Ron & Jari's Wandering Impulses: Revisiting Silver City & Farewell to New Mexico

Over 35 years ago, my college roommate and I took what I always refer to as our "Thelma & Louise" trip (except we didn't kill anyone and we looked at the Grand Canyon instead of driving into it).

One of the stops on our trip was the Buffalo Bar in Silver City, where the owner offered us jobs as card dealers in his casino. Didn't take the job, but I did want to see Silver City again since we were so close.
It is a pretty drive up into the foothills. Ron & I stopped at the Visitors Center where an enthusiastic volunteer resident told us places not to miss. She was a third or fourth generation Silver City resident - it is always fun to talk to someone who loves their town.

The old town is full of buildings that show the Hispanic influence of the area.

Loved the painted niches with ceramic plate decor!

It is now a thriving little arts community and we enjoyed looking around the galleries & talking to the artists. One, a man that carves incredible things out of wood, bone & horn told us to check out the trailway up into the abandoned mines on top of the hill.

We had to watch where we walked as there were sink holes all over!

Didn't want to lose Ron in one!

The view from the hill was spectacular.

Cholla cacti all over the place.

We have enjoyed our time at the Temperate Zone RV Park. Vicki couldn't have been more accommodating, letting us use their heated hose when the nights got cold, making the clubhouse warm and available.

We certainly had our privacy! I always enjoy the wildlife of the areas we've been at and, even though it is winter, we did see some critters!

There were two quail varieties - the Scaled (above) and the Gambrels (below).

They are funny birds that scramble around in groups, running everywhere. Check out the feathers on top of their heads!

There were also huge flocks of Sandhill Cranes flying back and forth across the sky every morning and every evening. All we could figure is there must have been two water sources that they flew between.

Guido & I got a big scare one morning when we were walking. All of a sudden the brush next to the road started rattling and two large javelinas ran out in front of us!!!! They are the wild pigs of the region and I have been told that they can be vicious - but they were both running away from us as fast as they could.