Road Trip: Hanging out in the Desert: Day Six

We awoke at dawn, the moment the sun crept through the screen of the tent. At a picnic table among the cacti, we sat and ate chocolate chip muffins and drank our Red Bull. Camp was quickly torn down and packed into the car, and off we went to Saguaro National Park. The drive was quick, ten minutes to the park entrance. Once we made it in, we greased up with SPF 50 sunblock and filled our camelbacks. After another quick drive over washboard dirt road, we arrived at our jump off point for our hike. It was a serene walk over a dusty trail surrounded by saguaro cactus, teddy bear cactus, and other various desert plant.

Once we finished the hike, we hopped back into the car and roared south. Through a landscape devoid of anything other than the occasional homeland security checkpoint, sagebrush, and cacti, we headed to the Mexican border. Eventually the speed limit fell, and the amount of traffic rose; we were in Nogales. A parking spot was found: four dollars a day, cheaper than parking near Pearl Street. I grabbed my pack, Margaret her Mokona, and we headed for the border. Following signs emblazoned with "Mexico this Way", "Boarder to the Left" we walked through swinging metal gate shaped of a giant comb, allowing traffic South but not North.

The Mexican Nogales was a series of shops, all selling the same overpriced trinkets. It would have been an amazing wonderland if I drank tequila, needed discount Mexican pharmaceuticals (god knows the quality of this stuff), or cooked with lots of Vanilla (frankly, my only regret from heading to Nogales was that I didn't buy some). We walked a bit through the town, eventually deciding that looking at shops all selling the same things that we weren't remotely interesting in purchasing was boring and headed North. The line to cross the boarder was almost a block long, as if it were some amazing night club frequented by tourists looking to get out of the sun. Eventually, we were able to creep North far enough to reach the actual boarder. After a quick discussion with the official who wanted to know what I bought in Mexico (nothing) and I replied "More clutter is the last thing I need." My passport was swiped through the machine and we were on our way.

We had to go North to make our next destination, and went through a checkpoint I saw on the way down. I slowed to a stop and rolled down my window. The officer inquired if I were an American citizen, I replied "yes I am sir", and he waved me through wishing me a great day. I guess two college age Caucasians driving an Xterra filled with camping equipment and snacks with two dusty mountain bikes on the back doesn't look like a family of Mexicans trying to sneak across the border.

We headed West again, and slid into Why, New Mexico as the sun was setting. We stayed at an RV park ran by the town. It was very quiet, minus the semi regular helicopter going over, and the sirens of the boarder patrol flying down the highway. Again, we fell asleep to the stars over our head.