Cruising through the town of Ajo on our way back to the park we spotted one of the adorable Gambel’s quail darting across the road – too fast to get a photo, but it was fun to see one with its little plume bobbing. We spotted a number of other birds unique to the region as well – gila woodpeckers, phainopepla (try and say that three times fast), cactus wren, and roadrunners. I didn’t bring the long lens so it was hard to photograph many of them, but they were a treat to see.

Another rare find was a “cristate” or “crested” saguaro cactus – no one could tell us what causes the unique growth.

The more we explored, the more we returned to the ranger station to ask questions. It was fun to learn about things like why saguaro arms sometimes droop – it’s caused by cold temperatures causing cellular damage where the arm joins the main body, followed by rain or snow. The cactus drinks up the extra water and the increased weight of the arm(s) can’t be supported by the damaged joint(s). The upturn at the end of the arm signals new growth.

Some of the drooped arms made a cactus look like a person gesturing… such as “honey, please…”

…or the ballerina.

Another favorite desert plant was the ocotillo – a large shrub (not a cactus) that looks like a bunch of sticks. If it gets moisture it will quickly sprout leaves all over its branches, as well as a red blossom on the tip. When water is scarce it drops its leaves and hunkers down waiting for moisture again. It’s an interesting survival adaptation.

We bounced along a 4WD park road that runs right along the US-Mexican border. Besides the checkpoints on the main roads, we saw a few border patrol officers and some sensor emplacements to monitor the border. Interesting.

This part of the park had some abandoned mines, and we hiked in to see one that mined (primarily) copper, given the color of the rocks nearby.

We left a lot more that begs to be explored, so we’ve added Organ Pipe to our list of places to return to… a beautiful part of the Sonoran desert.

We camped north of Organ Pipe National Monument in the town of Ajo, Arizona, and as we headed back down to the park for Day 2 of exploration, we stumbled upon the “Sonoran Shindig” going on in the Ajo town square. It was well worth a stop!

Various groups danced in traditional costumes, the music was great fun, and we checked out some of the booths. A number of state and federal park and wildlife organizations were there to answer questions, and we found out about a rare chance to see the sunset from the top of Childs Mountain overlooking the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge later that evening. We met some Air Force Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) guys from Luke AFB – awesome.

It was also interesting to see different attitudes about barriers along the US-Mexican border. There were some humanitarian groups concerned about the number of refugees dying in the desert, wildlife people concerned about disrupted migration patterns for animals, and native groups whose land exist on both sides of the border.

We were anxious to get back down to the Organ Cactus National Monument – we wanted to hike up to Bull Pasture and the day was getting warmer. The hike was a bit steeper than we expected, but the views were well worth the effort!

In addition to the organ pipe and saguaro cactus, we saw lots of cholla. Some were starting to produce fruit…

…some hosting a nest for birds…

…and some providing camouflage for Jim. Just don’t get close since some cholla like to try to hitch a ride.

More Mexican poppies were in bloom along this trail, a sure sign of the rain/snow that fell on the park the week before.

And when we got back to the truck, this canyon towhee hopped around and puffed up at me – I don’t know why, but he sure was cute.

We hustled down the mountain so we could get back to Ajo and meet up with the ranger from the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge for the sunset view. A group of us drove in a caravan up Childs Mountain just outside of Ajo, through the gates normally locked because the Refuge shares the mountain with the Air Force, as you can see by the radar dome on the far left. Sweeping views of the landscape kept changing as the sun dropped lower…

…until the sun set. I wish I had a conch horn to blow.

From Phoenix we headed south – almost to the Mexican border – following the advice of friends to visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We loved it… it’s a really special place, and I’ll wax poetic about the park for more than one post – it was THAT beautiful. So here are some photos from just our first day’s exploration.

We listened to a Ranger lecture about the park, hearing about the incredibly rare snow that they had the week before (above 4000′). The park is already way ahead on precipitation for the year. After the lecture we headed back out to hike the Arch Canyon trail. The views were sublime…

…made all the more beautiful by the Mexican poppies in bloom.

Jim spotted a horned lizard – if he hadn’t been moving he would have been invisible to us.

Some of the cactus were just starting to bloom…

…and this prickly pear cactus was a little reminder that love can sometimes hurt!

We were reminded about the park’s proximity to the Mexican border by the Border Patrol checkpoint on the park road, as well as signs like this.

Luckily, we didn’t spot any “bad hombres”. Instead we saw forests of saguaro and organ pipe cactus, sweeping vistas, and a beautiful sunset.

And now for something completely different…

Jim wanted to zip up to Phoenix for a day to visit the Musical Instrument Museum. Now, I love music and am always interested in the various instruments, but of all the ways we could spend a day in a different state… I wasn’t overly excited. I was fabulously WRONG. The MIM is AMAZING, and we could have easily filled two days enjoying it!

It’s a “living” museum, with collections from literally all over the world… every country.

Each museum visitor gets a set of headphones connected to a little radio you can clip to your belt. As you approach any of the hundreds of TV screens, the audio fades in and you can listen to interviews and performances that are just wonderful.

I can’t remember which country, but one of them didn’t have adequate access to brass so they created equivalent brass instruments from bamboo. They sounded pretty good! The bottom line is that music is a universal language, and it seems that it’s something that human beings all need to speak in one way or another. What struck me was how common certain instruments were around the world, from vastly different climates and cultures such as bagpipes, guitars/lutes and zithers.

The Mechanical Music Gallery was enchanting – player pianos, music boxes, late 19th century singing birds, and a few orchestrions (that still work), among other treasures.

A special exhibit called “The Electric Guitar – Inventing an American Icon” is going on at the MIM right now (through September 15) – if you have any interest in guitars you MUST SEE IT! Wow. Photographs just don’t convey the breadth and depth of this exhibit, with about 80 different electric guitars and amps, as well as other instruments that have been electrified beginning in the 1930s.

There were samples of electric guitar music from all genres spanning almost 90 years, with explanations and interviews and iconic performances.

We spent the entire day and had to race through the upstairs galleries because we just ran out of time, wishing we had another day to savor it all. This last photo is of a custom guitar built by Paul Reed Smith (PRS) in Annapolis, Maryland – our friend Jim’s favorite brand…