Four Corners, U.S.A~Letterboxing

We arrived at the desolate and remote area of the Four Corners Region of the United States at 8:30pm, on our way from Utah to New Mexico.

The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Tribal Lands in the Southwest United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.

It is located on the Colorado Plateau west of U.S. Highway 160, 40 miles southwest of Cortez, Colorado. It is centered at 36°59′56.31532″N, 109°02′42.62019″W.

Not only is the point a perpendicular four-corner intersection, it is the only point in the United States shared by four states. A Ute Indian reservation abuts the point in Colorado. The landmark is run by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department and is a popular tourist attraction complete with Native American food and craft sales.
We arrived after it closed, so we just grabbed a photo with a gorgeous sunset in the background. While there a cute little stray tabby kitten ran into a hole. We tried to rescue it, but an Australian family got there first. We told them they should name him "Four Corners"! hehe

Nearby, Jackson and I searched for the "Four Corners" letterbox. And even though it was almost completely dark, Jackson managed to find it! Awesome!

Afterwards we drove home the rest of the way non-stop, getting there about 1am, with me at the wheel. When we arrived home we took care of all of our critters (guinea pigs, bunnies and kitties) and then fell into bed exhausted!
What a fantastic trip full of wonderful experiences and memories we will never forget!

Arizona/New Mexico Border

After leaving Clifton, AZ, we headed east to Coronado and Apache National Forests and to the border with New Mexico.

The views all around were spectacular and the twisting drive through the unique, nd cooler vegetation as we rose in elevation were simply amazing. (Click on photo for a larger view)
Driving this route over the mountains and hills of Arizona was like entering New Mexico through a majestic Gateway.

Clifton, AZ~Letterboxing

After traveling through some of Arizona's absolutely breathtaking mountainous landscape in the eastern central part of the state, we made a side-trip to an old rugged mining town named Clifton....to find a letterbox, of course!

What a fascinating little gem, off-the-beaten trail! The town reminded us a bit of Bisbee, except less populated and not as 'touristy'. There were houses perched all over the canyon walls and train tracks that twisted all through the narrow canyon town.
Unfortunately, we didn't find the letterbox. The letterbox area, near a shrine, seemed to be used for drinking, and there were too many sharp rocks and an aggressive Mesquite tree. (Ouch!) We also moved a rock and saw a tiny scorpion napping there. (Yikes!)

But the lure of the letterbox box brought us to visit a unique place we never would have visited otherwise. Thanks AZRoadie!

A window of the old jail carved into the rock cliffs of Clifton.(Click on the pic for a close-up of the plaque)
A very old train to explore. Cool stuff!
Jen, Jax and Jem had a ball on this train engine! Choo choo!
The entryway into the North CLifton Cliff Jail. There were stairs that led down deep into the jail. We would have explored but didn't have a flashlight with us. Breaking the law and staying in this dismal jail would have been a dark, dank experience. Great place to explore today, though!
What a happy girl!

Safford Cotton~Letterboxing

After leaving the Lady Bug Peak area, we continued our journey north towards the town of Safford to find the Safford Cotton letterbox. Great stamp, but odd place to hide a box.

This box caused us to have a discussion about the places that letterboxers choose to hide letterboxes.
We tend to like hunting for and placing letterboxes in unique, special, enjoyable locations. Locations that are interesting and mostly pleasant to explore.

It seems some letterboxes, a number of those we found in AZ, are placed in areas with no respite from searing heat, on non-interesting, boring walks. Or worse, in ugly, dirty, locations with nothing interesting to look at, oftentimes protected by biting, stinging, scratching, sharp plants or critters. And at the very worst, letterboxes that are placed in these types of places, but also include a very, very long walk, but could have been simple, easy drive-bys instead!

Just a few letterboxing peeves we have been festering.

Lady Bug Peak~Letterboxing

After Willcox, AZ, we headed north. We drove a little bit off the main road towards Bonita, AZ so we could find the Lady Bug Peak Letterbox. Cute stamp and great views here!

Willcox Playa~Letterboxing

After leaving Benson, AZ, and traveling west, we stopped in Willcox, AZ to find a letterbox at the Wildlife and Bird Viewing area. Great hand-carved stamp!

Goodbye AZ Friends!

Sybelle, Arnold, Ingo and Bibiana arrived home late Monday night. We were, as usual late owls, so we were up to greet them. But we were also so excited to see them again, too. Jackson and Jeremiah stayed up till morning playing video games and hanging out catching up with Ingo, who had just spent 2 weeks backpacking on the Applachian Trail with an Outward Bound 'Coming of Age' camp.

The next morning, we ended up getting a very late start for New Mexico because we had such a nice time visiting with our friends.

Sybelle and I, in her kitchen.

Kitty Love

Our new kitten, Javelina and our friends' cat, Snowy had a beautiful relationship while we were in Arizona. We caught them grooming each other, jumping and playing together, too.

Arachnids!

The last days in Arizona at our friends' home we had the pleasure of viewing several small tarantulas. These were fascinating to watch close-up and in the wild.

This little guy crawled onto the patio while the kids were creating bike and wagon transportation. After enjoying him a little bit, we gently urged him to head back out to the yard, but he seemed happier on the patio with us. There were also alot of juicy bugs flitting around the patio lights.
This spider was next to the house. We found him after lifting the doggie pool. Cool critter!

Hey Mickey!

While in Tucson we stopped in for a visit with one of John's good Lacrosse buddies, Mickey Miles. Mickey has been the Head Lacrosse Coach at University of Arizona for many years. He's also an amazing artist and interesting person. Hard to believe that he's 62 years old, but he has a super way with children, and our kids were pretty enamored of him. It was great to spend some time visiting, too.
Mickey's house is full of all sorts of 'conversation starter' items, but most of all, it's his creatively beautiful art that stands out. Even the stucco walls around his pool are covered with handsome murals (including lacrosse accents, of course!)

After our visit, John drove to the airport to fly back to ABQ, and the kids and I went to look for the "5 Minutes of my Life" letterbox. We were the First Finders, but the letterbox placers are sort of new and didn't leave a certificate with their new box. But it was still a fun find on the way back to Benson.

Jackson with Mickey in front of an amazing animated, rocking, iron horse art piece.

Jenna in front of a Native American lacrosse warrior panel designed piece.
Even Mickey's bathroom has some interesting stuff in it! Check out the cool 'rock' soap!
An amazing 3-D wall art that Mickey created.(There are a number of these around his house, too)
This one he created with a competitive lacrosse game 'western' theme. Fun!
Mickey and John standing beside another piece of interesting southwestern-themed lacrosse art: Kokopelli Lacrosse Dude!

Ha:sañ Bak Festival~Letterboxing

A nice surprise occurred last night! John flew in from Phoenix, after trying to get back to Albuquerque from Charlotte, NC. Because his plane had maintenance, he missed his flight to ABQ, and decided to fly into Tucson, instead of spending the night in Phoenix.

So, today we decided to do some fun stuff together in Vail, AZ attending the Tohono O'odham Ha:sañ Bak Festival. *And* finding two letterboxes in the park and nearby ('Limestone' letterbox and 'Rincon Valley' letterbox). What a great day!

The Tohono O'odham are a Native American tribe who live in the Sonoran Desert and northwest Mexico. "Tohono O'odham" means "People of the Desert."
Ha:sañ Bak signals the beginning of the rainmaking ceremony. Ha:sañ is the O'odham word for saguaro cactus. Ha:sañ Bak means "the saguaro is ready." Before harvesting the first fruits, Tohono O'odham bless themselves with the saguaro fruit. The fruit is rubbed on the body near the heart. The fruit picker asks for a clear mind and a good heart before going out into the desert.

The saguaro fruits are called bahidaj. When ripe, the fruit opens to expose the sweet red meat and hundreds of tiny black seeds. Harvesters knock or pull the fruits off the tops of the tall saguaros. The Tohono O'odham place the first fruit picked on the ground with the red side facing the sun once the red meat of the bahidaj is removed. This signifies that the sun will draw up the moisture from the fruit into the sky, to make the clouds and the rain.

So, this fun festival held in the Posta Quemado Ranch at Colossal Cave, was all about celebrating the Saguaro! We were there to learn it's legends, lore, and natural history.
While there, we enjoyed Native O'odham dancers and we listened to traditional music (and participated, too!). There were also traditional basket-making demonstrations, and tastings of freshly-made saguaro syrup and fry bread!

The entrance to Colossal Cave Park and Posta Quemada Ranch.

A Tradional Eagle Dance.
The story behind this dance involves the process of growing up, just like a baby eagle does when it is finally old enough to fly out from the nest and start it's own adult life.
We felt very privileged to witness this particular dance and to learn more about the Native American way of life and their beliefs.
Afterwards a flute player performed. His music, recently performed in Wash. DC, was quite moving and beautiful.
Then all of the adults were invited to come forth and participate in making music. We were asked to release our inhibitions and to be more like children. Children, who haven't had years and years of society's expectations and criticism's, which causes most adults to lose their spontaneity. It was alot of fun standing up there and participating with others, just enjoying the entire experience.
Jeremiah decided to join me as he is such a fan of all music.
Our Native American Story Teller narrated a magical musical story journey, so that each of us played our instruments at a specific moment and then all together, sort of in waves, but all sounding quite smooth together.
I was tickled to be given a Rain stick. We have one at home and it was one of my favorite sounds. After our group's 'performance', we even received loud and happy applause. Fun!
Afterwards, we attended a fascinating talk on the Natural History of Saguaros.
(Have I mentioned before that we LOVE Saguaros?!). The talk covered the mating/fertilizing/propogation of saguaros, how/where they grow, their life-cycle, what species of animals depend on the saguaros and what animals assist Saguaros(doves/birds, bats). It was so interesting that we all sat transfixed for almost the entire 45 minute talk. The speaker even showed us a Saguaro that he grew from a seed 20 years ago! He also gave away Saguaro seeds and encouraged everyone to try growing saguaros at home. Great stuff today!
The Saguaro Fruit. Very, very sweet with hundreds of tiny seeds, similar to a strawberry's seeds. Yum!

San Pedro River~Letterboxing

Today we drove down to Sierra Vista to visit the San Pedro River Riparian area, do some hiking for a letterbox, which we found on a hiking trail beside the San Pedro River (Yay!), and learn more about hummingbirds by watching the experts catch, band, study and release these little 'jewels of the sky'.

We weren't disappointed.

It was a wonderfully cloudy day with temps in the upper 80's, perfect for a cooler hike.
The first hummer caught was just a 2-3 month old baby, weighing about the same as a penny! Sherri showed us how to tell it's age (by the coloring, ridges on the beak, and absence of molting) and sex (shape of tail feather~male is pointed rather than rounded, along with a mature bird's coloring)
Then the hummer was banded. Many hummingbirds come back to the same place year after year. Banding is a terrific way to keep track of birds.
A volunteer records all of each bird's specific information.
Each hummingbird is weighed in a brilliant handmade contraption that allows the bird to hang safely in a little piece of mesh fabric
An adult Black Chin Hummingbird held before being released
A baby black chin hummer just before being released.
We learned so many fascinating facts about hummingbirds today.
This amazing hummingbird trap was built by the volunteers and uses batteries and a remote control to cause the mesh to drop down over a feeding hummingbird. It's really quite brilliant.

Independence Day in Arizona!

Benson, AZ, population: just under 6,000.

This year we are spending Independence Day in Benson, AZ. Early, this morning(before the temps reached 100 degrees) Benson residents came together to watch their annual July 4th Parade. (We unfortunately missed it because we decided to sleep in). But we did get to enjoy many of the patriotic floats as we drove down Main street, on our way to the City's park to participate in more of Benson's July 4th activities.

Along with bands and music, there was a little train and bouncers for the kids, sports activities, arts and crafts, and food to purchase.

All of the area firefighters show up to compete in HUGE Water Battles, using powerful Fire hoses, of course.
It seems that all of the Benson residents show up to enjoy the 'residual effects' of these battles.

We were overjoyed to participate, being that, by then, the temperature had already risen well over a hundred degrees. In fact, with all the Hydro Weaponry being used in the park...errr...battlefield, it was next to impossible not to get soaked.

We had a blast! We are looking forward to the Fireworks Show tonight!!

Here are some pics of some of the fun.

Every so often, the firetruck would shoot a 'ginormous' flow of water that flew over the entire crowd!
The firemen crews from all over Cochise County, including St. David, Tombstone, Sierra Vista, Benson, Pomerene, etc stood on either side of these two poles, where a large metal barrel was suspended by wire. The object of the game was to push the barrel to your opponents side using only your water power.(By the way, if you click on the picture, you can see a train going by in the bankground. The tracks are next to the park. All day and night we hear the trains cruising through Benson, on their way to the East or West Coasts)
These competitions were pretty exciting to watch, especially since the water somehow always seemed to sway off target, getting all the spectators soaked. Sybel warned me of how wet we would get, so I was sure to not wear a white t-shirt (wink-wink). Sure enough, we were all happily drenched!
There were at least 8 of these Water Battles. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.
Jackson didn't believe me when I told him before we arrived that he might want to wear his bathing trunks instead. Wherever the water was, he was, too.
I took this picture, just seconds before the water came down and got Jenna and I drenched!
Aren't mud puddles fun?!
Jackson coming down one of the 'airslides'
And again....(and again, and again)
What is the 4th of July without Cotton Candy?! Yummy! (Jenna refused to eat it, probably because the stuff was so feathery and made her sticky. She loves sweet stuff normally, but she wouldn't touch the cotton candy! hehe)
Can't forget the real reason we celebrate Independance Day.