We became very lax in our duties, and it has really been some time since we made entries to our travel blog. Our visit to the Shadow Ridge RV resort in Ajo has been uneventful - almost to the point of being boring.
On our first day we encountered a man who was washing an RV situated a couple of sites from ours. Since we have not washed our RV since our stop in Mesquite, we thought it was a good time for a wash and to have the motorhome waxed. The price was reasonable and the guy arrived the next day (Tuesday) and made our motorhome look shiny and new. No more desert dust and a wax coating was due.
We made a couple of trips to Gila Bend to pick up Amazon packages. These trips were uneventful even though we had to pass through a US Border Services checkpoint about 10 miles south of Gila Bend. I guess we didn't look like smugglers (human or otherwise) and we passed through both trips without issue.
The Shadow Ridge RV park asked us to make sure that we were diligent in keeping the laundry and washroom doors closed. Apparently they have problems with wild pigs - javelinas, that get into the buildings looking for food. We kept our eyes open throughout our stay and did not see any of these javelinas in the campground, but Baxter and Dave encountered three when walking down a nearby street. Two of them came out of the ditch and appeared to be as surprised as we were. After skirting around us, the larger one stopped, and appeared a little aggressive until the smaller one was some distance away, before both disappeared behind a nearby house. We continued up the street, and looked back as a third javelina came out of the ditch in the same place and raced across the road to join the other two. We've never seen a javelina before, and they were a little large than expected - probably about 18 inches tall at the shoulder and covered with long coarse looking grey/black hair. Unfortunately they all disappeared and didn't wait for their pictures to be taken.
When we left home in January, we neglected to make sure we had sufficient heartworm preventative medication for Baxter. The box we brought with us only had a single dose, and we need to give him one each month. Plus, we discovered that the product our Canadian veterinarian prescribed is not available for sale in the USA. We stopped at a veterinarian in Blythe, CA one day, hoping to get something similar for heartworm prevention, but was told that they had to take a heartworm test blood test before providing any such medication. It seemed unnecessary given the fact that he was already taking the medication. Rather than paying for a test (and waiting who knows how long for the result), we started looking to see if we could source a supply online. A quick search found a website that promised to ship the exact same product we were using within a day. We filled in the online form, paid with credit card, and arranged to have it delivered to General Delivery in Ajo. Since we were spending 6 days in the park, and 7 days in Ajo, it seemed like a great plan. But, we noticed afterward that the website we ordered from is in the UK. Deliveries take 10 to 15 business days. We checked at the Ajo post office several times - and no package. By the time the 20th rolled around, we didn't have a package, and resigned ourselves to the fact that we screwed up and the package was lost somewhere. Fortunately the Ajo post office gave us a phone number so that we could call and check from time to time after we leave town.
We did find out that the town of Ajo has a rich mining history - much like many areas in Arizona. There is an old pit mine site just south of town with a lookout and a small information building. We took the short drive up from our campsite. The mine is no longer in production, but a new company purchased it recently and is performing some tests on rocks taken out of the site to see if there is still enough copper, silver or gold to make it worthwhile restarting the mine. When we saw the deep hole and all the excess material pushed over the edge of the mountain it reminded us of what the potential coal mine on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies might look like. Not a pretty sight.
In downtown Ajo they have a wonderful town square, with park/fountain in the middle and stores and shops lining the sides. Besides the post office on one side there is a small coffee shop that looked popular with the locals and winter visitors. On the opposite side there was a small market and a little cafe where we stopped for lunch one day. It was just a basic cafe with a few tables - widely spaced likely due to COVID-19. The food was fresh and tasty.
Ajo has limited retail stores, but we did find a wonderful location that was a combination IGA and Ace Hardware. It provided almost everything you might need, from groceries to hardware and lumber. Interestingly, the hardware section was to the left as you walked in the front door, but it was circled by the grocery store. It was an odd arrangement - milk coolers on the wall, then about 4 rows of hardware, then more groceries.
On our last night we stopped at a restaurant just a short walk from our campsite. The food was fresh but lacked any kind of seasoning - was very bland and not what we expected for Mexican food.
Our Ajo stay was uneventful and almost boring. At one point we thought about driving to Tucson for a day, but realized it was a 2 hour drive each way. Since we were planning to soon head west to the Yuma area, we decided to leave Tucson for another trip.
