We went jeepin'!

As predicted, Karin found stuff to keep her busy in the studio. She and Peggie played and played.

And played.

Don and I played, too.

One day we explored the mountains southeast of Patagonia. This is an area of illegal trafficking in both drugs and people. Therefore, I avoid it when I am alone. BP trucks were everywhere. We spoke with them to make sure we weren't about to wander into a bust or anything. We found some good back-country roads, and once the clouds lifted, we got some spectacular views from on high. We spotted three deer. This area was extensively mined between the late 1800's and mid 1900's. There are a lot of dangerous shaft openings, but plenty of roads, also.

The next day, we decided to drive the San Pedro River to see all the saguaros and to check out some two-tracks. We chose a two-track at random and hit paydirt. It went way up into the Galiuro Mountains. That is pronounced Ga-lehr-o. The road had been etched by a bulldozer sometime in the far distant past. It's purpose was to provide access to grazing land and water sources. We found a two room adobe at a long abandoned windmill. We went and went. Finally, we passed through the sixth gate and discovered vehicle tracks we had not previously noted. That meant we could continue and find a new way out. It is always better if you don't have to backtrack. The goal is to keep seeing new things. We saw a few cattle, but only one deer. She literally flew across the trail in front of us. So fast that by the time Don said, "Deer." she was gone. The cliffs and canyons back there were spectacular. Once back on the river road, we spotted a many armed saguaro. One arm looked suspiciously like a tertiary. So I crawled under the fence to see the far side. Sure enough, a primary arm had broken off about a foot from the trunk, a secondary arm sprouted and took the 'mammoth's tusk' route around to the other side. Then, near the end, a small round tertiary arm is sprouting. Now, I believe I mentioned earlier that tertiary arms occur only on otherwise traumaed (that probably isn't a word) saguaros. This one had the broken primary, 'mammoth tusk' secondary, and the main trunk divided near the top, then one of the divisions divided again. So in keeping with my premise, this is an unusual saguaro in more than one way.

Anyway, on the way out to Benson, I mentioned that there was a road across the foot of the mountains that came out in Willcox. Don decided we should take that road the next day. He remembered flying low over the Sulfur Springs Valley and seeing lots of fields that are not visible from the freeway. So on day three, we headed down to take that road. It cuts across the south end of the Galiuros and north of the Little Dragoons. It stretches out across a wide grassy valley that is a branch of the broad Sulfur Springs Valley. We took a side road to Muleshoe Ranch which took us into the foothills again. We were disappointed not to see the antelope (pronghorns) that should have been in the grasslands. We were amused to see a FedEx truck returning from a delivery into the boondocks. That was the only traffic we encountered. After lunching at the old dining car turned BBQ place in Willcox, we headed north to see the dreaded Fort Grant. When we were growing up, Fort Grant was the juvenile prison to which one did not wish to be sent. Then we took a cutoff over to US 191 south of Safford and returned to I 10 that way.

When we got home I got out my 1881 Arizona map and confirmed my suspicion that the roads we had been on dated from stagecoach travel.

So it was a fun three days all around.

And no "adventures" to dampen our adventures.