A Town of Stone, a Scenic Byway and an Old Mine

We are in Silver City and it is our first day in the Gila Wilderness. We woke up sometime around 7:30am and we got our things together and put them in the car. Then we went back into the hotel for a quick breakfast. Around 8:45am we left the hotel and set out for the day. Our plan was to go to the Visitor Center and then head out to Reserve, Alma, Mogollon and Glenwood for some sightseeing and letterboxing.
At the Visitor Center we talked with the woman working there (who was extremely nice and knowledgeable) about things in the area and we picked up a map and some brochures. When we were getting ready to leave we mentioned we were heading up to the Catwalk and the woman said "No, you aren't!". When we asked why, she told us that they had some bad rains last night and there was too much debris on and around the Catwalk that they closed it for the weekend. This is the second time we made plans to visit the Catwalk and the second time we were deterred. The first time happened years ago and I will forego that long and embarrassing story for now. So with this news we made changes for the day. We decided to start our day at City of Rocks State Park. This is a place we have been wanting to visit but never made the time. Now was the time. There was also a letterbox there which just added to the trip. You can read about our letterboxing adventures at Stones, a Pig, a Byway and a Burro. We arrived at the park and went directly to the Visitor Center and talked with the volunteer there. She gave us a map and some information about the park and also gave us a handout so that we could look for some petroglyphs. You can park at the Visitor Center and walk all around the park or you can drive the loop road and stop at different spots to do some exploring. We chose the latter. We took the loop counterclockwise and immediately encountered one of the more well known rocks - 'Toilet Rock'. I took a few pictures and then we moved along. A short distance ahead we stopped at the Botanical Garden. We took a short walk along a trail that starts here and then returned to the car. We continued our drive along the loop and made some stops along the way to look at the formations and to look for the petroglyphs. We only found two of the petroglyphs, the others we had trouble following the directions. There are picnic tables scattered throughout the rocks and trails that you can walk. The formations are incredible and we enjoyed walking around them. One of the other things we noticed was an abundance of wildflowers. I couldn't believe how many wildflowers we saw at this time of year. We spent about two hours here and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Now it was time to continue on with our day.

City of Rocks is off of NM 61 on City of Rocks Road. We had come from the west to get to the park and when we left we headed east on NM 61 to the junction with NM 152. We turned left on NM 152 and only drove a short distance before turning right onto NM 35. At this time we were on the Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway. About a quarter of a mile along NM 35 we saw a restaurant and decided to get a late lunch as it was a little after 2:00pm. We ate at La Tienda del Sol. This place is a restaurant, store and gas station. It is located between San Lorenzo and Mimbres and it is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. We both had burgers. They were delicious and the service was wonderful. Once we had our fill we began our drive on NM 35. We had two goals - plant a letterbox and find a letterbox. The drive is along a narrow, two lane, blacktop and curvy road. The scenery is beautiful and the drive relaxing and we had the good fortune of having no traffic. There are few places where you can pull off and look at the views. There are also side roads that you can explore. We also noticed trail heads up and down the road. When we got to mile marker 16 we encountered a nice Trail of the Mountain Spirits Welcome Sign and I planted my letterbox near this sign.

We continued our drive, turned into a picnic area and ended up at Lake Roberts where we took a short walk along the lake before returning to the car. After our walk we looked for another letterbox before continuing our drive. We finished the drive on NM 35 to NM 15 and on to Silver City.

Tyrone Mine Reclamation

We continued south of Silver City on NM 90 and passed the town of Tyrone. We were headed for a letterbox. We turned onto Tyrone Thompson Road and immediately on the left was an overlook. We stopped here and and read a little about the copper mining in the area and the reclamation process. From the overlook you were looking at an area that had been reclaimed so it was quite an education. After this we went in search of the letterbox and then headed back to Silver City. Since we had a late lunch we weren't really hungry for dinner but we felt we needed to eat something or we would probably wake up in the middle of the night with cravings. We stopped and shared a sandwich, which was just enough to hold us until morning. We then returned to the hotel and took showers. We are now relaxing and we plan on getting a good night's sleep for our adventure tomorrow.

 

Silver City – City of Rocks State Park – Mimbres – Lake Roberts – Silver City – Burro Mountain Road – Silver City
145 miles | 3 hours 46 minutes

Wrapping Up 2010

Another year has come to an end and for the last two years I have taken the time to review those years and write a summary. I find that I actually enjoy going back and reliving our adventures. 2010 was a pretty good year, and like all years we had some ups and downs. This year started out pretty slow. In January we just got back into the swing of things after the holidays and not much happened. Maybe that was a good thing, we probably needed to relax after our trip to Louisiana for Christmas.

February was a little busier and more exciting. The month started with the New Orleans Saints winning the Superbowl. Being a native Louisianian I was extremely excited for the team and the city. Also in February Thomas and I took a trip to Tucson to get away from the cold in Santa Fe. We spent about a week in Tucson and had a really good time. We did some hiking and letterboxing - we especially enjoyed our drive along the Sky Island Scenic Byway and hiking on Mt. Lemmon. You can read all about our trip at A Trip to Tucson (Part I and Part II). Back in Santa Fe we got back to our normal routine and started planning for our next trip. When we were in Louisiana for Christmas we didn't get to see my brother. He and his wife weren't able to get away for the holidays. But they had planned to be in Lafayette for Easter so Thomas and I arranged to visit then. So at the end of March we flew to New Orleans and rented a car. We did get to do a little exploring around Baton Rouge and New Orleans as well as visit the family in Lafayette. My sisters had also asked me to take pictures of my nieces, Tori (for her graduation) and Madison (for her first communion). I had a good time taking these pictures and even though I am not a professional I think they came out pretty good. You can read about this trip at Easter Trip to Louisiana (Part I and Part II).

When we returned to New Mexico in mid April it was to some bad news. Thomas' cousin Ruth had been diagnosed with cancer back in December and had been through surgery and treatments. Unfortunately things were too far along and Ruth was too weak to continue some of the treatments. So she and her husband made the decision to stop everything and make the most of the time they had left together. Ruth passed away on April 20th. Ruth and Thomas had been pretty close as we lived next door to each other for quite a while. But a few years ago Ruth and her husband Chris moved to Albuquerque and our visits with them lessened. It was still a very sad day for us and we miss her terribly. Ruth worked as an instructor at a community college and she was also an author. She wrote books under the names R. C. Brojim and Cleo Dare.

In May I took a trip by myself to Cape Cod, MA and Rhode Island. Some letterboxing friends were having an event to celebrate their semi-retirement from letterboxing and their finding 26.000+ letterboxes. I spent a few days on Cape Cod and then made my way to Rhode Island. This was my first time in Rhode Island and I really enjoyed myself. For more details on that trip go to Happy Trails! (& 26,000 (s)miles!) Letterboxing Trip. After this trip Thomas and I spent most of the summer just hanging around Santa Fe. We did work around the house and in the garden and took day trips in the area. It turned out to be a nice, relaxing time and we got quite a bit done around the house.

Then in August we went on a trip to Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. We had talked about going to Maine for a while but never really made any plans. One of the main reasons for the trip was a letterboxing event in Brunswick (which turned out not to be so good) and the other reason was to visit Acadia National Park. We really enjoyed this park and I would really enjoy visiting the area again. We also made a side trip to Montpelier, VT. This has to be one of my favorite State Capitals in the country. This is the smallest State Capital and I think it is one of the nicest cities. We also spent a little time in New Hampshire during this trip and you can read about the trip at The Maine Event.

September and October had us staying close to home but keeping busy as well. We attended the New Mexico State Fair and we went raspberry picking. And we took an overnight trip to Clayton, NM. And we also took a trip to the Four Corners area and spent some time in Farmington, NM. Pretty simple things but fun none the less.
During this time we also started thinking about taking a trip to Georgia to visit my brother. We had pretty much decided to go between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays but the we got a phone call from my brother and they wanted the entire family to go for Thanksgiving.

So we adjusted our time and plans just a little and made it for Thanksgiving. We actually flew into Birmingham, AL (because Southwest didn't fly into Atlanta) and then did a little driving to Savannah, GA and then to Asheville, NC before heading to my brother's place in Acworth, GA. We really enjoyed this trip - it was the first time for both Thomas and I to visit this area. There are much more details at A Southern Thanksgiving Letterboxing Trip.

That was pretty much it for our adventures for the year. December has turned out to be pretty quiet and cold and we ended having a relaxing Christmas. There are other things that happened throughout the year. Our puppies continue to grow and they have really bonded with each other - Daisy and Buddy have really become good friends. They ended up with another brother this year. During the summer a black dog showed up on the property and would sleep under a juniper at the end of the driveway. At first we did nothing, not knowing where he came from or if he was mean. I guess we thought that he would eventually leave. But then Daisy and Buddy started playing with him and Thomas felt sorry for him and started feeding him. Thomas named him Grim (because he is black and reminded us of the Grim in the Harry Potter books and movies). We have since adopted him and got him neutered and got him his shots. He has turned out to be a great pet - we think he was abused and he was just looking for a little love. I am glad we have the space for another dog and that we can afford to take care of him.

Okay, what else - my detached retina. Things are good! I feel lucky that I have my eyesight and that the retina is attached and healthy. I am seeing an eye doctor that specializes in vision therapy and so far that is going well. I will write a post once I have finished the treatments and let you know how things have turned out. Detached Retina has the complete story. I also continued with my picture taking blog but I had some camera trouble and wasn't able to do a picture every day so I just posted a picture when I had one I wanted to share. You can see what I was able to do at As I See It 2010.

Last but definitely not least was the victories for Gay and Lesbians. Five states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire) and the District of Columbia now have legal same-sex marriage. There are also major efforts in California and New York to get same-sex marriage legalized. And now Don't Ask, Don't Tell has finally been repealed. With Obama's signature we can now have openly gay and lesbian soldiers able to serve this country and not have to hide. Unfortunately, there were some suicides among gay teenagers due to bullying. But out of this sadness we gained some really great support. The Trevor Project, It Gets Better and Give a Damn! all came to the call for help. Don't get me wrong, we still have a long way to go but things are much better.

For me 2010 was a good year and I am looking forward to 2011.

Thankful

Thomas and I had a very relaxing and quiet Thanksgiving day. It was the two of us and his Dad. We had turkey, cornbread dressing, green beans and rolls. For dessert we had apple and pecan pies. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning while cooking and this afternoon we watched Angels and Demons and Night at the Museum. We talked about how lucky we are and how thankful we are for our lives.

I am most thankful for Thomas. At the end of December we will celebrate our 20th year together. This relationship has been so incredible and he will never really know how much I love him even though I tell him constantly. He is supportive of everything I do and is always there for me. He is the kindest, most loving person I know and I am lucky to have him. Thomas, thank you for an incredible 20 years and for everything you do and for who you are.

There are other things I am thankful for . . . family, friends, our health, our wonderful home, having jobs in these trying times, comfortable lives, freedom to travel and the ability to live our lives as we want to. We had a wonderful day and we want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting Prepared

Today I spent the day getting some things ready for Thanksgiving. First I made a cornbread for the cornbread stuffing that I am going to make on Thursday morning. Also for the cornbread stuffing I use a chicken. So I boiled the chicken to separate the meat from the bone and make some chicken stock. After the chicken cooled I took the meat off the bone and put it aside. Then I strained the stock and put it in a container and then into the refrigerator (when it gets cold the fat will separate from the stock). I then took the meat and cooked it with salt, pepper, onions, garlic and celery. When that cooled I put it in the refrigerator and took out the stock to take the fat off the stock. Then this was put into the refrigerator and now it will be easy to put the stuffing together on Thursday.

The next thing I wanted to do was to make some pies. The first thing I did was to make two pecan pies. I preheated the oven and got all the ingredients mixed together. I poured everything into the crust and topped it off with pecan halves. Once they were in the oven I started getting the stuff ready for an apple pie. I got everything mixed together and ready to put the pie together. But I had to wait for the pecan pies to finish cooking. That gave all the spices a chance to mix with the apples. I got the pecan pies out of the oven and finished putting the apple pie together. I got it in the oven and watched it carefully - this is the first time I ever baked an apple pie. When I felt it was done I took it out of the oven and put it on top of the stove with the pecan pies to cool. I think I did a good job but I guess we won't know until Thursday when we taste them. They do look pretty tasty and I am looking forward to dessert on Thursday.

I feel pretty good about what I got done today. It will make Thanksgiving morning a little easier and I can spend some time watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The turkey has been ready for a week now. Thomas got a fresh turkey and de-boned it and got it all seasoned. It is in the freezer and ready for cooking. We are going to have some homemade rolls, green beans and mashed potatoes along with the turkey, cornbread stuffing and pies. I think it is going to be a very tasty day.

An Early Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving today with Thomas' Aunt and Cousins. Some of the family are leaving on Tuesday for Peru so they wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner all together today. So this morning Thomas made a fruit salad and some whipped cream. I put some green beans in a casserole dish with onions, garlic and olive oil. About 45 minutes before we were to go to his Aunt's house I put the green beans in the oven to roast them. At 2:00 we got Thomas' Dad in the car and we headed over to his Aunt's. It was a nice visit. We started eating right when we got there. There was a huge turkey, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato salad, asparagus, beets, fried chicken, little ham sandwiches, little turkey sandwiches, two kinds of stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and a green salad. For dessert there were two pumpkin pies, pumpkin chiffon, cranberry fluff, two fruit salads and chocolates. It was quite a spread and all of it was really good. After dinner we sat around and visited and had coffee. It was a great way to kick off the holiday week and now that I had some turkey I am looking forward to more on Thursday. Well here is to hoping that all you have a great Thanksgiving!