Tourists in Arizona

     

 

3/14/26

          The quilt show is over, and we have caught up on projects near forgotten. Patti and John (Stan) Stanalonis are dear friends from way back.  Phone calls were made and we are scheduled for a visit to Albuquerque, lasting a few days and beginning on Monday the 16^th.

          The shortest route from Ajo to Albuquerque is about 550 miles. The selected path is AZ85 to I-10E to AZ Loop 303 to I-17N to I-40E to Exit 166, Jaun Tabo Blvd. We decided to travel Saturday and Sunday as tourists in Arizona.

          The internet was queried regarding the most popular stops along our highways. Arizona is briming with early Western American history. In two days of travel we didn’t have enough time to but scratch the surface.

          For the Saturday leg, we selected three stops; all are on or just off of I-17. Shortly after leaving the extensive northern suburbs of Phoenix, the Loop 303 took us past several miles of recently built warehouses and factories. The structures were eye pleasing and they were enormous.

          We left the Phoenix desert basin (~1,100 foot elevation) at approximately 10:30am. It wasn’t many miles until we encountered the first of several rugged mountain ranges. Beginning with low desert mountains, the Phoenix and the McDowell ranges. Then into the steeper central Arizona ranges, the Bradshaw and the Mazatzal. At around 5,000 feet, we were on the Hight plateau edge – the Mogollon Rim.

          The first stop was at Sunset Point Rest Area. This was a recommended visit on the High plateau. The selling point of the rest stop was that the location afforded long range views of distant mountains. The plateau was densely covered with grasses that were three to four feet high. This expansive plateau, at sometime in the near past could have been grazing property for herds of bison.

          Once back on I-17N, we came upon a road sign that told us the next seven miles of freeway was at a 6% decent. That is steep and that is for a long way to go before re-apply throttle to the pickup. We had dropped into the Verde river valley, where the city of Camp Verde sits at ~3,100 foot elevation. Anne had reserved a room for us at the Comfort Inn, in Camp Verde. But it was early afternoon and we had sites to see. The first of which was the Montezuma Castle.

          The Montezuma Castle National Monument is one of North America’s best preserved cliff dwellings. The five-story tall, 20 room and roughly 4,000sqft floor space was built of limestone blocks set in mud mortar. It was constructed by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian farming culture of the Verde Valley. The build began around A.D.1125. It was built in stages over several generations, continuing through the 1200s.

                                                                         

          The castle housed between 30 – 50 people. Several hundred Sinagua lived in dwellings located lower of the castle, near Beaver creek. By about A.D.1400-1425 the Sinagua people left Verde Valley. The possible reasons vary from prolonged drought, resource depletion, to conflict with incoming groups such as the Apache. Early American settlers marveled at the castle’s structure. They assumed that it was Aztec in origin, hence the name Montezuma Castle.

          The road to the castle passes the entry drive to the Cliff Castle Casino. We had yet to eat lunch and the many diners in the casino would give us options. Right, lunch.

          We agreed to meet at the automated craps machine in one hour. Play, play, win, lose, some craps and some slots. At the meeting time I was down and Anne was up. That meant that she could afford to buy our lunch.

Finished with lunch, we headed to the casino’s exit doors. On the way we passed a slot machine that Anne declared was a Must Play. The slot machine displayed three Alien space crafts. These Aliens were collectors of farm animals. One craft beamed up sheep, one collected Holstein cows and the third craft transported pigs. Now, if a wheel stops with an animal displayed, then that animal gets transported to the respective space craft. Bonus play happens when one of the alien craft gets over loaded, it breaks apart and you get five special dollar earning spins.

          Each space craft had different bonus values. The pig collecting craft was the one to hope for. As my $20 entry fee dwindled, all I had was three cow craft bonuses. To the very end, the pig craft was displaying multiple cracks in its dome but it kept cramming more pigs in. The Alien pilot had his face smeared against the glass dome. The next player will get a nice bonus. We are off to the last stop of the day.

          Adjoining Camp Verde is Fort Verde State Historic Park. The military was present in Arizona Territory from 1865 until 1896. The fort was operational from 1871 to 1891. Unlike movie depictions, none of the 43 forts in the territory had walls around them. Fort Verde was never attacked. The fort was laid out with a large football size parade ground. The ground separated the office. The officer’s quarters on one side and the enlisted quarters on the other side. Corals, hospital shops, commissary and all buildings which supported this fort were on the enlisted side of the parade ground.

          The park headquarters is in the building which had been called Administration. This building has many rooms that contain the history of Fort Verde. Of course, among the many military displays in the museum are displays of various weapons used by the soldiers. One large room was dedicated to the display of Indian tools and of weapons from the period. The Native Americans in this area of Arizona were the Yavapai and the Apache.

          That was it for the day. We drove to the Comfort Inn, checked in and we relaxed for a couple of hours before dinner time.

          The Verde valley has several successful mountain breweries. The inn’s front desk attendant recommended visiting the Verde Brewery, for a lite meal.

          By 8:30am Sunday morning, we were gathering leftovers at Comfort Inn’s breakfast bar. There had been slim pickings.

          Today’s goal was to drive the Red Rock Loop, which goes from Camp Verde, through Sedona and back onto I-17N, south of Flagstaff. The roadside views were greeted by the distant presence of layer chiseled, dark red peaks and long, high carved cliff faces. The highway had its ups and downs but its architecture managed to weave it around and between neighboring red mountain displays.

         Oak creek did not flow in a straight line. Hence, neither did the highway. Traffic was often slowed to a snail’s pace as it navigated the many switch-back curves. A few miles out of Sedona the traffic became bumper-to-bumper. This lasted to the far outskirts of Sedona.

          We pulled into the lot of a very modern roadside business center. For the past several miles, we had looked for a roadside spot to pull over so that we could capture photos of a couple of the red peaks. The business center’s lot worked well. Plus, as I photographed, Anne walked to Bob’s Donut Shop, and she came back with maple bars. Some stops are worth more than others.

         Things changed as the miles drew nearer to Sedona. The highway began to parallel Oak Creek. This small stream was flowing. The creek’s life attracted Sunday shore-walkers and maybe there were even few who brought along some dirty laundry.

         Most of the burgs that we have been through are proud of their use of roundabouts. Traffic doesn’t stop. We discovered, as we entered the highway center of Sedona that roadside space did not permit the use of traffic circles. The delays created by the traffic lights had rippled several miles to the south of the city.

          The population if Sedona is a bit over 9,000. The town’s elevation is 4,360 feet. Homes are built into the hillsides. Many of them were very modern in their high-wall concrete designs.

          Moving slowly through the commercial center of Sedona, one could capture the life and youthfulness of the city. Just because it is, that spirit seems to be a strong visitor attraction.

          Past the last traffic light, the flow picked up. Within a few more curvy miles, we were reconnected with I-17N and we were within sight of Flagstaff. This had been a beautiful morning’s journey. The delays hadn’t been enough to take away from witnessing more of Nature’s marvels.

          From I-17, we took the I-40E on-ramp that highlighted an arrow pointing to Albuquerque. Wow, 65mph sure seems fast. A few miles east of Flagstaff is the Twin Arrow Casino and Resort. Remember, casinos are great places to grab a lunch.

          Historically, Twin Arrows was a highway respite on the old Route 66. Two very large arrows were constructed to look as if they had landed side-by-side and had stuck in the desert ground. This eye grabber had been enough to sustain business at the roadside venues. The freeway, I-40, was not built exactly over Route 66 at this place. The buildings that belonged to the Twin Arrow stop are long gone. The Twin Arrows Casino side stop now is a bit further off of the highway. However, if you look quickly as you pass the old location, you can see the two large arrows rising above the desert waste.

          Twin Arrows Casino is a place of all-business. Upon entering, you can sense a strong feeling of organizational structure and of control. When we rejoined for lunch, we both agreed that the machines in this casino had been very selfish with their rewards.

          The Eagles have landed. They are standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. As we entered the heart of the city, we came to the Kinsley Avenue and East 2^nd Street intersection. On one corner of this crossing is a bronze statue of a man with a guitar. This corner and the town of Winslow were put on the map by the Eagle’s song, “Take it Easy”.

          On the other three corners of this intersection are establishments which cater to the tourist trade: two competing trinket stores and one brewery. This was pretty much Winslow.

          Holbrook is a few dozen miles further east than Winslow, on I-40. This is where we had reserved a night at the Quality Inn. March back a few miles and you find the Petrified Forest National Park. This will be our early Monday morning tourist adventure. And then it will be on to Albuquerque.

          The Petrified Forest National Park contains one of the world’s largest deposits of petrified wood. About 225 million years ago, during the Triassic Period, this area used to be a lush tropical forest environment near the equator. Large flood waters uprooted trees and left them lay in the swamp’s mineralized waters. Over several million years, the log’s fibers were replaced with quartz crystals. This created red, yellow and purple rainbow colors to an end cut view of the timbers.

          The Earth’s plates shifted and Arizona became an arid, wasteland place. Today large chunks of log lay scattered. Each chunk appears to have been sawn from a larger parent log.

          The park’s museum is loaded with information about the Triassic Period, its tropical environment and a considerable amount about the animals which competed for superior positions, amongst the treed wetlands. Facts of Science rule the museum’s many displays. Skeletons of dinosaurs, a host of land and aquatic species are on display. The visit to the park is a must see, if you are traveling I-40. If you like geology, fossils or wildly unusual landscapes, then this will be a memorable half-day adventure.

          Early Monday afternoon we were on our final leg to Albuquerque. We were greeted at their home by Patti and Stan, at 4:30pm that afternoon. It was a wonderful reunion evening. We had a great dinner that was followed by an enjoyable catchup.

          Wake up Tuesday morning and wear your best Saint Patrick’s Day green. Early afternoon, with Euros in our pockets, we drove to Sandia Casino. “Okay, we’ll meet back here in an hour”. The clock hands moved quickly. Anne, Patti and Stan worked the slots and I played craps. There was some grizzle coming from the lady’s experience. Stan collected from a large bonus round, and I came away from the table $24 ahead.

          Patti is preparing a St. Patrick’s Day dinner; cabbage, potatoes, carrots and corned beef, all dished out from an au-jus filled crockpot bowl. There were also thin slices of dark pumpernickel rye bread. The toast to the Irish was great. 

          Wednesday and Thursday held some time for shopping. Yes, there was also some space in these two days for short visits to the casino. Anne came away the big winner on both days. Remember the Aliens and their beam-up space crafts? Anne realized that a space craft with a wildly cracked dome was about to explode with a winning bonus round. She had walked the machine line and had found a couple of slots that had been abandoned.

          This is what Anne was looking for. She invested in one of these slots and she hit a jackpot. The last person had run out of money while trying to get the Alien craft to burst. Anne collected several hundred dollars during Wednesday’s visit. She repeated her play strategy on Thursday and again she came away a winner.

          Stan worked from his college years until retirement for Sandia National Laboratories. He began as a draftsman and he was soon to be found out as strong team player and as an idea man. For the length of his satisfying career, Stan’s time was spent contributing to America’s missile defense capability.

          When we returned from our visit to the Sandia Casino, Stan brought two very special tee shirts from storage. One of the tee shirts displayed a picture of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. The photo had been taken by Buzz Aldrin, the moon landing craft commander.

          The second tee shirt was a Sandia National Laboratory shirt that Stan had been wearing on that special day, some years ago. Unique to both shirts was a large blue signature made by Buzz Aldrin. Astronaut Aldrin was visiting the Sandia Labs and Stan had the good fortune to have an opportunity to chat with Buzz for a few minutes. During their chat, Stan invited Mr. Aldrin to autograph the two shirts. The Sandia Labs shirt got signed while Stan was wearing it. Needless to say, Stan doesn’t wear either tee shirt. They would today be prized collector’s items. What a treasure of pride.

          Friday morning Stan had a doctor appointment, so we said our goodbye’s. Patti made a scrumptious meal for breakfast. We loaded the pickup and we shared some hugs. Patti and Stan had been wonderful and gracious hosts. Anne and Patti had the opportunity to spend time together over many card games at the dining room table. I valued my time spent with Stan. He has a very interesting work history with Sandia. Stan shared several unclassified recalls about events and places he had been involved with. These tales led to great discussions.

          The return route to Ajo was to be south on I-25 to the Hatch exit, visiting Hatch and then on to Deming and I-10W. Hatch, NM was loaded into the truck’s GPS. We were guided to the Tramway, which dumped us onto I-10W. The seven miles to the I-25S entrance ramp was driven in thick morning traffic. Last minute positioning into the correct exit lane is always exciting at 70mph.

          It is 186 miles to Hatch, or a bit over three hours of drive time. Our first stop in Hatch was at a curio store. Anne wanted to buy some Hatch chili. This is some special stuff. Hatch, NM is reputed to be the chili capital of the World. A few blocks deeper into town, we spotted what we had been looking for for our lunch: a reputable Mexican restaurant. It was called Pepper Pot.

          Outside the temperature had already reached the low 90sF. Temperatures this high and this early in the year are rare for this region of New Mexico. Inside the Pepper Pot the temperature was cooler, made possible with low light levels and with ceiling fans. The Pot’s menu had lots of lunch options. We chose, however, to share a single serving of triple stack beef enchilada. The green chili topping was a bit too spicy for Anne, but we made it through.

          Now off I-25S, we were on a highway that leads directly to Deming, NM. Forty eight miles to the south, we arrived at the Comfort Inn at three fifteen. Our plan was to rest for a couple of hours and then find our dinner at the town’s Denny’s Restaurant. All this came together well and after a fine night’s sleep, we were off to seek our own bed an Ajo.

          We had tried to be good tourists in Arizona and we had loved spending time with our good friends, Patti and Stan.

The Javelina

 

It is 6am and I am awakened by Anne telling me that there are Javelinas in the back yard. I thought about Javelinas yesterday, at the end of the day when I looked towards the driveway gate. The gate was swung shut but it was not latched. “Naw, no way. Don’t bother walking up there just to latch it”, I said to myself.

You may look at a javelina and think it’s a hairy pig, a wild boar, or maybe one of those feral razorback hogs running around the United States. But surprisingly, javelinas aren’t pigs at all! They actually branched off from the pig family nearly 40 million years ago.

A javelina is a peccary — specifically, the collared peccary. Peccaries are native to the Americas and the Western Hemisphere, while true pigs originally come from the Old World. Javelinas, are usually about 3 feet long and weigh between 40 and 60 pounds. They have coarse, greyish-brown hair that looks a bit like salt and pepper, with pig-like snouts and small eyes. Unlike true pigs, javelinas have small, rounded ears, tiny tails, and short, straight tusks.

The name “collared peccary” comes from the band of light-colored fur around their necks, which looks like a collar. This collar becomes especially noticeable when a javelina feels threatened because the hair on the back of its neck and shoulders stands up.

Javelinas appeared in North America during the Miocene period. In the U.S. they are native to the Sonoran Desert in the southwest. They are a very social animal. They can be seen pacing in single file in large numbers, called squadrons. A squadron may have as many as 20 Javelinas.

We have chased Javelinas from our yard, in Ajo, AZ, more than once. Javelinas are omnivores. On one visit, they lay waste to several thriving young cacti that Anne had been nursing. On another occasion, they tipped over the garbage container located outside the dining room window, when I was doing some early morning computer work. Each time, I would step outside and shoo them off. They scatter in all directions, making it necessary to circle the back yard to ensure that they have all been shown to the front gate.

The large adult Javelina is not a friendly animal. When angered, the hair on the spine stands up. On one visit, I had a critter refuse to follow my instructions about leaving. It stood ground and glared at me as I was approaching it. Our guest turned at the last moment and jogged toward the front gate.

This morning it took three trips outside to finally rid the yard of all of the Javelinas. To avoid me, they would hide behind the rear workshop. The last animal bolted towards the street. The hair on its back looked like a “Mohican” haircut. It was not happy that the squadron had long since left. 

Dawn had arrived by the time I got to latch the driveway gate for the final time. I walked back under the side carport where the garbage container is kept. The large black rubbish vault had been knocked over, and a huge amount of its contents had been shared by the squadron of Javelinas.

Ajo, early 2026

Ajo was waiting for me when I arrived on October 20^th. The sky was fair and the temperature was in the low 70s. Yes, this is the reason that I abandon Medford in the winter time.

This year I drove to Ajo solo. Anne had several appointments and was going to fly to Phoenix in a couple of weeks. The highway route that I drove was familiar. Listening to a selected mystery story on the radio was a great mental benefit but driving alone was still very tiring. I did a walk-about at every rest stop. The road trip takes two overnights and a half of a day before and after. I could force myself to drive more hours each day but I have had it after 300 – 400 miles.

The home at 565 W Guest House Road had weathered our absence well. The door unlocked, the lights turned on and no creatures scurried in alarm. The limited amount of cold goods that had joined me while riding in the rear seat refrigerator were quickly transferred to the house fridge. I turned water taps back on and went straight to bed.

The first order of business the next morning was to drive to Olsen’s super market, Until Anne arrived I would be cooking for myself and there was nothing in the refrigerator. I embarrassingly admit that I have never solo shopped to stock the fridge and the pantry. I did have a bit of help. The store manager, Maribeth, is also our neighbor on Guest House Road. She was handy with answers each time I interrupted her shelf-stock inventory counting. Her “happy to help” spirit was no doubt stressed by my interruptions.

My shopping cart was occupied, but it was by no means full. I shopped with care and with price awareness. Nothing in the cart was exorbitant. When I pushed the cart with its bagged goods out of Olsen’s front door, I had felt proud of the accomplishment but I felt lighter by over $200.

When we left Ajo last spring brother Dave and I had seen to the finishing of the inside of Anne’s she shed, now to be called by the title of Quilt Studio. The approach to the studio’s door was cement block set in dirt and gravel. Opening the door and stepping in, and the reverse opening and exiting were awkward movements, from and to the block step. The quilt studio needed a front deck. This would make the transitions more comfortable.

The closest full-service hardware/lumber supply store was Lowe’s in Buckeye. Lowe’s, in Buckeye, shared the same I-10 exit as did all of the main “time to stock-up” shopping stores. At Lowe’s I purchased the deck’s foundation timber and hardware. The deck cover was Pergo Decking. I didn’t have the capacity in my GMC Canyon pickup to truck the load home. Within the next couple of days, Lowe’s would deliver the goods to Ajo.

An afternoon measuring and an evening at the dining table sketching had produced the materials list for the quilt studio deck. Dave loaned me his chop-saw and when Lowe’s delivered I was ready. I think that Anne will appreciate the convenience of her new deck.

The Fat Cactus is a restaurant that Anne and I enjoyed visiting. Their main food is pizza, sliders and salads. Once a week, Doug, the owner, would conduct a trivia night. Being a former history teacher, this seemed a comfortable niche. The first time that we played we won and we left $100 to the good.

During the summer the Fat Cactus had moved. A restaurant space had become available at the Ajo Central Plaza. One evening I stopped at the restaurant for dinner. The building had a formal dining side and an adjoining full service pub. That evening there were many guest involve in visiting, eating dinners; and several were sitting on stools at the bar, enjoying a draft while engrossed in one of the big screens presenting a ball game or the trots.

At the rear end of the pub was a pool table. I asked at the bar what the table commitment was to play. “If no one else was using the table, go for it.” So I did. I played against myself a game of 8-ball, more commonly known as stars and stripes.  Well, there can only be one winner, and I was it.

Everything about the Fat Cactus was new and professionally presented. Well everything except the pool table’s amenities. Cues leaned against the wall, there being no cue stand, and the cues were old and in ragged states.  As I said my goodnights, I was thinking that there may be something I could do that would lend to the ambiance of the pub.

I had not yet published my Curley Woodshop Steward commitment time and date. I didn’t feel that I was settled in yet. I was, however, going to use the shop. Over the years the shop has collected a myriad of odd wood pieces; dining table inserts, bed head and foot boards, and just odd stuff. I located a matched pair of large diameter, turned table legs. An idea formed. If the legs were the end pieces, and if there was a top plank and a bottom plank, the legs could make a beefy poolhall cue rack.

After a few minutes doing some dimensional drafting, I set out to collect wood that would be needed. Two short lengths of 1 x 6 inch oak would form the top plate and the bottom plate. I planed and sanded each board and then I drilled six holes in the top board through which cues could be inserted. On the bottom board six holes were also drilled to accept the cue handle tips. The bottom holes were offset a bit towards the front of the future rack so that cues would slant a bit away from the walk path. 

The table legs were not damaged but they had lost a lot of original finish. I had learned long ago that sanding round pieces of wood was easiest done while the wood was turning on the lathe. It took but a couple of minutes to clean each leg down to bare wood. While still on the lathe, each leg was sanded to 400 grit to form a near shiny surface. A walnut stain was applied to each leg and to the two oak pieces.

The project was coming together. I had only one worry. I didn’t know for sure what the diameter of the cue handle was. I selected 1-1/2” and I kept my fingers crossed. When it was completed, I loaded it onto the Club Car and rode to the Fat Cactus restaurant. When there was no management staff present, I carried the new rack to the wall by the pool table. I inserted the daggy old cues into the rack and then I went to the dining room for a meal.

Doug, the owner, stopped to great me. We visited a bit and then I told him that he had a Business Warming gift near the pool table. When Doug returned he was all grin. I hadn’t known it but he had ordered new cues that were due to arrive any day. With his new cues, the rack looked perfect.

The Sonoran Desert is native home to many specie of cacti. Perhaps the most memorable cactus specie is the Saguaro cactus. This plant often grows for a few hundred years and it may form many limbs. The Saguaro stately forms dense populations on the desert floor. On distant hillsides the cactus stands out singularly as the reigning ruler of the neighboring plant kingdom.

Like all other living organisms, the Saguaro has at infant stage. It begins as a seed that has been spread by birds, primarily. As one might expect when in the desert, there many bad places to begin life, and there are a few good places. The best place for a Saguaro to start out is under the shade umbrella of a tree. A common shade opportunity is provided by the Creosote bushes; another may be a Palo Verde tree. These trees are often called nursery trees. Their shade and soil coolness assist in the cactus’ earliest growth

Anne’s airplane finally arrived and the meals got better. Last year, Anne was elected President of the Ajo Piece Makers, the quilting club. Every Wednesday morning the club meets in the old Ajo Lions Club building. At the meetings there are demonstrations, show and tells, and sometimes there is sewing for charitable donations.

For the past few decades the Piece Makers have hosted a Quilt Show in the Curley School Auditorium. The show is two days long. Members of the club present quilts to be hung for show and sometimes quilts that they wish to sell. Each year there is a raffle quilt that all members have participated in its creation. Contributions from the raffle benefit the Ajo community.

Each year the quilters challenge themselves to create a quilted table runner, place mat, etc., that follows a specific theme. The member’s finished work is hung with others at the quilt show. The winner of the last year’s contest gets to define the theme for the next year’s contest. This year’s theme was “Stars”. Last year’s contest winner had been Joy Duncan. This year Joy won second place.

The success of the Quilt Show forms the basis for the Piece Makers’ ability to monetarily contribute to the Ajo community. It would seem that Anne had inherited with the year’s leadership position a mountain of information about the quilt show that had never been logically organized.

The quilt club has been a club for a few decades. Past presidents had been long termers in the club, they had participated in many quilt shows. They had learned form exposure what it took to put together the annual show. Anne was a relative newbie. Order of procedures and their documentation are very important for Anne to be comfortable with such a task. She found that that just wasn’t in the files. After many hours of many days, Anne had organized the quilt show files in a manner that she was comfortable passing on to next year’s leader.

Another source of stress for this year’s president was the dwindling population of the Piece Makers club. Without sufficient club members, putting on activities such as the Quilt Show wouldn’t be possible. Recruitment of new club members is important. Anne put together a weekly Copper Newspaper ad aimed at generating interest in the craft. She is also looking at ways to introduce sewing skills to the Ajo High School.

While all of this Piece Makers activity seemed to fill her days, Anne enjoyed her quilting studio. She would disappear for hours while she completed old projects, or while she created new and wonderful gifts for the family, friends or for the community. During one of her periods of studio hibernation, Anne finished a quilt that she titled Twirl.

Twirl is indeed a magnificent, detail oriented work of art. Many hours went into creating its craftmanship. Anne proudly entered Twirl in the quilt show. Each guest to the quilt show is given a ballet that on which they are asked to select their favorite work, and others by rank order. This year’s show was successful. Anne can now relax at her winter home. While she is doing that, she can reflect upon the degree of satisfaction that Twirl brought to her when it was voted “Best of Show”.

You can’t by a used lawn mower in Ajo. Homes in this neighborhood don’t have lawns. A tour down a street will present front yards with some form of growth, however. The most frequent yard motif will be that of native Sonoran Desert. This scene, to a newcomer will resemble the unkept weed patch that the neighbor, four doors down, had in their front yard.

All homes are sealed off from society by a 4 foot high chain-link fence. This tradition didn’t begin as a territorial display as it may have been in other bergs. The perimeter fencing was the only way that the mid-night herds of Javalinas could be kept from eating your young cactus or from foraging in your garbage storage vault.

Less frequent but more enjoyable to look at are the designer yards. These yards will feature a native bush or tree, and perhaps it may host a giant Saguaro cactus. Regardless of the specific yard features the designer homes would all have unused ground covered with crushed gravel.

The fully graveled yards was a tradition which probably began in the late 1800’s with the earliest settlers. All of the new inhabitants would have come from moister climes and they no doubt suffered from lawn separation anxiety. A spouse may have said, “I don’t care what it is, just cover it all so it looks tidy and well kept.” Gravel was handy.

I am pleased to report that we are a designer yard family. Our yard is chain-link enclosed and it has several native trees and bushes scattered about. The unplanted grounds were once covered with ¾” crushed gravel. Over many years the gravel coverage became thinned out and bare desert dirt was exposed. This picture was not in keeping with the yard’s motif. Repairs were called for.

Over a glass of wine and a can of fruit flavored Bubly, Anne and I discussed our yard options. After twelve minutes two things happened; one, my wine glass was empty, and two, we decided to replace the crushed gravel with small river rock. The ½ - ¾” stones were not bare feet bandage promoters, as was the jagged crushed gravel. We felt that the smooth stone would make the yard look better. Plus, the smaller, smooth orbs could make perfect sling-shot ammo.

The area of all of the uncovered yard was calculated. To provide a lasting coverage, it was considered that a two inch layer of river rock would be sufficient. The math created a volume of nine cubic yards of stone. That translated to 11 tons.

A “river rock near me” google search came up with ABC Sand & Rock, in Phoenix. I made the order and I grinned when I heard that the order was large enough that there would be no additional delivery cost. I was assured that the 8 foot wide truck would be able to back through our 10 foot wide gate opening.

The following Monday morning I received a text message from Johnny, the delivery man, that he would arrive within 15 minutes. I could hear the heavy diesel truck slowly making its way to our address. Johnny pulled the enormous Peterbilt dump truck to a long “pshhhh” stop at the front gate. After visitations and load validation Johnny had me hold the gate open wide as he cautiously herded the behemoth between the gate posts.

I signaled a stop when he reached the dump spot on the cement driveway. Slowly the long bed of the dump truck raised and the tail gate flapped open. As Johnny slowly pulled the truck forward, the full nine yards fell to the pad. I signed for the delivery, thanked Johnny, and as he drove away I pulled the gate shut and gasped at what nine yards of river rock looked like.

Anne had told me earlier that I was to hire helpers to load and wheel-barrow the stones across the yard. After finishing their fulltime workday shift, two helpers came to the gate. Cindy was a heavier set, 30ish woman, who looked like she could handle a shovel. Whisper was a younger, 20ish man, who also looked fit enough to shovel and haul the stones. During our welcoming introductions, Cindy shared that she had come to Ajo some 25 years ago; originally from New Jersey. Whisper told me that he was born and raised in the Tohono O’odham Nation, centered in Sells, AZ, a few miles to the east of Ajo.

Cindy and Whisper loaded, I directed, and Whisper dumped. This took place for a couple of hours over the next three days. During the cool of the next day’s morning I raked out the many piles of river rock. I congratulated Whisper for his shoveling and hauling of 11 tons of stone. To that thought he said, “Wow, that’s 11 thousand pounds”. His eyes got larger when I said that it was actually 22 thousand pounds of stones.

When I walked over the newly dressed yard, I too got impressed. The number of stones might have marveled the number of stars in Carl Sagan’s heaven. What if each stone was valued at $1, what would our new yard be worth? That value could be estimated.

I snuck one of Anne’s plastic mixing bowls and with the aid of her sensitive electronic kitchen scales, I carefully and randomly loaded 5.00 pounds of the stone. Then, with tinny in hand, I sat outside and I counted the number of stones in the 5 pounds. I counted 204 stones. There are 200 x 5 pounds in a thousand pounds or, 200 x 204 = 40,800 stones in a half ton. Multiply that by 22, for 11 tons, and you get ~897,600 stones.

Drats! The yard looks like a million bucks but it is just not worth it.