The Road Less Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference
--Robert Frost

The Road Less Taken has always been one of my favorite poems. This week we'll be seeing a few of these roads.

Today Matthew and I visited Bagdad, AZ. It's a small (think tiny)mining town in the Northwest desert less than 100 miles out of the valley. Those of you who have driven to Las Vegas likely sped right past the turn off without even noticing it. Before going, I looked it up on Google maps and could see that the mine is probably ten times the size of the town. Besides the mine, Bagdad boasts one grocery store, one gas station, a school, at least two churches and a pretty town park.

The drive up was easy enough. I expected more traffic but it was "summer" light and not too busy. At the turn off it was just me and Matthew for many miles. We drove the roller coaster ride up and down and around the turns and then were surprised to see several semi's. I'm guessing they have something to do with the mine. We kept to our side of the road and they just sped right past. I like the high desert. Lots of green creosote brush peppering the landscape and giving it some texture. We had gone through the Joshua Tree forest and there was an errant Joshua tree dotting the landscape. I was disappointed that we didn't see any burro's. Just a few cows hanging out at the windmill run water pond.

We were up there on a secret mission so I can't go into more detail but after we finished we drove past the school and to the mine entrance. Mom said it's possible to get mine tours so I'll check further next time. The town is a very nice community. Some yards have grass and trees but most are desert landscaping. I'd go back again, if just to see the mine closer.

The rest of the week Matthew and I are heading up to the Navajo Reservation. We'll follow pretty much the same route that we did in the spring. We're excited...the road less taken is always interesting.