Where the West is Still Wild

Today was an adventure day.  It's been ages since we took time to dink around and relax and this day was just the right one for it.  Nearly 70 degrees today, (I know, while the Eastern US is getting hammered with snow) the sunshine was delicious and the air was clear - we grabbed our jackets and ran.

The road on the Arizona side is well maintained.  

There is a dirt road, long and empty, that stretches from Hidalgo County in New Mexico to Douglas, Arizona.  It more or less follows the Mexican border and is where Mexican cartels, drug smugglers and illegal immigrants haunt, not paying much attention to an international boundary or the law.  While nearly nobody in the world takes this old road, the US Border Patrol agents are there.  They spend days at at a time down in this wild and rugged country on horse-back, four wheelers or foot, working to stem the tide of contraband and humanity that streams through.

On the New Mexico side one crosses this creek several times.  I always have to get out and meander; water here is such a treasure, it seems a shame to just pass it by without a second look.  

We took this road today.  Even though it is a hotbed of illegal activity, we feel pretty comfortable as long as we are careful.  Neither the Americans nor the Mexicans there want to be seen by us.  We don't feel in any more danger there than in Albuquerque or Tucson.

The saddle where one leaves the Animas drainage and enters the San Bernadino drainage.  That's Arizona behind me.

This countryside is where the Chiricahua band of Apaches hid out and managed to evade the US Cavalry for so long.  It's easy to see how they managed it; you couldn't find a battleship here if it didn't want to be found.  Geronimo and Cochise knew these mountains and used them to slip into Mexico when events got too hot for them here.

Out in the absolute middle of nothing, nowhere, nohow we passed this delightful attraction.  Whoever took the time to put this out there is someone I want to know.

Our goal today was to fill ourselves back up with creative inspiration.  I've said it before, but it's still true: getting out into the wild places can fill me up with ideas and soothe a hectic schedule clear away.  And it worked.  I am full of ideas and energy again.  I can face another week.  The best part is the sketched records of the day.  Raw material to work from.  I'm purring like a cat.

Thanks for stopping by! Alice