PHOENIX, ARIZONA

After breakfast I call Dorthy Trent, an old family friend I haven't seen in over forty years.  We drive across Phoenix and spend the afternoon visiting with her.  The weather is beautiful, cool mornings with warm afternoons and sunshine all the time.  If you don't like to cut grass or rake leaves, Phoenix is the place for you.

APACHE SITGREAVES NATIONAL FOREST, ARIZONA

Our drive toward Arizona is awesome.  Around almost every bend is a vista that makes you say WOW!  This is what we're here for.  We enter Arizona over a cattle guard and quickly find a pull-off in the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest.  We hike up a small creek that would probably be dry except for the snow melt.  The dogs love it.  It's their first time in any water since we left home.  We cruise through the beautiful San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation and then over the Pinal Mountains and into the Superstition Mountains.  More WOWS!  We find another Walmart for the night in Apache Junction.

Man in the water

WOW!

Prickly Pear Cactus

WOW!

More WOW!

WOW and WOW!

Saguaro Cactus

WOW!WOW!WOW!

GILA NATIONAL FOREST, NEW MEXICO

After coffee Peggy returns to the hot springs for another soak.  We spend the afternoon at the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument.  This monument is a small site of just 553 acres, and contains the ruins of  cave dwellings built in five cliff alcoves by the Mogollon peoples between 1275 and 1300. The dwellings overlook the Gila river.  The famous Apache Geronimo was born at the headwaters of the Gila in 1829.

Next we negotiate the 45 miles of forest service road toward Silver City.  It's a paved single lane that is not recommended for RVs.  Now is when I wish I had my motorcycle.  We have fast food for supper and park for the night at a Walmart (again).

Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument

Gila Cliff Dwelling

Plaque representing Geronimo's birth place.

Read and take notice.

Gila River

Ask Mitch?

Love these scenic views.

Beautiful!

MIMBRES AND GILA HOT SPRINGS, NEW MEXICO

After viewing the adobe ruins of Fort Selden we head west and cross the Rio Grande River. It has a wide bed but only a creeks worth of water running down it. The basin has a variety of farms all with intricate irrigation systems. There's orchards of pecan trees, a variety of chilies, lots of cotton fields and then plenty of plowed ground.

We breakfast in Hatch which seems to be more Mexican than American.  Everyone in town drives a mud splattered pick-up truck.  Further down the road we are stopped by the Border Patrol.  They wanted to make sure the dogs were American citizens.  We continue west into the Mimbres Mountains.  We cross the Continental Divide at Emory pass (6400 feet).  We see several elk and a couple of mule deer.  The squirrels here have black and white tails and huge ears.  We pass through the ghost towns of Hillsboro, Kingston and Mimbres.  Each has just a token number of residents still living there.  We visit the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site where the Mattocks Ruin, a world famous archaeological site is located.   About 1,000 years ago a Mimbres pueblo was built at this site on top of an earlier pithouse village and was home to about as many as 200 people.  As we walked the trail we sampled  the fruit of the Cane Chollo which had a very citrusy taste and also the Alligator Juniper berry which was very sweet.

We continue to the Gila Hot Springs and take an RV site with full hook-ups for $22.  We're told the low temperature last night was 5 degrees.  The elevation here is 5,500 feet, so I believe it.  The roads are now clear but there is still a lot of snow left over from last week's storm.  After hooking up and settling in we visit the only store in town and end up helping stabilize the local economy.  Next we (all 5 of us) hike down to the hot springs on the West Fork of the Gila river.  The water comes out of the ground at 158 degrees but by the time it gets to the 3 man-made pools it's cool enough to bathe in.  It's clothing optional so Peggy makes herself at home.  We are soon joined by several others who thought their pool was too hot.  We hike back to camp in near darkness.  With a clear sky the temperature is already below freezing.  I can tell by the ice covered puddles in the road.

Scenic View

Mimbres Culture Heritage Site, Mimbers, New Mexico

Cane Cholla

Fruit of Cane Cholla

Alligator Juniper

Old adobe dwelling outside of Mimbres, New Mexico.

Beautiful setting for a house.

Scenic view on the way to Gila Hot Springs

So many beautiful scenic views.

Can't get enouch of these scenic views.

View from our RV in Gila Hot Springs

Navajo Churro Sheep

Lisa Zaslow and family enjoying the Gila Hot Springs.

View of rocks from the hot springs.

Peggy enjoying the hot springs.

Sculpture at the hot springs.

One of 3 pools at Gila Hot Springs.

Beautiful mountains.

ALAMOGORDO AND WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT, NEW MEXICO

We cross the Mescalero Apache Reservation and stop for gas at their Casino. I venture inside and am hit by a wall of cigarette smoke. The place is well attended and there is already a line at the bar and it's only 9:30AM.

We stop at the Eagle Ranch for pistachios. They have 12,000 trees and they grow, process and package right on the spot. They are the oldest and largest in New Mexico.

We spend the afternoon at White Sands National Monument. This is 275 square miles of glistening white gypsum sand. It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. It is so big because it sits in a basin with no outward drainage. Peggy takes the dogs for an illegal, off leash, romp through the dunes. They are all exhausted when they get back.

We continue through the White Sands Missle Range which includes the "Trinity Site." This is where the worlds first atomic bomb was exploded in 1945. They open the site twice a year so you can go see the crater. We cross the San Andres mountains into Las Cruces and park at Fort Selden for the night.

Pistachio trees at Eagle Ranch Pistachios.

Snow covered mountains behind the pistachio grove.

Pistachios ready for harvest.

White Sands visitor center built by the WP in 1938, representing Spanish Pueblo Adobe architecure.

White Sands National Monument.

White Sands National Monument.

Poudre playing in the snow covered sand.

Sky playing in the snow covered sand.

LINCOLN AND CAPITAN, NEW MEXICO

At the Lincoln State Monument we tour the courthouse where Billy the Kid made his famous escape in 1881. There are 16 buildings in Lincoln that are included in the state monument. Many historians say this is the best preserved old west town in America. This is where the Lincoln County wars were fought. President Hayes proclaimed Main Street to be the deadliest road in the U.S.

In Capitan we visit the Smokey Bear Historical Park. This is where a black bear cub was found after a forest fire in 1950. His burns were nursed back to health and he became the living symbol for fire prevention for the Forest Service. We cruise through Fort Stanton which garrisoned the famous Buffalo Soldiers. This all black unit helped bring the renegade Indians in the area under control. We head south for Sonic burgers and park at Walmart for the night

Adobe ruins.

Scenic view.

Historic Lincoln New Mexico

Lincoln Courthouse where Billy the Kid was jailed.

Adobe ruins.

Torreon

Torreon, built in 1850.

Memorial for Smokey the Bear.

Smokey the Bear grave.

Farmstead with wooden-based windmill.

Scenic view.