ajo & was camped out in the desert with the boondockers. Kelly was in Ajo getting groceries when she noticed a familiar looking rig at a gas station filling up with propane. She wheeled in & sure enough it was Froggi Donna. Kelly had recognized Froggi D's rig from the pictures on her website. Kind of nice when things happen that way. You can find Froggi Donna at, http://myprimeyears.com/lilypad/
Drop into her website, say hello, & tell her the Bayfield Bunch sent you:))
The folks we met yesterday here at Hickiwan are Sandra & Gordon & their website is http://srmerrikinblog.blogspot.com/ Some people have commented on my photos from time to time but they pale in comparison to Gordons. Scroll down the right side of the blog & find "Sites to See." Look for "Gordon's Photos." Now, that is photography!!

We had a rare visitor to-day. A small blonde haired boy by the name of Zak wandered by & wondered if he could come in & see the dogs. We said ok so in he came & I took some pictures of him holding onto little Cora. I think he looks like Dennis the Menace. And if he was Dennis the Menace, I sure would make a good Mr. Wilson!!

Beautiful crescent moon to-night hanging low in the western sky...........................

EL PANCHO RE-VISITED

THURSDAY FEB 7/08
A few days ago we had come across a large Saguaro cactus that we named El Pancho. Took a picture of Kelly standing beside it but didn't include the whole cactus. A friend in Kitchener wondered if we could take a photo of the complete cactus, so that was our mission this morning........find El Pancho!! Not as easy as it sounds in a flat landscape with many Saguaros but after a bit of searching we finally re-located it. Took some pics of Kelly & Checkers beside him. We have seen taller Saguaros in Organ Pipe Nat'l Park but we've never seen one with as fat an arm as El Pancho. Maybe we should have called him, El Popeye!!

I don't have a lot to write about to-day. Spent a big part of the afternoon on the computer stuff again. We're disappointed that the registration process of the Hickiwan website is taking so long. Ray put up the tall Wifi aerial late this afternoon so now most of the park is Wifi covered. Met a couple of blog mates when they checked into the park to-day with their truck & fifth wheel. Blog mates are simply people who kind of keep tabs on each others blogs & sometimes are actually in the same place at the same time. And so to-day, we met Sandra & Gordon:))

The American Air Force is busy to-night. A lot of twinkling little stars moving around the sky & sounds of jet engines. Two very bright yellow flares caught my eye low on the western horizon. They hung in the sky with hardly any perceptible movement but with the binoculars I could see the spiraling smoke trails. Then, 2 more flares, & then 2 more as the first 2 flickered out. Hard to tell the distance but they were west of Why, Az. Might be border patrol flares to light up the desert floor but I couldn't see any helicopter lights. Also could be flares from Air Force planes because the large Barry M. Goldwater training range is in that direction. The Arizona night sky is a busy place!!

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-NIGHT

A neighbor in Bayfield Ontario, Canada sent us this photo to-day of Lake Huron where we live.

Sure glad we're here & not there:))

THE DESERT STONEMAN

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 6/08
Another great thing about the southwest's deserts & mountains is the abundance of rocks, lots of rocks. A rock hounder's paradise. Rocks, rocks, everywhere. Lava, quartz, granite, shale, & limestone just to mention a few. Of particular interest in this neck of the woods is the much prized desert rose chalcedony which is a small white quartz rock. Kelly has found 4 so far & all of them right here at Hickiwan Trails. One of the 4 is perfectly formed.
This morning we set out scanning the desert floor for desert rose quartz to the east of the park. Our hike took us around a rocky ridge & into our favorite walking place, Valley of the Saguaro. (that's the name we gave it) This is a beautifully serene little valley lush with prickly pair cactus, numerous chainfruit cholla, hundreds of tall Saguaros, organ pipe cactus, palo verde trees, mesquite trees, & quartz rocks. Many beautiful pieces of white quartz scattered about. We didn't find any desert rose pieces but we did bring back a bunch of quartz pieces that I later took a picture of. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy I'm sure the desert rose pieces are here because I don't think there have been a lot of people in this little valley. We also heard donkeys braying on the far side of the valley. When we were here in December of last year I bicycled over here one day & took a bunch of moody mountain pictures of the Ajo mountain range on an overcast & storm tossed day. Those photos can be seen in our web album for Dec 10th, 11th, & 12th. of 07. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy
There was something else we found here in the valley last December & this morning we came across it again.......The desert stoneman. He hadn't moved since the last time we saw him & I hope he will be here the next time we come. You can see him in to-days album pictures.
Checkers got herself into a pile of cholla prickers so we had to stop & gingerly get her all unstuck. Cora had some in her paws as well & Kelly had to carefully remove them despite Cora's obvious objections. Nasty things, those prickers. I had one stuck to my shoe the other day.
As we left the Valley of the Saguaros this morning I knew it would be our last walk there for a long time. To me, it's a very special little valley & I'm allready looking forward to returning someday.

The afternoon was spent on computer stuff again. Put Google Earth & Mapquest on the park's computer this afternoon & worked on the Picasa Web Album. Kelly wrestled with some connection problems between Outlook Express & Hughesnet. Ray went into Ajo & purchased a larger Wifi antennae that he will put up atop his office. We're hopeful this will be enough for the Wifi signal to reach the farthest reaches of the park. Still a few bugs to iron out getting the site onto the web. Checked a few minutes ago but Google hasn't picked it up yet. The Hickiwan Trails RV Park's website will be...............
hickiwantrailsrvpark.com
The site isn't totally finished but it is at a point where it can be on the web. I can continue to work on it from our own computer here in the rig so that will be a big help.

We hope to get down to Organ Pipe again shortly to do the second hike on the Ajo loop drive so maybe in the next couple of days we can take a break from this computer stuff & get ourselves into some WOW country again:))))) That would be nice.

WE FOUND THE ELUSIVE DONKEY GANG

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5/08
I was optimistic this morning as I snapped a 135mm telephoto zoom lens onto my camera. We still had donkeys on our minds from the night before & I had a feeling we might have a remote chance of finding the burrows this morning. Didn't find any donkey suits to wear but figured I always have my jack-ass suite on anyway so our chances would be good.........And they were!! Within minutes of leaving the rig we heard the tell tale sound of a braying donkey far off out in the desert. We headed in the general direction when we noticed Max sniffing the air with his ears pointed straight up. We were down wind from the herd & he had picked up the scent. From that point on we just followed Max at a brisk walk for about 20 minutes. We could occasionally here the donkeys but despite stopping & scanning, we couldn't see anything. There was a tall rock outcropping with a tree on top quite a way ahead of us (I put an Inukshuk up there last year) & we headed for that. The sounds told us we were getting closer so we kept our eyes focused on the desert floor. Problem was, we were focused on the desert floor.......and not the hill. I first noticed a speck of white on the hill which at first I dismissed as the morning sun glinting on a rock. Noticed a few other irregularities about the hill so decided to keep an eye on it. While moving forward & throwing periodic glances at the hill........one of the white specs moved. Ahaaaaaa!! We had finally found the elusive wild donkey gang. Took a picture from where we were http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy & then as we closed in on the hill & the donkeys began to move I took more photos. Little Cora was going bananas & ran straight for the herd barking. Max backed off & dropped way behind us fearing what was ahead. Checkers just laid down & said, donkeys schmonkys, who cares. The growing number of burrows came down off the hill & defiantly began to slowly retreat around to the other side. I didn't try & get too close to them because I didn't want to disrupt the herd. We counted about a dozen animals & while I was taking some pictures, Kelly hollered over that there was another herd about a quarter mile to my right, watching. Got a couple shots off of those guys before they melted into the desert landscape. Meanwhile little Cora was still determined she was going to take a couple rounds out of the whole herd so Kelly had to catch & hold her. She wiggled & squiggled but Kelly held on tight & carried her back a few hundred yards. Took a few more pictures before standing quiet & savoring the moment. Not something you see everyday & we had been really hoping to see the donkeys on this trip, and now, there they were, just a few hundred yards ahead of me. I whispered a quiet thank-you to my new donkey friends before turning & walking back to where Kelly, Cora, & Checkers were waiting. Max was still hiding behind a Palo Verde tree quite a distance back. All & all it was a nice feeling as we made our way back across the desert floor heading to the rig nearly a mile away:))

We alternated with Ray's computer in the afternoon & thanks to Kelly's patience & perseverance the whole system is now up & running. Wifi & all. Kelly did a lot of trouble shooting & finally figured out where the bugs were hiding between the computer, modem, router, & wireless network adaptor. She finally got them all communicating properly with each other. The park now has Wifi. The signal distance at the moment is about 500 feet but Ray has a large outdoor antennae ordered which should be here in 2 days, which when installed will reach to the farthest ends of the park. We were all so happy that at last we could see light at the end of the tunnel. The website is published & still in the registration process but we're hoping the Google search engines will pick it up shortly & spread it across the web. I'll post the website address as soon as I see the site on the net.

A good day all the way around.
P.S. The web album to-night is full of donkeys....I hope they don't leave a mess in there:))))

A LOOK AT HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK

MONDAY FEBRUARY 4/08
We awoke to the sound of rain on the roof around 5 in the morning & that meant a pajama scramble outside to fold up the wood tables, get a big bag of dog food inside, fold up the lawn chairs, & get the bicycles covered up. And all done on cold wet cement in bare feet......Aw yes, the joys of the RV lifestyle.

The rain continued until about 10 so we missed our early morning daily desert doggy walk. Big puddles, threatening skies, & brisk cold winds seemed the order of the day. While Kelly was working on Ray's computer I took Max for a walk in the desert. The other two furry heads were snoozing so I didn't bother them. We had only gone about a quarter mile when I heard a little "pop" on my hat. Then a few more pop, pop, pops. Small white things were bouncing off the ground....hail!! Didn't last long & there wasn't much of it, but for about 10 seconds we had hail in the desert.

Both Kelly & I worked on computer problems this afternoon but finally had to give up because of some kind of connection problem on Ray's computer regarding the Hughesnet modem, netgear router, & a USB wireless network adaptor. That stuff is just a bit beyond us & he will have to get someone in who knows about connection problems. However, we did get lot of other stuff successfully completed & the little website I put to-gether should be on the world wide web within a day or two. Kelly got the site registered with it's own domain name & I just have to link the site to the Picasa Web Album site & we're done. And done means moving back out to the BLM lands for us...yay. However, I won't be done with the Hickiwan website because I can continue to access & work on it from our computer no matter where we are. It's been quite a little learning experience for us, but a bit stressful...................................

A herd of donkeys came in close to the park earlier to-night but we just missed them. By the time I got my camera into gear the donkeys had moved off into the desert & darkness was setting in. I had been out by the road trying to catch a few photos of the sunset & by the time Kelly got my attention about the donkeys, it was too late. Maybe to-morrow night we'll put our donkey suits on & go stand next to a cactus & wait for the donkey gang to ride into camp again:))))

Hickiwan Trails Park RV website....
http://hickiwantrailsrvpark.com/












This is Hickiwan Ray....he manages the park

RE-UNITING WITH SOME OLD RV FRIENDS

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3/08
Woke up to a beautiful fiery sunrise this morning & because of the partial cloud cover it wasn't as cold as it usually is. Our daily morning desert walk took us through another area we hadn't been before. With every walk, the desert reveals a little more of herself each day. This morning we came across the largest Saguaro we've ever seen. We call him, El Pancho. Kelly also found a huge nest of some kind in a Mesquite tree. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

We will probably be leaving Hickiwan Trails sometime this coming week so later this morning we took a drive up to Ajo & out around to the west on Darby Wells road. We are scouting out some new areas for boondocking. This is BLM land & it's a beautiful area with an abundance of organ pipe & Saguaro cactus. Big jagged rock croppings jut out of the desert floor making for a beautiful landscape. We first drove through this area last year & we checked it out again when we were here nearly 2 months ago. Have a look at the pictures in our web album for December 7/07. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

While in Ajo we picked up some groceries & then went over to visit a couple of fellow RV'ers we had first met way back in Cannonville, Utah on November 15/07. Maureen & Mike are from London, Ontario & travel full time in their 33' Cardinal 5th wheel. Nicest 5th wheel interior I've seen so far. M & M are in Ajo for a week before moving on to California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia & then back home to London in April. We had quite an RV chin wag & caught up on travel adventures. Slipped out to a little restaurant called Marcela's for some burgs & fries. Nice to see them & they are going to drop in to have a look at Hickiwan Trails this week on their way to the scenic drive in Organ Pipe Cactus National Park.

The wind really picked up late in the afternoon & as I'm typing this the motorhome is rocking to the big Arizona wind gusts again. Must be something going on just up the road because a helicopter has been hovering & circling in the darkness & we can see the flashing lights of police cars & border patrol vehicles on the road. Probably some folks slipping through the desert I suspect.............................

AJO, AJO, IT'S OFF TO THE MOUNTAINS WE GO

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 2/08
Another beautiful Arizona morning. Walked to a rocky ridge just east of the park, climbed up to the top & built an Inukshuk there. Kelly & the doggies waited at the bottom. A lot of loose rocks so it was a little tricky coming down. It's generally always harder coming down from a climb than going up. We were to find that out later in the day.

We headed off to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Park around 11 & turned left off the highway opposite the visitor center. This is the 21 mile loop drive through the Ajo mountain range & what a beautiful drive it is. We made this drive back in December & I was glad to be back here amongst the endless Saguaro cactus in the Ajo mountains. I think this is one of my favorite places. There are 2 hiking trails on the loop so we decided to stop at the first one which is, the Arch. Sign says the trail goes for three quarters of a mile & then gets steep. This is a beautiful valley with awesome mountains. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy The walking is reasonably easy along a narrow rocky path with lots of plant life along the way. Thousands of organ pipe cactus dot the mountain slopes bottom to top. At the three quarters of a mile spot a sign warns of the steep rocky climb ahead. We went another quarter of a mile & decided to take a break before heading back. The path ahead looked pretty rocky & steep in parts & we didn't know how much farther up the mountain it went. I would have liked to keep going but sometimes you just have to understand your aging limitations & make wise decisions. Nuts!! Oh, to be 40 again:)) In this kind of land it's frequently hard to comprehend the awesome beauty surrounding us, & this was one of those places. Words just fail me & it's impossible for photos to do justice to the canyon. Couldn't help but think of the long circumstances of difficulties over the years that finally made this whole journey possible for us.

Coming down a rough stretch of rocks is always far more difficult than going up so I went ahead of Kelly & took some pictures of her making her way carefully down the quarter mile stretch we had climbed up earlier. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy Nice to get back to the car & sit in the soft cushy seats. We hadn't done a hike like that since our Ghost Mountain hike in California about a month ago. These kinds of medium difficulty hikes are my favorite thing to do. So great to feel the exercise in the legs. So great to see scenery that you have never seen before. So great to experience the "WOW" factor over & over. Just soooooo great to be in the American southwest......"WOW!!!!!!!"

NOT MUCH DOING TO-DAY

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1/08
Aside from following some burrow tracks across the desert floor this morning & working away at the Hickiwan computer this afternoon, we just ended up not doing much of anything to-day. I've been working on the Hickiwan Trails website to-night so I'll just keep the blog short.
I've got my fingers crossed that we can do some hiking to-morrow. Need a break from all this computer stuff...............................................

OH OH, JUST GOT A NOTICE SAYING I HAVE RUN OUT OF SPACE TO UPLOAD MY PHOTOS!! I WILL HAVE TO LOOK INTO TO THIS TO-MORROW.

A HIKE TO THE LITTLE CAVE

THURSDAY JANUARY 31/08
Didn't seem quite as cold this morning & we didn't notice frost on things like the morning before. We walked for about half & hour before Checkers & Cora decided they would rather be home snoozing on the couch so Kelly headed back to the rig with them. Max & I continued on because I wanted to climb up & have a look at a shallow little cave we had come across last year. As we approached the large rock outcropping, the desert flora became more abundant as is generally the case in the desert where there is water run off from mountains or large rock formations. Nice to see the organ pipe cactus around the base of the big rock. It's a relatively easy climb over the rocks to reach the little cave opening & Max the mountain goat dog was up there long before I was. Nothing had changed from last year. The old folded up & deteriorated lawn chair was still in the same spot. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy The Saguaro ribs that someone had put there a long time ago were still leaned against the rocky opening. An old rusty salmon can lay a few feet in front of the entrance. Max & I sat there for awhile taking in the panoramic view of the valley floor laid out before us. No human sounds here, just the winds playing in the rock formations. Set the camera up & took a few self timer pictures of myself. Tried to get Max to pose with me but he was far more interested in exploring & clambering around the rocks looking for those elusive jack-a-lopes:)) Paused beside a large Saguaro on the way back to the rig & listened to the wind whispering through it's large arms. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy The morning desert is such a beautiful place & the serenity here is like nowhere else.

We continued with our work on the Hickiwan computer to-day & I took a bunch of photos around the park to begin a stock of photographs for the new Hickiwan RV Park photo files. Downloaded the Picasa photo program for Ray because it's an easy program to use & it's the same program I use for my photos. It's a free download on the internet & is connected with Google. Kelly registered the Hickiwan Trails webname to-day & to-morrow I'll start setting up a beginning website for Ray. Will use Blogger for now & at some point they can set up a more professional webpage as they progress along. Kelly is also working with Ray on some advertising, signage, & business card ideas. Ray has to get the router set-up yet to make Wifi possible, so hopefully sometime next week Hickiwan Trails will be offering wireless internet service. Until then, we are letting people use our signal & we were able to help a few more folks to-day with laptops & by answering some computer questions. Nice to feel useful:)) Also noticed the park is filling up fast as quite a few rigs came in to-day again. There are a total of 94 sites here & I would say the park is about 80% filled up.

Hickiwan Trails has full hook-ups, a spacious laundry room, well maintained washrooms & cement pads. There is a Casino here but it doesn't interfere with the campground & it's close enough to walk to. There is also a convenience store in the Casino building so it's handy for the RV people. Gas & diesel pumps as well. Why, is just up the road about a mile with gas stations, some groceries, & a little restaurant. Ajo is 10 miles north & has a supermarket, radio shack, etc. Organ Pipe Cactus National Park is a scenic 28 miles south of here & another 6 miles beyond that puts you into Lukeville at the Mexican border. There is a beautiful drive through the Ajo mountain range in Organ Pipe. Check out my pictures on December 8th & 13th in our Picasa Web Albums....http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy This is where we will do some hiking shortly.

We were going to go hiking to-morrow in Organ Pipe but we've decided to do that Saturday now. To-morrow will be kind of a repeat of to-day again. Still a few things to do with Ray's Hickiwan Trails computer & we'd like to get that finished up & get Ray on-line with his website..................................................

In the meantime........ we are just sooooooo happy to be here in the American southwest:)))))))

STILL DOING BATTLE WITH THE HICKIWAN COMPUTER

We are very happy that we have been able to help some fellow RV'ers since coming to Hickiwan Trails. We are the only one's in the park with a satellite/internet system & that is a big asset for fellow travelers with computers to access our internet signal. They are able to check their email accounts, etc. One fellow was able to download an important insurance document to-day before heading on to Mexico to-morrow. We know how hard it is to find a wireless signal while traveling so we're more than willing to let fellow travelers have access to our signal. Our router antennae has a limited range of maybe an eighth of a mile so folks have to bring their laptops within range to use them. Saw a lady with a chair & her laptop this afternoon sitting in the shade of some trees just across from us. Grabbed my camera & took some pics. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy
Nice to be able to help out:))

Another great refreshing walk in the desert this morning made for a perfect start to another sunny Arizona day. Didn't get out with the bicycle like I had hoped but we were able to make a lot of progress with Ray's Hickiwan RV Park computer. Hughesnet finally solved a connection problem this morning & with that we were able to finally download AVG anti-virus software & run a full anti-virus scan. AVG scanned over 94,000 files for an hour & fifteen minutes & found nearly 3,000 infected files. We had never ever seen a computer that infected before but by the time we packed it in for the day we had the computer back under control with the elimination (I hope) of all infected files. We've come a long way in the last few days in getting this used computer cleaned up so if we get a clean start-up with it in the morning then we will have turned a major corner & can get on with setting up a functioning & registered website for Ray & the Hickiwan Trails RV Park.

Friday we plan to grab a day for ourselves & head down to the Organ Pipe National Park & head off on a much needed hike in the Ajo mountains............... Yahooie Louie, that would be nice:)))))))))

THE GREENING OF THE SONORAN DESERT

TUESDAY JANUARY 29/08
We just kept walking & walking & walking. It was such a beautiful morning & the desert just seemed to become greener with every step. The recent rains have really made a difference to the plant life. Little plants are springing up out of the desert floor, ocotillos are sprouting emerald green leaves, the creosote shrubs are filling in & the mesquite trees are taking on a fresh hue of green. Woodpeckers flitted between the Saguaros & I even saw a jack-a-lope springing along under a copse of green trunked Palo Verde trees. We hiked over to a rocky ridge & clambered up along a stony burrow path to a place on the other side we call, Saguaro Valley. It's my favorite place here at Hickiwan Trails.http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy You can sit atop the rocks & see for miles around. The majestic & mighty Ajo mountain range lies on the distant horizon to the south as the desert floor spreads out to the west. A very special place & I hope to return here many times before we leave.

The rest of the day was spent in much the same way as yesterday. I helped Ray with the computer setting up a third email account, adding the Picasa Photo program, continuing with Microsoft updates, removing unnecessary data, etc. etc. Kelly did a bunch of cleaning plus doing some research on the computer. We were also able to help a lady with a connection problem on her laptop. Always feels good to be able to help with things like that.

Took a bicycle ride out into the desert in the late afternoon. What a perfect place for a bicycle. Easy to ride on the desert floor & it's fun weaving around the Saguaros, dodging the creosote bushes, scrambling over the creek beds, & just racing around like a crazy kid again. To-morrow I will take my camera with me:))

Someone mentioned awhile back about the a desert being all sand. I always thought of a desert as being endless miles of big sand dunes as well. I think we've all seen, Lawrence of Arabia & to many of us, that is what a desert is. However, that is only one kind of a desert & here in Southern Arizona & southeast California is another kind of desert. Also in California is the Mojave desert as well. I once heard a park ranger describe the Sonoran desert as the tropical desert. I've included a link plus a brief description of the Sonoran......................................





The Sonoran Desert is an arid region covering 120,000 square miles in southwestern Arizon and southeastern California, as well as most of Baja California and the western half of the state of Sonora, Mexico. Subdivisions of this hot, dry region include the Colorado and Yuma deserts. Irrigation has produced many fertile agricultural areas, including the Coachella and Imperial valleys of California. Warm winters attract tourists to Sonora Desert resorts in Palm Springs, California, and Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona.
This is the hottest of our North American deserts, but a distinctly bimodal rainfall pattern produces a high biological diversity. Winter storms from the Pacific nourish many West Coast annuals such as poppies and lupines, while well-developed summer monsoons host both annuals and woody plants originating from the south. Freezing conditions can be expected for a few nights in winter.
Sonora Desert is rich in animal life as well, with many species in all groups derived from tropical and subtropical regions.
The western part of the Sonora Desert (sometimes called the "Colorado Desert") is closer to the source of Pacific storms and is noted for spectacular spring flowering of ephemerals when there is winter-spring rainfall. (This phenomenon is not limited to here.) However, the western portion is relatively depauperate, lacking many of the species such as the Saguaro that depend on good summer rainfall.

A STORMY NIGHT & A SUNNY DAY

MONDAY JANUARY 28/08
It was another one of those nights spent at the mercy of our old arch night time enemy, the wind!! Once again, the wind tried it's best to rip the paint off the motorhome & blow us all the way across the desert floor, up & over the mountains & into the Pacific ocean. And this time the wind brought along it's number one pal......rain!! And it rained most of the night leaving large puddles near the motorhome. But luckily the morning dawned clear & bright with the big Arizona sun bursting over the mountains to the east & flooding the Saguaro valleys with brilliant & warming sunshine. The up side of all the rain though is that it may spur the desert flowers to bloom in a couple days. We noticed this morning on our daily desert walk how green the far hills are becoming. There is greenery on the desert floor & some spots remind me of spring back home in Ontario with grass & green broad-leafed plants springing up. The creosote bushes are filling in as well. There is also a pleasant smell in the air after a desert rain & it was so nice walking this morning, seeing everything looking so fresh. Cloud banks sitting on the surrounding mountain tops & small birds in the air. We are one very fortunate Bayfield Bunch:))

The rest of our day was spent mainly helping Ray getting the campground's computer up & running. Kelly & I alternated back & forth, each working on different areas of problems. We're making headway but we've got a way to go before we have that computer to the point where we can start working on a simple website for him. In the meantime, Ray was good enough to give us a free RV site for as long as it takes to get things up & running.

We're hoping to get over into the Ajo mountain range near Organ Pipe Cactus National Park in a few days for some good old photographic hiking again. Seems like it's been awhile since we've been out climbing & clambering over rocky mountain trails so it's about time we strap on the hiking boots & get at it. Can hardly wait, it's what we like to do best:)))))))

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY....... I WILL PUT TO-DAY'S PHOTOS IN TUESDAY'S WEB ALBUM.

A WINDY, RAINY, DAY AT HICKIWAN TRAILS

SUNDAY JANUARY 27/08
Sometimes rainy days are just fine. And so it was to-day as we busied ourselves around the coach fixing up little things here, cleaning there, & moving furniture around trying different settings, etc. Put the second coat of paint on the wall & am now thinking about painting the rest of the slide interior in that adobe (flower pot) color as well. We are relieved that things are beginning to take shape & we are happy with our decisions so far:))

Walked over to Ray's this morning & started working on his computer. Gonna be a lot of work. It's a pre-used computer (XP) but has a lot of games left in it plus a lot of other unnecessary clutter. Had to start by un-installing a lot of old stuff like Norton 2003, old photo programs, & just basically a whole lot of junk, etc. Kelly went over this afternoon & continued with the clean up, made a lot of progress & we're finally making some headway on getting this computer workable for him.

Our satellite/TV system is down to-day & I figure it's because of the heavy rain infested cloud cover. The satellite signal just isn't able to penetrate through the heavy clouds. This happened to us once before at Cottonwood when we had some inclement weather for a few days. We might have to drive the laptop down the road to a campground called Coyote Howls & park out on the road to pick up their WiFi signal just like we had to do last year. We'll keep an eye on the sky in the meantime but I think this storm front is due to hang around for a few days. Upside is.....I'm sure it will help to green up the already greening desert. It's even greener than when we were here about 6 weeks ago so we're really looking forward to some great desert hikes this coming week. Just sooooo great be back in the land of the Saguraros:)))))))

I PUT TO-DAY'S (SUNDAY) PICTURES INTO SATURDAYS WEB ALBUM.....PHOTOS OF INTERIOR:))
http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy
IF PICS ARE NOT THERE YET IT JUST MEANS I AM UPLOADING THEM RIGHT NOW:))

Mon. a.m. Big winds blew the clouds out last night, re-aligned satellite dish & we are up & running.

HICKIWAN TRAILS......OUR FAVORITE PLACE:))

SATURDAY JANUARY 26/08
As nice & neat as the Buena Tierra RV campground is, there is one annoying problem. Noise!! The campground is located in the V of Interstates 8 & 10. But that's not what kept waking me up about every 40 minutes these past few nights. It was the trains!! There is a main line railroad running about a quarter mile north of the campground & there seems to be a never ending stream of thundering freight trains stampeding through there 24 hours a day & they have to blow their whistles everytime when approaching the road leading into the campground. This is definitely not conducive to a good night's sleep!!

Turned out to be a busy morning. Regardless of whether our Ikea mattress was going to arrive at the Tempe/Phoenix store or not we had decided not to spend another night in the campground so I began packing things up. At 10 Kelly phoned the Ikea store & they said yes, the shipment had come in this morning, so that meant Kelly had to head north to Phoenix with the car while I continued packing up the motorhome for a noon departure out of the campground. Somewhere in the mix I found time to actually put a first coat of paint on a small wall in the motorhome too. (it's supposed to look like adobe)http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy Because Kelly needed room in the car for the mattress we had to take a bunch of stuff out & I had to find room in the motorhome to put everything. Satellite dish equipment, lawn chairs, tables, etc. By the time I had everything loaded in there was standing room only. Even the doggy guys had trouble finding enough room to lie down. I headed out about 12:20, dumped the tanks & headed the short distance to a retail mall where we had agreed to meet if Kelly wasn't back from Phoenix by the time I had to leave the campground. Luckily there was a Wendy's in the parking lot so I was able to slip in & Wendyize myself with a burg & fries.

Kelly rolled in about an hour later so we didn't bother hooking on the car & just headed off in a southwest direction looking for Why, Arizona. Wasn't exactly sure of the right road but I had a reasonably good idea of which way to go. Hey, I've got 3 compasses don't you know. Nice paved road, no traffic, beautiful cloud patterns, majestic mountains, thousands of stately Saguaro cactus & a greening desert floor. No wonder this is one of our all time favorite southwest areas. It's about a hundred miles from Casa Grande to Why, Arizona & we made it to the Hickiwan Trails campground around 4 in the afternoon. Coming to Hickiwan is like coming to our second home & I always feel good to see the familiar Ajo mountain tops rising slowly out of the distant desert floor.

We know the fellow who looks after the RV park & it was good to see Ray again. We're going to help him get a computer set up & running & maybe try to put to-gether some kind of website for him. I'll take some nice photos around the park to put on the site too. We've got a nice quiet site so will stay here for a few days until we get Ray up & running & then we'll head back out to the desert & boondock about 2 short miles from here.

Looking pretty cloudy out at the moment & we may be in for some rain to-morrow but that's ok because it would be a good day to spend inside doing computer stuff. We've also got a lot of re-organizing to do in the coach too, plus some more painting. It sure will be nice once we get over this big upside down renovation process & I think it will be the doggy guys who will be the happiest of all:))))) They sure have been brave little soldiers with all the confusion going on.

Note to our neighbors at Buena Tierra........ Nice to have met you folks & sorry we didn't have more time to socialize a bit. We didn't even get your name:(( Safe trip back to Michigan regarding the house deal:)) Take care.