Wow, betcha didn't know about this.

Here's something you don't see everyday. This is an Aerostat blimp operated by the USAF. There are about eight of them along the southern border of the US, all equipped with radar and probably a few of those cameras that can count the dimples on a golf ball. They're used by many agencies, but mostly by Customs to help fight the war on drugs. It seems that in the old days, it was pretty easy to fill up your Cessna with a ton of reefer and fly it to a remote desert landing strip where you could unload it and not have to deal with that whole border crossing smuggling thing. Then these blimps came along and changed all that. I'm sure they do a whole lot more than catch planes on radar as they can carry payloads of about 1200 pounds.
Yeah, the picture isn't that great. But while it looks like it's just over those trees, it's actually pretty far away. That means this blimp is a lot bigger than it looks in the picture. According to the fact sheet, it's roughly twice the size of the Goodyear Blimp. Maybe it's because I haven't seen the Goodyear Blimp since I was a kid, but that seems pretty big to me.
You can check this website for more info about the blimp...

http://www2.acc.af.mil/library/factsheets/tars.html

This one is just north of Yuma, Arizona. I've seen the ones above Fort Huachuca in Arizona and Deming, New Mexico. I've seen the Yuma blimp several times, it's no big deal. But this was only the second time that I saw it moored to the ground like that. Maybe they had it down for the thunderstorms last night, or they were installing some new kick-butt piece of equipment makes drug smugglers shake in their boots. :-)
What was I doing in Yuma? Well, I was bored and had a full tank of gas. The real purpose of my trip was to find some of the glyphs near Pilot Knob in very south eastern California. There are supposed to be some glyphs there, but I didn't find anything. The rock was very brittle, and would have been a poor surface on which to carve rock art.
I went up on the west end of the hill because the east end is on a reservation, and I didn't want to step on any toes. I think I'll contact the Quechan Tribal Government and ask to see the glyphs. Hopefully they'll be a little more open than the Gila River folks.

Look how close this stuff is!

I really like this photo because it underscores an important point. These things are all around us. It's amazing to think how close our developments have come to these amazing pieces of history.
This is an example of the best case scenario. Here in Phoenix, a major road was planned to be constructed near these glyphs. While I don't know the whole story, it seems that during construction, the developer was made aware of the glyphs by a local resident. The city archeaologist got involved, and the road was diverted. Everyone loves a win-win situation. The glyphs were spared, and the road was completed. The road is a major artery here, and I drive it every day when I take my kids to school. I've been down that road literally thousands of times, and until recently I had no idea that the glyphs were there. There's a path along the fence seen in the picture. People walk on that bath, kids ride their bikes on it. I've visited the site a few times, and I've found nothing that would make me think that these glyphs are being defaced or destroyed.
Again, this is the best case scenario. I read on the Internet that glyph sites just south of Las Vegas are in danger because of the rapid growth in that area.
Phoenix is also experiencing rapid growth. In fact just a week ago in the suburb of Chandler, a wooly mammoth skeleton was unearthed at a construction site. It is my fear that in pursuit of the almighty dollar, interests will ignore these findings and bury them under whatever projects they're working on.
I'll choose the path of the optimist, and look to the example above when I see development and history collide. In the meantime, I'll keep a close eye on the sites that I know about, and get involved should I ever see a bull dozer approach. :-)

Lyman State Park

I dragged the kids off to Lyman State Park in north eastern Arizona for the weekend. It was pretty nice. The weather was cool, and the area was surrounded by rolling green hills. Blue skies and puffy white clouds. Honestly, I thought I was in another state.
The lake wasn't the highlight of the trip though, it was brown and muddy. I had thought we might go swimming, but for me water has to be blue before I can swim in it!
Lots of petroglyphs, but why else would I go there, right? The park ranger was pretty good, but I about fell over when he actually touched a few of the glyphs. I remember going to the White Tank mountains to see some glyphs once when I saw some guy let his dogs walk over a glyph panel. I went off on him, and he responded with the universal "What's your problem?" response that everyone gives when they're caught defacing a natural treasure. Well, I just gave the park ranger a dirty look.
You see, you have to take a boat across the lake to see the glyphs, and the ranger drives the boat. So if I piss of the ranger, do I have to swim back? I decided not to chance it.
There was another person in the group that kind of set me off. It was a middle aged Hopi woman, walked right over some glyphs on a boulder to take a picture. The ranger objected and asked her to not step on the glyphs, and she gave him the same "What's your problem?" response that the guy with the dogs gave me.
Is it me? Or wouldn't a Native American be a little more senstitive then the rest of us pale faces when it came to things like ancient artifacts? I've been frustrated by my dealings with these folks in the past. Once I wanted to go onto the Gila River Indian Reservation to visit a glyph site, and thought I was being a good citizen by calling the Tribal Government to ask permission first. "No," they told me. "But you are welcome to come visit our casinos!"

On our way to the lake, we went through the Salt River Canyon. Wow, what a beautiful place. I had no idea that I would see such awesome natural beauty on our trip. The colors were just amazing. There just isn't any regular brown earth up there. All the soil is red, with evergreen trees, and rapids running through the bottom of the canyon. Lots of colors and textures we just don't get here in Phoenix. If you ever get the chance, take the trip. Plan a couple of hours just to be lazy around the canyon. At the bottom there's a rest stop where Indians will sell you jewelry and sodas (I bought both!), and there are steps down to the river's edge. There are plenty of places on both sides of the canyon to stop, get out of the car, and stand in awe of the spectacular views.

Colorado River Glyphs

I became aware of a bunch of sandstone carvings along the banks of the Colorado River south of Palo Verde, California. Actually, they're not too close to the river but you can tell the river flowed at that location in antiquity. You can see where I learned about the glyphs here at this website. There's plenty of interesting pictures and information about local archeaology.

http://home.earthlink.net/~blhtvl/index.html

So while visiting California, I decided to make the trip and see the glyphs for myself. These are much different than the Hohokam glyphs I usually see in the area where I live. They're carved in sandstone, so they're not as resistant to the elements when compared to glyphs carved into harder stones. There are plenty of examples of historic graffiti, some dating back to 1915. It's mostly abstract stuff, but I did find one that looked like the head and forearms of a frog.
This area was populated by the Yuman speaking tribes, specifically the Mojave and Quechan. But the glyphs here didn't look like the ones seen at Pilot's Knob or Newberry Peak, both being areas of religious significance for the Quechan.
The significance of these glyphs is anyone's guess. It could represent the flow of the river, and I'm at a loss to describe the columns and rows of indentations. That's ok though, I enjoy looking at these things much more than I do trying to figure them out.

Big Horn Sheep

This is a Big Horn Sheep glyph near Arlington, Arizona. It's on an east facing boulder near where the Gila River would have flowed before agriculture dried it up. Gillespie Dam is visible from this site. The dam was breached in the early nineties and never repaired. There's plenty of standing water there, making the area look like a large lake.
This type of zoomorph is pretty common among glyphs in southern Arizona. Big Horn Sheep likely were a staple in the diet of the people that populated the area. Maybe the purpose of the glyph is to mark a kill site, or act as an indicater that Big Horn Sheep could be found nearby.
This glyph is unique because it is very large. I didn't think to insert anything into the picture that would give us a scale or perspective. Based on my recollection, I estimate it to be a foot and a half across. Not very scientific, I know. When the weather cools down I'll probably go back out and take the pic again, this time with a ruler in hand!