theboondork's RV blog

Not much going on in Ajo, and that's the best thing about Ajo

3/10/2023

Clicking the pics is easy today.

My first Ajo sunset. Not enough clouds to make for a pretty sunset, but this is the first sunset for me in a while so I felt I should memorialize the moment.

And the town's name is pronounced; Ah-ho which means garlic, if you're not familiar with Spanish, of which I am not. But I am familiar with the Internet.

A very peaceful night's sleep last night. I could hear some coyotes singing off in the distance, and nothing puts me to sleep quicker than listening to coyote's howl.

There won't be much going on in my life while here at Ajo. I've taken pictures of almost everything in my area of interest, and not much changes in this little town. I don't want to go wandering out in the desert like I normally would, this being a prime smuggling area nowadays, with a lot of the border patrol agents that are stationed here having been moved to other areas to babysit the illegals and get them located deeper into the country, because the little towns in Arizona no longer have any more money to feed them, clothe them, pay for a place for them to live, pay for their medical care, which in some cases is substantial, and educate their children, opening up areas like Ajo for the cartels.

And I won't be going to the store very often, considering the prices I saw yesterday. I may go to the store, but it will just be to look at things I used to be able to buy. College kids that can barely afford to eat live on Ramen for long periods of time. I wonder if a boondocker can do that. I know it won't replace red beans and rice, but being able to feed yourself for 50 cents a day is very appealing.

Theboondork

This A-10 Warthog flew over me this morning. He's still carrying some ordinance on the pylons so I guess he's not done yet doing whatever he was doing.

I get a lot of pictures of airplanes leaving. By the time I get outside with my camera, at the speed these guys are going, even when I can hear them coming there usually gone by the time I get out the door.

Patches of Mexican poppies dot the sides of the mountain. I took this picture in the morning before the poppies had opened up.

I've still got a few left over pictures from Picacho Peak State Park, and there's not much to take pictures of around here, so I will try to use up my leftovers.

Fishhook barrel Cactus. You can put your hand in it, you just can't get it back out again.

6 Comments

Judith

3/10/2023 07:53:22 pm

I guess I'm curious about what Ajo itself looks like. Of course, I could look it up on the internet. So don't feel obligated the next time you go to town. Ha. Impressive photo of the plane which does not look like it's going fast, but probably was.

Tom

3/10/2023 09:10:31 pm

Yes, that plane is going very fast. When I hear the roar of the plane, I grab my camera and run outside. And when I get outside, if I can actually see the plane, I have about five seconds to get a picture before it disappears out of sight.

I was thinking of going into town Sunday to take a few pictures, so your interest might give me another reason for doing so. Just as you might imagine it's kind of a poor town. It was doing pretty good when the copper mines were working, the copper ore was there for the taking, the miners were making good money, and trains came to the town to haul away the copper ore.

But the story is the same for most mining towns whether it's in the Arizona desert like Ajo, or the mountains of Colorado like Cripple Creek where my businesses were. The mines play out, the people looking for a brighter future pack up and leave, and the folks that don't have the money, ambition, or skills, stay behind and eke out a living as best they can, and if they can't; it turns into a ghost town.

The Arizona deserts and the mountains of Colorado are full of little towns of nothing but deserted buildings, where boundless hopes and dreams held the towns together. But when the gold or the copper plays out, nothing is left but a hole in the ground big enough to hold everybody's dreams of a bright future.

Tom

3/10/2023 07:59:25 pm

So I googled Ajo images..looks like a downtown historic plaza, about 3,500 people living there, and a copper mine nearby. There weren't very many interesting photos. You could do better. But maybe you're not interested either.

3/10/2023 09:17:12 pm

The pictures of the nice things you see in Ajo were all built when the copper mine was producing and the money was flowing. Those were Ajo's salad days, and it's been going downhill ever since.

There are basically two things that keep Ajo alive, as far as I can tell. A large contingent of border patrol agents and a lot of RV'ers that spend the winter here. But both of those things have been impacted in a detrimental way by our current border policies. Crime is on the increase, which scares away some of the winter visitors, and the expense of taking care of hundreds of illegal aliens, that are a bottomless pit of financial and medical need, keeps this small town struggling to keep even the basic services functioning for the citizens of the town.

Tom

Linda

3/11/2023 03:16:06 pm

Fortunately red beans and rice together make a complete protein so you get your nutrients from just eating that.

3/11/2023 04:09:13 pm

That's good to know Linda, and they taste great. I just wish there were more Popeyes around so getting some red beans and rice wouldn't be so difficult. I've tried other red beans and rice, including trying to make it myself, but nothing tastes like Popeyes.

Tom

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Not much going on in Ajo, and that's the best thing about Ajo

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