I actually kept a list. By the time the third weird\/random thing happened I decided it was time to keep tabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It started with the night we genuinely thought the world might be ending. I\u2019d stepped outside for a moment when a wildly bright light in the sky quickly caught my eye. Bright enough it was casting shadows. Yet it seemed to be quite a ways away. We spotted a smoke trail behind it and then another light appeared. And another. We could tell they were moving but very slowly. Was this it? Were we about to get struck by a meteor or a bomb? We were transfixed by these lights\u2026and thoroughly confused. We\u2019d never seen anything even remotely like it before. After about a half an hour outside watching these lights appear, then disappear, then reappear, we went inside and, of course, started Googling. We learned that they were military flares (with parachutes attached) being dropped from planes. They\u2019re used to illuminate battlefields<\/a>. We weren\u2019t far from an Air Force base so this made sense. That doesn\u2019t change the fact though, that for a few minutes in time, we thought that might be it. Poof. Done. You just never know, you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few days later we were out and about and decided to go check out Ajo\u2019s local airport. Random fact: if we\u2019re anywhere near any type of small airport, we go scope it out. Unsurprisingly, it appeared as though little goes on at the Ajo airport. Not much goes on in Ajo at all, so this was what we expected. What caught us off guard, however, were the abandoned travel trailers we stumbled upon on our way out. A line of about 10 new travel trailers, with large rental company decals, were lined up neatly and all plugged in to a running generator. We figured this must be some sort of temporary employee housing but as we drove by it was clear that no one occupied them. Each awning had been ripped and flipped by the wind, no one had been here for some time. But the generator was running. It was odd. And remains a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During our time in Ajo, I would go for a walk every morning for about an hour. I enjoy winter in the desert for there isn\u2019t much to fear in terms of wildlife, snakes, creepy crawlers, etc. Until randomly one day a lady stopped and chatted with Mark as she was walking by. According to her, her friend had encountered a mountain lion a few days prior. To me, this was not mountain lion territory. I could be wrong, but I decided to hold on to that belief as I continued with my morning walks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, however, some random things did occur on my walks. This area has a sign warning campers of illegal immigration and smuggling. Border patrol is active and never once did I feel unsafe. It was interesting though to come across a black water bottle in the bushes. A few days prior, on a hike with Brandon & Claire, we read a sign warning of the illegal activity in the area and to \u201cavoid anyone carrying a black water bottle\u201d. I had no idea what that meant, but the day I came across one of these so-called black water bottles, I had to Google it. Apparently, illegal immigrants spray-paint these gallon-size jugs black so that light doesn\u2019t reflect off of them at night. Seeing one of these bottles myself was proof of the activity we\u2019d been warned of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My walks also included randomly running in to an acquaintance from Colorado. A strange feeling when you\u2019re essentially out in the middle of the desert, far from most of the population. We recognized another friend of ours as their truck and Airstream passed our camp. I confirmed it was them via text and we later got the chance to hang out and chat after having not seen them since our last unplanned encounter in Utah 3 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n