Moved to Silver City, NM

First, our last 7 days in Tombstone Territories RV Resort was great.  But hot.  Like 95 to 100 for the most part.  We were supposed to leave tomorrow but decided we needed to get to higher elevation - and chose Silver City, NM at 6005 feet, over 2000 feet higher than before, and more north and east.  We did manage to check off all that Dave wanted to do - visit San Pedro Riparian and Fairbanks Ghost Town and hiked there (me - 5.5 miles and Dave - 6.5 miles) but on a really hot day which just about killed us.  We also got to the town of Sierra Vista which we love, visited a quilt shop that I always manage to find fabric, shopping, and visited Ramsey Canyon Nature Preserve.

In all - we saw many humming birds but did not pay attention to which ones

Canyon starts at 5010 feet and climbs up to 6500 feet before switchbacks
to go to top of Huachuca Mountains and then to Mexico

Major migration for birds

Lots of Thanksgiving dinners, I see

Pretty babbling brook to walk along

Lots of feeders set up for the birdies, caught one of the hummers under the right one

The great thing about Ramsey - it was about 10 degrees cooler than at Tombstone.  We also walked the trail, stopping for long periods of time to take pics of humming birds, wild turkeys, deer, and Dave continued on the trail and up into the canyon top lands where he reached the overlook that you can see down into Sierra Vista and then to the south to Mexico.  Was a very pleasant day there.

This guy stayed with us on the log - about 8 inches long

Old cabins from the days gone by

Mama deer and her babies, saw 3 babies

This morning we packed up, drugged up Buddy, said our goodbyes to folks we met who probably will follow us to the next place, and hit the road by 9am.  And it was already 82 degrees.  Yuck.  Passed through the Border Patrol, and headed to Interstate 10 and parts east.  Very uneventful drive, we climbed up through the Texas Canyon just east of Benson, AZ, and on towards Willcox.  From there continued on I10 to the turnoff at Lordsburg, NM and headed north and east up into the Gila (pronounced Hee-lah) National Forest until we came to Silver City.

Lady turkey, she was scratching the ground to get at the bugs

Very restful/peaceful

Why here?  We wanted to 1. get higher elevation and more north to evade this heat (it's 93 right now but each day from now on gets cooler)  and 2.  visit Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument which is due north of here.  3.  We have only come into Silver City on a day trip to visit Fort Bayard, an old army fort.

A common thing to do - pass through Border Patrol inspection 

Through Texas Canyon (in Benson, AZ)

Very typical crop in AZ - pecan or pistachio tree farms 

Another common - 'in tow' to Mexico 

Hello, New Mexico

Will stay here for a week.  Lots of trails 'up there' and birding to see, some mountain lakes to observe,  and what ever we can find.  I don't often do this but I have made reservations to the next 2 campgrounds to get us through Memorial Weekend, the traditional weekend that all the weekender campers come out and go crazy.  As it was, a little tight to find something during that weekend but I am confident that what I found will be wonderful (near Taos, NM).

Moving up into the Gila National Forest

And crossed the Continental Divide

On The Road 2018

Cannot believe that 6 months has come and gone and we are out again for the summer 2018.  This winter was a bit crazy - I decided that my left foot (the one I had major surgery on in 2014), needed to be looked at again by the Ortho doctor and I managed to break (doc's words - really mangled) a toe.  Actually severed it and all that was holding it together was skin.  Hurt like a son-of-a-gun.  But, it healed, somewhat, and I am able to do long distance walking/hiking and we have managed to get going for the summer.  A special note:  this past March I traveled to Israel with friend Beverly, helped her fulfill her life-long dream of visiting the Holy Sites of Israel. We had a great time!

Bye bye Picacho - until late October

Traveled past downtown Tucson

We had planned to hit the road this past Monday but high winds forced us to delay it until yesterday.  We were/are extremely cautious because we are pulling a new car (2018 Jeep Cherokee 4X4) and therefore, new hitch and brake system on the RV plus wiring harness on the car (Jeeps are known for their 'death wobble' which is a shimmy if you don't correct it with the special wiring harness) and also get the proper attachments and electrical hookups on the car so it can talk to the RV.  All in all, we did good.  We think.

Huachuca Mountains, bordering Mexico, in distance

Buddy has new medicine and after a bit of a fight to get him to swallow the capsule, he was a trooper and did not get sick or poop or pee, so I am hoping this new med is the ticket.  He is still a scaredy cat, he knew immediately when he got inside what was to happen, slithered into his hiding spot in the bedroom while Pache had to check everything out again.  This morning Buddy remembered that maybe he was going to get medicine again and has been hiding for the last 2 hours.

Border Patrol watching the roads

Since we started traveling in the RV (first it was a 5th wheel, now a Class A motorhome) we have never gone eastward out of our winter hideaway, instead choosing to go north or west.  This time we went east - we are sitting at Tombstone Territories RV Park, not far from the famous town of Tombstone where the shootout at the Okay Corral happened, it is a park we have been to in the past, visited it on our way back home in late fall.  We have not been here in spring, we want to go back to Ramsey Canyon which is in the Huachuca Mountains bordering Mexico, hike the San Pedro Riparian, and who knows what else.  We will use this week to shake out the bugs in the home, learning how to live in it again, before we get too far from Picacho in case something breaks or we have forgotten something.  We need to slowly move up living in higher elevation, where we will spend most of the summer is over 9,000 feet.  We have had altitude sickness before and it is not fun.

Our first stop for summer 2018

Visit to Canyon De Chelly - Part 3

After we got to Junction Area (known for the wide area where the two canyons come together), we headed south towards the famous White House Ruins and to Spider Rock.  Have to say I liked the south canyon better.  A small creek flowed through the canyon - we crossed it 18 times - and there were so many more livestock.  Wild turkeys were too numerous to count, saw a number of mule deer, and lots more hawks flying overhead.  And - it was much colder.  We were deeper and by the time we got to Spider Rock - the walls were now over 700 feet tall, the deepest of the Canyon.

Sheer cliffs of sandstone 

At White House Ruins

Ruins in the opening and below, blends in so well

An arch - ruins below in the cave

Seems there were more homesteads on the south side also.  2 times we passed hikers, with a Navajo guide and we asked where did they come from?  DJ explained they came in from Bat Canyon, beyond Spider Rock, and hiked to White House Ruins where they climbed back out!  WOWOWOW.

Face Rock to the left, Spider Rock to right

Face Rock Ruins

Face Rock

Spider Rock almost in the shadows

Face Rock also in the shadow

Stopped at each of the ruins, DJ explained what we were looking at, who lived there, and then we came to the big centerpiece - Spider Rock.  Does not look like a spider.  The story goes - there was a woman who lived at the base of the rock who was a spinner and weaver.  Her designs were mainly of spiders.  She was a recluse, and DJ said that she was nicknamed the Spider Woman.  She would take bad misbehaving children to the top of the rock, eat them, leaving the bones at the top for the vultures.  DJ said that his parents warned him that if he acted up, they would take him to the Spider Woman who would then eat him.  DJ said that this warning did the purpose - he was so scared of the Spider Woman.  Sorta like my childhood with the Boogy Man who would come in the night to get us.
Scared us too!

Its a really deep canyon

Got to Spider Rock, the sun was dropping and most of the rock was in a shadow.  That was okay - we knew we would be visiting the next day from on top of the rim to get some good shots.  We turned around after a quick break, headed back to the lodge and pulled into the parking lot at 5:30pm.  Frozen.  Was about 45 degrees.

Follow the dirt road - you will see a white vehicle coming around

Spider Rock from the top of the rim, and in full sun

Sat on the bench and was looking at Spider Rock

Mummy Ruins from the overlook

White House Ruins from the overlook

See the vehicle?

Saturday we took the car and drove along the rims of both canyons after stopping at the visitor's center, first went along the North Canyon, then stopping back at the Lodge and packed a lunch, then followed the South Rim to Spider Rock, taking in the ruins we saw from the canyon floor the day before.  Sunday we drove home.  The significant part about our drive home - when we got into ShowLow we thought there was another wild fire - so much smoke.  Found out it was a controlled burn but stink big time!

Lots of smoke in ShowLow