Saturday, November 19, 2011

“The long and winding road…”

Today once we got moving around, was found to be a bit cooler than what we have been having… it was in the early 60’s F. or 15 deg. C. for the younger crowd in Canada.  We decided to take a ride up Hwy. 15, to visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings… we knew upfront that there was a bridge out on the road up there, and would not be able to go to see them, however the Visitor’s Centre was open, and we wanted to enjoy the ride anyways… we heard it was a good one!

We heard right!  It was a great ride, especially for the  motorcycle crowd. It is 42 miles north of Silver City, and about 70 miles north of where we are at City of Rocks. 

Here I am checking out the sights below… had my nice warm jacket on… you needed it.

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There is a large pine forest we had to drive through… lots of climbing.

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Judy did a great job of picture taking, while riding shotgun…

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The straight sections are far and few between.

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There were some real neat rock cuts…

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We stopped and ate our picnic lunch here at this vista… what a view… we were standing right on the Continental Divide.

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Below we felt like we were on top of the world… at the lunch vista, we were 7,400 feet up!  No wonder I felt a little cool!

 

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Some neat rock formations along the way as well…

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We made it to the Visitor’s Centre…

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Check out the neat cactus below…

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So I could not get any pictures of the actual dwellings in the cliff, so you have to use some imagination below, and check for the 7 cave dwellings at the bottom…

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The cave dwellings were built between 1270 and 1290 by the Mogollon People, and were only lived in for about 25 years… check out the items found below in the caves…

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This is a mock up model…

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This is a New Mexico Grey Wolf below… big big fines for shooting one of these… plus big rewards for the rats!

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A few more pottery pieces they found in the caves.

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Most people would know this name below… Geronimo was born in this area and lived here as well… Yes, we are in the wild west, and loving it!

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Judy and I had another great day… a bit cool, but hey, we are Canadians… we live for the cold… right Tom???

Keep your eyes open, we may be on the move tomorrow… Go Leaf’s Go… Pittsburgh  tonight

Till tomorrow…

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures Judy took. Glad you had a nice day on the bike together. I am going to watch that Leafs game now. We will cheer them on!

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  2. I said to Kelly the day we drove up to the Gilla Cliff Dwellings how great that road was for a Motorcycle. I did a video of a winding section of that road too but lost it somewhere. Great drive through the Gila forest for sure. just in case your headed south you might want to go to Columbus. Lots of history down there and....The Pink Store:))

    http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2010/11/yes-toto-there-actually-is-pink-store.html

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  3. Interesting area for sure. You really were on top of the world there!

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  4. John great Leaf's game with that 7-1 win. How about that last goal in the final 43 sec.

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  5. A few years ago my wife, son, his girlfriend and I drove my Jeep up to the Gila Cliff dwellings and love the ride up, the dwellings and great views. As usual, we stayed to the end and then headed back to Silver City. When we pulled out of the visitors center parking lot I heard a loud clunk from the front of the Jeep. Close inspection revealed that my front brakes were completely shot and had fallen apart. I could not use the brake pedal at all or it would lock up.

    What to do? Well, I put the Jeep in 4 wheel low drive and drove back to Silver City using the emergency brake to slow us down. We were almost to the bottom when we saw two trucks parked in the road blocking both lanes almost. I blew my horn, blinked my lights and barely squeezed by the young kids in the trucks. They immediately gave chase and one pulled up and wanted to know what was wrong. I explained to him the situation and he followed us our campsite and volunteered to help fix the brakes. Nice kids.

    The next morning we took the Jeep to the Big O place there and had the brakes repaired.

    Yes, I remember the Gila Cliff dwelling real well.

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  6. Sure enjoyed all your interesting pictures today.

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  7. a great day for a motorcycle ride and a picnic!!..thanks for sharing your day!!..sunny and cold here today!!

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  8. Another spot to note on the bucket list of must do! Nice are for riding.

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  9. Great photos! Love the curves in the road. You just never know what's around that next bend.

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