Excursions with visitors

We had visitors last weekend-- Stevan's mom, family friend, and cousin who will be staying on with us for a bit here-- and a good excuse to go exploring and take a break from projects on the land.  

One of the excursions was to the spring that feeds the canal-- a few miles north of Banamichi-- with the intent to take some water samples, and harvest watercress for a springtime salad.

We managed to get Stevan's mom's car caught on a cattle guard (and spent some time dismantling the mostly unneccesary part that had gotten stuck with the help of some people with tools who were driving by) and only took a few wrong turns on the dirt roads, before walking through a picturesque field of flowering mustard and horses, and arriving at the lush source of water that bubbles from the ground and later reaches us via the canal where we use it for our fields and bathing.  There is something magical about water in the desert.  

We also headed north to the town of Arizpe.  While a herd of cows stood guard over the parked car, we walked through a parade of huge ancient cottonwoods lining the road to one of the old, and no longer in operation, grain mills.  Then we went into town for some food-- caldo de albondigas (meatballs in broth), paletas (popsicles), and to look at a beautiful old church, that supposedly holds the remains of the body of Juan Bautista de Anza.

This skeleton in the floor is slightly creepy, but somewhat interesting.  Rumor has it that it is not actually de Anza's, despite what the plaque says, though his supposedly is somewhere in the church.

He was supposedly the first Spanish explorer to find an overland route up to San Francisco, which he did in 1776 with a whole troop of other people and animals, and was born and lived part of his life here in these parts.  Personally I feel some connection with him, merely because I have lived at both ends of his route-- San Francisco, and here in northern Sonora.  Perhaps if we run out of oil I'll make the trek myself one day, on a donkey.  Just joking.  Maybe.

 I learned recently from a visitor that the de Anza family is of Basque origins, and the father, de Anza senior, is behind one of the legends of the origin of the name of the state of Arizona.   He called it "haritz ona" which in Basque means "land of the oaks" and at some point morphed into what it is today.  Though I must say, oaks arn't the first thing that come to mind when I think of Arizona.  

Teresa, Martha, me, S

Stevan, Elalt, Teresa, and Martha

And for a lovely end to the trip-- we spent the last day soaking and relaxing at the hot springs, just south of Banamichi outside the town of Aconchi.