Day 13

We awoke early after a slumbering sleep and were treated to a tasty, nourishing breakfast. Diana even packed us a big picnic lunch for the day! It was sad to say goodbye after such a short visit but it was great to see her and her beautiful home. Our destination was the Gila Cliff Dwellings which was a 2 hour drive from Silver City. This drive provided to be a gorgeous journey through the forest and mountains. Surprise, Surprise, it consisted of hairpin turns, extreme elevation changes, and beautiful scenery! After all these drives I was becoming a pro at the curves! We found our way to the visitors center and emptied our bladders of the morning's coffee, orange juice, and h2o. I asked the ranger if they all lived around here as it was completely isolated from society and quite a long drive out here. This guy was completely rude!! He answered by saying in an irritated tone, “who me?” even though he was the only ranger around! He then gave a unenthusiastic response of “Yep” and then provided only short rude answers of my other questions. I don't get it! I understand that park rangers probably get the same questions over and over again and deal with a lot of people many of whom may be ignorant but really isn't their job to be hospitable, knowledgeable, and people-friendly? Oh, well i got over it! Most of the rangers we encountered were very friendly and welcoming. We hiked a steep mile trail that switchbacked up the cliff to get close to the dwellings. It was a tiring hike (elevation still affected us) but at least the temperature was merciful and the skies were overcast. The dwellings were incredible! Built over a thousand years ago and very well-preserved. There was a volunteer (old man who was mostly deaf) who provided an abundance of useful and interesting information. It was incredible to see these homes built into these cliffs which took place so long ago and were still well-preserved. I could not comprehend how these natives had to either climb up or down the cliffs if they wanted to leave their homes. We had a nice groomed trail to get up there and it was still exhausting! We took our time exploring each room and then made our way down the trail back to our car. Had a nice drive back from the park out to Silver City, except for the fact that the girls were a little nauseous from all the turns.



We then drove to Las Cruces, NM (2 or so hours from Silver City) to stay with my Aunt Penny and Uncle John. Their house was very easy to find and we rolled in around 5:30pm. It was nice to finally arrive at a destination a little earlier so we could relax for a bit! We had a fun night filled with great stories from John who is a writer and former cowboy who has a lifetime of great experiences, and a great knack for sharing them. It was awesome to walk around their house and view a plethora of beautiful artwork done by my Aunt Penny. John also gave us some of his books to take with us so I'm looking forward to reading those. Emily and I also even got dulcimer lessons from Penny to wind down the evening and now we want to buy some of our own as we both enjoyed the sound. We finished the night by finally getting some laundry done so we would not be stinky road trippers.