I slept in a little this morning before heading out to explore some more of the Monument. As I was walking around I saw a European camper with Netherlands plates. I asked them how they liked traveling in the US and they said they were enjoying it tremendously and were looking for ways to come every year. I told them about our van in France and it started a long conversation about how we arranged things in Europe, and they asked questions about purchasing here in the US, as they are thinking about buying an American RV. It was an interesting conversation, and I learned about some places they really enjoyed in Europe to add to our future travels.
I spent the day doing a couple of drives along the other two scenic roads. These roads were interesting as they showed different environments in the Sonora. One was dominated by Saguaro cactuses. The other was a road that paralleled the Mexican border for 14 miles to a small natural pond fed by springs. The road was heavily traveled by construction equipment as they are building a section of the wall here.
I returned to the campsite which is one of the best I have seen in the Park Service and is very well managed by the rangers. There are a couple of trails that leave from the campground so I walked the desert view trail and enjoyed the expansive views, and the quiet that you get when you are far away from civilization. The Park Service had put out very interesting plaques describing how the native American and early European settlers used different plants for medicine and to produce household goods. This place is special, the views are incredible, often the only sound you here is the wind, and both the day and night skies are pristine.
When I returned to Scout for the evening I ran into Harry and Erna and we spent some more time over a couple of beers talking about traveling in North America and Europe. I also said good bye to John and Yvette my neighbors with the Tiger and thanked them for their advice on the blog.
Once again I finished up my day by attending another ranger talk. Tomorrow I am reluctantly off to civilization as the food cupboard is bare.