February 13

We went cruising Ajo today, looking for a place to fly the Radian.  We found their regional park where you can dry camp (they have sewage dump and well) for $18/week or $25/month.  Very dry, though; it was dusty even without a wind.  It also had a roping area, complete with corrals, horses, and lots of lights so you could rope at night.  Nancy spotted what we thought was r/c planes cranking and banking, to the west.  We drove over that way until we realized, nope, not R/C, that was A-10s in the distance, cranking steep banks and diving down very low for a run.  

Checked out the airport, where someone was flying a hang-glider trike, and the golf course, which is rumoured to have great breakfasts.  There were plenty of places to fly, just no where to land.  Where there weren’t low shrubs, the bare ground was sharp, coarse gravel and rocks.  If you weren’t adept at catching your glider when landing, and I am not, at best the belly would be shredded every landing.

Then we found the only open green space in town, the baseball diamond.  We unloaded the glider and chairs, and we were starting to assemble the Radian when the groundskeeper drove up and warned us he was about to turn on the sprinklers.  

OK, let’s go see the big hole.  Ajo had a very active copper mine for many years, and the resulting open pit (and the tailing piles created) are quite impressive.  The interpretive centre was closed, however, and it has the only really good viewpoint, since the public is kept well back from the edge by fences everywhere else.

Back we went to La Siesta, for a swim and snooze.  We went to Estrella’s for an early supper, one of the two restaurants in town.  Back to the RV park to load Kirk and the glider, and off to the baseball park.  A lovely warm, calm evening, it would be a perfect night to get in the maiden flight on the new glider.  Except, Friday night, the field was covered in young men in uniforms, warming up for the big game.  Imagine, maintaining and actually using the baseball field for baseball.

Sorry about the lack of pictures.  We have taken a vow to take more (or at least some).