Woke to sunshine, warm and
wind. Not a bad combination, really.
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We walked together this morning, at the same
pace which was rather slow compared to previous walks. Took us about an hour 15 minutes to walk our
3 miles. When we walk separately it’s
been about an hour average for me and less than that for Kim. Today we took the time to stop and to take a
deeper look at things we’ve noticed over the past couple of days but only gave
a glance to in our focus to get the walk over with…and then there was the wind
factor. It was against us on the way
out. It does make a difference.
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We’ve been told that staying hydrated is
important…no exertion or thirstiness required, just drink plenty of water! The dry heat can be a stealthy opponent in
the game of life out here. In
preparation to our plan of hiking Picacho Peak we each bought a fanny pack
complete with water bottles. It also has
a zippered compartment which I’m sure was meant for snacks, maps, etc. While we tried them on in the store and they
seemed suitable for our needs…today we decided to test ‘em out for real. I will admit to feeling a bit foolish wearing
a fanny pack on our 3 miles walk but I’ve learned it’s important to do a test
run. It took time to find the right
position that allowed for easy movement.
Full water bottles have some weight to them and the fanny pack kept
wanting to droop, which made Kim feel like his pants were falling off and made
my back a bit edgy. Of course, we
weren’t carrying snacks…Kim had his binoculars and I had my camera in our
zippered compartments. Like I said we
were doing a test run and that’s the sort of stuff we’d normally carry. Anyway, I think we each figured out what we
have to do to make them comfortable. A
Camel Bak may have been easier to handle but they’re expensive and Jay’s only
had one left. There was another brand
but it was even more expensive. Still…maybe
worth it. 😏
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Convict road crews were out sprucing up
Picacho Highway this morning. They were
whacking down the roadside weeds and maybe doing some mowing but only from the
frontage road to about a ¼ mile past the campground. I have to wonder why only such a small section
of the road…seems like it’s not worth the hassle of bringing the extra guards
and vehicles.
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The tree in our campsite is molting and it’s
‘feathers’ decorate our hair, become a weird garnish on our food and even an
accessory to our clothing. What’s
blowing off the tree actually looks like small pieces of baby’s breath and I
suppose wearing it is a rather small price to pay for being outside…especially
considering what we’d be wearing if we were back home. We’ve been hearing reports of snow and
cold. Anyway, this tree is the only
shade around us so it’s where we sit to enjoy the warm air but avoid the sun…just
have to put up with tree feathers in our hair. 😎
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This
morning I discovered that there’s a neighborhood to the north of the church on
the corner. I knew there were buildings
near the church but they aren’t visible from the campground; there are tall
privacy hedges around the perimeter of the camp. And out of sight out of mind
sometimes…I didn’t investigate because I didn’t think of it. Until this morning. I went over in the direction of the church
and noticed a street sign. One curious
thought lead to another and another and then there were houses on my left and
vacant buildings on my right. The hidden
neighborhood! Those vacant buildings are
what I see when I’m on the frontage road.
At some point it seemed like continuing forward was about the same as
retracing my steps so I continued forward which turned into a loop leading me
back to the church and then just 600 little steps back to our trailer. All this is to explain why my wrist was vibrating with the good
news that I’d made my 10,000 steps before we got back to camp from our 3 mile walk (about 10:45 am). Yeehaw!! Bonus steps for the rest
of the day!
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Last year we shared the picnic table with
two Germans playing hooky from a nuclear waste conference…today we met two EMTs
taking a break on a slow day. They
worked for Ajo Ambulance Services, a private company serving the town of Ajo
and the surrounding area. We talked to
them for about 15 minutes and the topics ranged from work related topics to
rattlesnakes and spiders. In the course
of talking about their coverage area, they inadvertently solved a 4 year
mystery for me. About 3 miles after we
turn onto IR 15 there is a sign indicating the little town of Chuichu. Every time we passed the sign I rolled that
word around in my head and came up blank each time. Choo-Choo…that’s how they
pronounced it…Choo-Choo. Now neither of
these guys was from the Tohono tribe but they spoke the name with authority so
I’m going with it. 😎
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According to what I’ve been told and been
able to ascertain from online research the many roadside memorials on IR 15
through the Tohono O’odham Reservation indicate where a person has died
suddenly. These memorials are usually
associated with a traffic accident death and it really isn’t an unusual
practice…little white crosses along the highways can be found in many
states. But the memorials on the
reservation go beyond little white crosses…these are ornate and usually
well-tended. By following several links
online I found something written about the roadside memorials. Whether it’s
from a book or an article I don’t know, but it fills some information gaps for
me as I’ve been curious about these memorials.
These are just a couple of paragraphs from a very lengthy and hard to
understand paper/book/article:
Rest in place:
Understanding
traumatic death along the roadsides of the Southwestern United States
by Rachael M. Byrd,
University of Arizona
Descansos, or ‘resting places’, are often
constructed and maintained by the family and the friends of the deceased.
Maintaining such a place aids the family in coping with the grief and loss of a
loved one, especially if those still living encounter the place of death on a
day-to-day or frequent basis. Some key determinants involving the initial
decision to construct a roadside shrine include the survivors living in close
proximity to the location of traumatic death and age of the victim. Crosses,
often painted white, are the most frequent material symbol found with the
descansos observed. Referred to as cruces, they are a ubiquitous symbol
associated with roadside memorials, and are easily recognizable as identifying
an accident site to memorialize a victim.
Broadly speaking, roadside memorials are part
of a collection of contemporary spontaneous mortuary rituals. They are used in
the public domain, but are built by individuals with personal experiences and
are considered a culturally determined ritualized form of expressing grief.
Roadside memorials become a sacred place, and a place of ritualized pilgrimage
evidenced by holiday and birthday decorations and general upkeep of the
location for months or even years. Many people find personal comfort in knowing
and visiting the memorialized site of death when they want to remember and
continue to feel close to someone they have lost, regardless of whether that
person’s physical remains are located there.
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Near the town of Santa Rosa on the
reservation there is an actual cemetery that is set back from the road and located
at the base of a big hill. There is a
memorial close to the road near the driveway.
We have ridden past this spot many times. In fact, last year I took a picture of the
roadside memorial. Today as we passed, I
noticed it was different and on our way back I stopped to get another
picture. It now has a name attached to
it with dates…this is a memorial to a 7 year old boy named Lalo Antone who died
in 2014. A Google search turned up an
obituary listing family members and very little else.
I still have the pictures from last year’s
trip on my computer so when we got back to camp I compared last year’s picture
to this year’s. The addition of
Spiderman piques my curiosity.
At the push of a button on
Zeus’ handgrip I can get a temperature reading. Today it indicated that it was
86o when we were cruising along IR 15. Not bad…not bad at all. 😎 It was windy throughout the day and the sun
went behind a cloud a time or two…great day for riding!!
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Today’s miles: 137
Total miles: 392
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