We are still headed to President Hypatia's place in the Ozarks. We've been on the road two months, but our presidential invitation is for July 3rd so we need to wander west a bit more before going to meet her. What to expect? Librarian? Riverboat queen? Gardener?

Tombstone, Arizona – 11 April, 2006

We started the morning at Karstner Caverns. These were discovered by cavers Mark and Gary in 1974. They kept the discovery secret for fourteen years until they could work out a deal with the Arizona State Legislature in 1988 to make the cave a highly protected state park. The State spent eleven years developing the caves and then opened them as a new state park in 1999. You enter the caves through a series of four stainless steel airlocks. Between the second and third doors you are misted heavily to reduce the amount of lint you leave in the cave. Computers monitor cave humidity and ground and air temperature to ensure that the environment maintains the same baseline that was established during the pre-construction period. The cave lights are turned on and off as each group moves though the cave. 24 groups of 20 people are allowed in the caves daily. The cave is closed from 15 April to 15 October to avoid disturbing the migrating bats. Misting devices have been set up at strategic locations to maintain the cave humidity at 99 percent. No pictures are allowed.

The cave itself is incredible and unspoiled. We've seen Luray, Carlsbad and Mammoth and some grottos in Italy and this one is world-class. Delicate soda straws over 20 feet in length grow 1/64 of an inch a year. One formation called Kubla Khan rises five stories.

In the afternoon, we drove the motorcycle 30 miles to Tombstone. It's a highly commercialised little town. The Tombstone County Courthouse museum and state park was worth an hour. I had forgotten that Doc Holiday's girlfriend was named Big-Nose Kate. The shoot-out at the OK Corral was a brutal 30-second affair that left three dead and three wounded. Doc used a sawed-off shotgun and he and the three Earp brothers killed three cowboys. Ike Clanton begged for his life and ran away. Later, he took $1,000 to kill Wyatt and immediately left for California.

Here are some Tombstone pictures.

Nogales, Mexico – 12 April, 2006

We stop at the Nogales, Arizona visitor center to get information about entering Nogales, Mexico. I push the button to restart the engine and the motorcycle is dead. The tools and battery are under the seat and it takes a 10mm wrench to remove the seat. They don't include kick-starters on these things anymore. I push-start the bike and the engine fires easily.

We drive to the border and park and walk over the border though a turnstile. There in no line and no official greeters going in. However, there is a line of people extending ten blocks waiting in the hot Mexican sun to cross back to the US. We suspect we've made a mistake.

People come here for prescription drugs and inexpensive medical and dental work. The lady at the visitor center tells us her aunt had all her teeth pulled and a complete set of replacement implants done for $2,000. That would probably run $30,000 across the border. The streets are packed with small shops offering belts, jewelry, boots, motorcycle saddlebags and other objects. Every shopkeeper implores us to enter. Agents hand out cards for surgical face lifts. I need one, but we're on a schedule.

I buy a hand-crafted belt adorned with hand-painted panthers, sunrises, eagles and rattlesnakes and we order chicken tacos for lunch. Mrs Phred worries about getting bird flu from the chicken. I tell her not to worry because bird flu is eliminated if the flesh is well cooked. She shows me that it's pink. I eat all three of mine and one of hers.

We wait in line an hour to re-cross the border and Mrs Phred wonders about bird flu symptoms and says her legs feel weak and she has shortness of breath. A Mexican lady with four children in tow touches Mrs Phred's bicep and admires her muscle tone. One man gets pulled out of line for additional processing in a back room, but they average about three seconds for interviewing each person crossing on foot.

Back in the US, I push-start the cycle again and we drive to our campsite. Back at the Lake Patagonia State Park camp, I put a voltmeter on the battery and it tests right at 12.4 volts. I tighten the connections on the battery and the engine starts right up. I put the little tool kit back in the handlebar saddlebags instead of under the seat.

The Nogales pictures are about what you might expect.

Saguaro National Park (East) – 15 April, 2006

We are camped in saguaro cactus country in the vast Sonoran Desert, about 20 miles west of Tucson. The saguaros are giants, reaching 30 or 40 feet over their 200-year lifespan.

This area has a lot to see. The Davis-Montham air base is in Tucson. The Air Force mothballs obsolete airplanes there because of the desert climate. The Pima Air Museum is next to the airbase. Pima is the largest museum of its type in the world. We plan to hit it on the way out in the morning.

Here are a few Saguaro National Park pictures. There are some interesting saguaro moonlight silhouettes and also a confused coyote hunting in a parking lot.

Kitt Peak Observatory is the largest collection of optical, infra-red, radio and solar telescopes in the world. It's in the dry desert air on a 7,000 foot peak 50 miles from light sources. One scope is four meters in diameter, but there are larger ones elsewhere. We took a tour and snapped a few Kitt Peak pictures.

The Desert Museum, just south of the park, is worth a visit. There are desert animals, minerals and flora on display. We arrived early and were lucky to watch the rattlesnakes swallowing white mice.

Pima Air Museum, Tucson, Arizona – 16 September, 2006

There are 80 acres of aeroplanes on display here. I take pictures and scribble in my notebook for five hours. Many of these aeroplanes evoke a flood of long-dormant memories. They even have a C-124 — it may well be one that took me to Thailand and back. I long to climb up the crew ladder and sit at the navigator's table, but these planes are sealed up and tied down. There is also a beautifully restored B-29. The technological wonder of its time, it cost $600,000 a copy, a $3 billion wartime Cadillac investment. The 250mph jet stream over Japan fouled up plans for high-altitude bombing. Navigator genius Curtis Lemay stood methods on their head by stripping armament and machine guns and sending in waves of these giants and their children crews with 10-pound incendiaries at night, at 500 feet, to set fire to hundreds of thousands of women, children and old men.

The names of these lovely shining birds included:

• Sentimental Journey
• Laden Maiden
• Liberty Belle
• Uninvited Guest
• American Beauty
• Lethal Lady
• Lucky Strike
• Arson, Inc
• Bad Penny
• Blind Date
• Enola Gay

Here are nearly 70 aeroplane pictures, with captions.

We now are in the Lost Dutchman State Park at the base of Superstition Mountain. The coyotes are close and set off the camp dogs with eerie wails and yips. An RV near us is flying the Union Jack and the sun is setting.

The Dutchman came into town with a pocketful of gold nuggets, but failed to return from a second trip. Whether he was done in by Apaches or underground reptiloids is a source of speculation. A couple on a camping trip found a ledge of gold a few years ago, but the husband had a fatal heart attack on the walk back and the wife couldn't find the place again. Many people claim to have had experiences with different types of alien beings inhabiting underground catacombs below these mountains east of Phoenix. Reports of reptilian and "grey type" aliens have increased. Some reported encounters involve reptiloids in black-hooded cloaks using abducted/campers as mind slaves or worse.

Grand Canyon, Arizona – 21 April 2006

Our campground here on the South Rim is old and spacious, full of mature pines. Yesterday we walked the Rim Trail. This trail follows the edge of the canyon for nearly twenty miles. You can peer down over a mile and 1.8 billion years into the past though layers of multi-hued sedimentary rock formed on ancient ocean beds. It's an easy walk, nearly level. We covered about eight miles along the rim, away from the crowds. In places the trail is a ledge, three feet wide, covered in loose rocks. Your first bounce, if you lost your footing, would be 500 feet below. A mountain goat and her offspring brushed past me and bounded down the cliff. I wasn't ready for the close encounter, but took a few long-range photos.

There are places here where tour buses disgorge passengers speaking many languages. These popular spots on the rim are not my favorite places. The average stay in the park is four hours. Many get off the bus, walk through the crowds to the rim, snap some pictures and leave.

Today we took a more ambitious hike down the South Kaibab Trail. The trail descends steeply from 'Ooh Aah' point, dropping 800 feet in 1.8 miles. There are several trails like this here in the park. The trail eventually leads to the Colorado River over a mile below. We passed several mule trains hauling campers to the top who had spent the night camped on the river below. I took a paperback called Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman to read before starting back. Strangely, it was set in the Grand Canyon.

The North Rim, fifteen miles distant, is much less popular because it is harder to get there. It's an additional 250mi drive. We talked to a elderly camper last night who walked the 28 miles from the North Rim, over the Phantom Ranch suspension bridge on the Colorado River and up the 'Bright Angel' trail to the South Rim. He did the hike in three days.

I took a lot of Grand Canyon pictures. I thought about spending another day photographing the same scene every 30 minutes, but my boredom threshold acted up.

Pilgrimage To The Ozarks Archive

Phred

04.05.06 Front Page

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