Arizona 1Squiggles on a Map
It's only a few squiggles on a map, but when those squiggles are switchbacks on the side of a mountain, look out! It had been many years since I'd tackled switchbacks in a car--a few decades, actually, so I'd forgotten how hairy an experience it can be. My youngest daughter was driving, and we were sight-seeing Cochise County in sunny southeast Arizona while visiting her son and his wife, who moved there recently.
The dirt road was single lane with two-foot shoulders on each side and an occasional turnout to allow for return traffic. The problem is, as Sue said to me, "There are no railings! No barriers! No trees or brush to catch the car if we accidentally slide off the road!" (The railing in the photo was at the overlook). Worst of all, there was no room anywhere to turn around and go back if you chickened out, which we both were inclined to do about halfway up. When we rounded a few sharp blind corners, she said a few other words I won't repeat. But we made it safely to the Montezuma Pass Overlook, and the car doors opened to a panoramic view of the San Rafael Valley on the U.S. side and the San Pedro Valley on the Mexican side (top photo). The mountain pass sits just inside the United States border, you see. The border fence is just barely discernable at the end of the grassy plain in the top photo.
It was a scenic explosion, an unexcelled heart-tugger for anyone who loves God's gorgeous, vast natural plains in this world. We looked around in wonder for several minutes. As a plus, three border patrol officers on duty there answered a few questions this inquisitive mind quickly conjured up. Yes, they do find smugglers crossing the border illegally daily, one said--two or three and up to six a day generally. Yes, they are empowered to arrest them, but any National Guard serving on the border can only refer their findings to the patrol. They had a truck on site, with two generator-powered lamps, one for night vision and the other a heat sensor. "The heat sensors are very accurate," the officer said. "They can pinpoint exactly where any humans beings are."
Stay tuned for another adventurous travel post next Tuesday. Cochise County just has to be one of the most colorful places in the West.
Loving our time in Arizona,
Margaret
The dirt road was single lane with two-foot shoulders on each side and an occasional turnout to allow for return traffic. The problem is, as Sue said to me, "There are no railings! No barriers! No trees or brush to catch the car if we accidentally slide off the road!" (The railing in the photo was at the overlook). Worst of all, there was no room anywhere to turn around and go back if you chickened out, which we both were inclined to do about halfway up. When we rounded a few sharp blind corners, she said a few other words I won't repeat. But we made it safely to the Montezuma Pass Overlook, and the car doors opened to a panoramic view of the San Rafael Valley on the U.S. side and the San Pedro Valley on the Mexican side (top photo). The mountain pass sits just inside the United States border, you see. The border fence is just barely discernable at the end of the grassy plain in the top photo.
It was a scenic explosion, an unexcelled heart-tugger for anyone who loves God's gorgeous, vast natural plains in this world. We looked around in wonder for several minutes. As a plus, three border patrol officers on duty there answered a few questions this inquisitive mind quickly conjured up. Yes, they do find smugglers crossing the border illegally daily, one said--two or three and up to six a day generally. Yes, they are empowered to arrest them, but any National Guard serving on the border can only refer their findings to the patrol. They had a truck on site, with two generator-powered lamps, one for night vision and the other a heat sensor. "The heat sensors are very accurate," the officer said. "They can pinpoint exactly where any humans beings are."
Stay tuned for another adventurous travel post next Tuesday. Cochise County just has to be one of the most colorful places in the West.
Loving our time in Arizona,
Margaret
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