Day Eleven

It was very windy last night in the mountains, but things were cozy in our B&B.














I used this little room for writing. I didn't take a picture of the room we slept in, but it was much bigger.


I woke up early and went for a run in the mountains.











One of the dogs went with me.











These old buildings appear to be from the original settlement of the area during the mining heyday of the late 1800s.











It was a beautiful morning, with some great views.











The pics I took don't do some of these curves justice.

I went back to the B&B where our host made eggs and waffles for us. He turned out to be a musician and Dan was disappointed we had to leave because they were having so much fun talking music.

We headed south, stopping at a scenic overlook before continuing on toward the Gila Cliff Dwellings.











Nice scenery on the drive, but the road was narrow and if you didn't go slow and make your turn, you'd end up falling a very long way.

The cliff dwelling site was pretty cool.











The Gila River, which was running low.











The cliffs, which are pretty high up!











Hard to imagine people lived up so high.











At least there are stairs now available. You can bet the natives didn't have these!











Approaching the caves.











People made their homes inside the caves.











I love this view, even though I couldn't get it without a tourist in it.











Leaving the caves.











Nice trail!











Winding through the woods, back to the visitor center.











A dry riverbed. There hasn't been much rain this year.

We tried to go for a hike afterwards, but the river was over the trail, and since it was late in the afternoon and the cliff dwellings were two hours from any nearby town, we decided to head back.











Dry conditions heading toward Silver City, even though we were in the mountains.











A mountain campsite. We were tempted, but kept on toward Silver City. We felt pretty good when we reached Silver City, so we continued to the City of Rocks, one of our favorite places.











City of Rocks in the distance. It sits on a plain in the middle of nowhere.











A cactus in bloom outside the visitor center.











Closeup of the cactus.











Rocks everywhere you look!











In the distance, one of many balanced rocks.











A smaller formation.











Such interesting shapes!











A few small trees grow here.











A new friend.











So many rocks, so little time!


Then since we didn’t want to backtrack, we continued south to Deming, then west to Las Cruces.











Hard to believe we were in the mountains this morning!

In Las Cruces, we stopped at three hotels before finding one with vacancy, although no one could explain what was going on in town to make it so hard to find a decent hotel. We like where we ended up, though—it’s got a kitchenette. Too bad we’re leaving in the morning. We haven’t decided where we’re going next, but we’re considering one of the Texas parks or El Paso, where I have a cousin.