First thing in the morning and I’m packing up when a Ranger stops by. I took a surreptitious photo while he was writing down my driver’s license info. They aren’t kidding around out here. He gave me a warning and I told him I was heading right then to get my pass. I did.

Gotta carry tweezers when walking in the desert lest prickers get you. This one was stuck in Pugsly, and when I went to pull it – with my hands, of course – it stuck me twice. Ow. Those little spines have spines and don’t pull out easily.

I really like these signs.

Monday, December 26th After getting our Backcountry pass and picking out spots for the remainder of the week, we played tourist and drove around a bunch.

There are hot springs here, but by the time I drove down that narrow dirt road, it was pretty warm out and I didn’t want to leave the dogs in the truck. This is some ruin. I haven’t yet looked it up.

I happened upon this lovely Cottonwooded area and stopped for lunch and a little exploring. After all, where there is Cottonwood there is water.

The Rio Grande is one of the boundaries between the United States and Mexico.

This wide and murky river is a known crossing for folks coming north and there are footprints in the mud along the river bank here.

It is not my intention to have anything political in this blog, but I can’t help but wonder what horrors would push a family to risk their lives to strike out on such a dangerous journey. There are a lot of folks who take that trek, not just from close-by Mexico (not that southern Mexico is close), but also from Ecuador and other places in Central and South Americas. It would take a lot of suffering for me to motivate to leave my country, especially by a route that could easily end in my death.

But I digress. Footprints cause me to think….

My first camping spot wasn’t very scenic. In fact, it was kinda closed in. I didn’t much like it, but I had chosen it for one night only, so it was fine. And even a not great campsite is better than sitting in a florescent lit room in front of a computer for eight hours….

Even though the site was kinda crummy, the sunset was spectacular and reminded me of silver linings.
I am happy to be here.