New Mexico

We spent a wonderful week in New Mexico, seeing Cloudcroft, Ruidoso and the Gila Cliff Dwellings.
We left early in the morning and headed for the road that traveled over a mountain pass, hoping to get to the Cliff Dwellings in about two hours.

When we left Truth or Consequences
the temperature was 54 degrees. We started up the mountain and the road got more twisted and the drop offs more sheer.

The temperature was dropping quickly and the road started to ice.

Almost at the top, we lost our nerve and turned around and came back down the icy mountain and took a longer - but flatter - way to the cliff dwellings.

We were amazed at the Gila Cliff Dwellings. They were much more intricate that we had imagined they would be. The Mogollon Indians did not just live in the caves they found. They built intricate rooms for family members, for worship and for preparing and storing food.

We hiked up the mountain and then walked along the ledges and into the cave dwellings. This place was certainly worth the extra effort to get to this isolated and beautiful spot.

Thursday morning we packed up and headed for Arizona. By afternoon we had arrived at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. We plan to stay here for at least a week, perhaps longer. It is nice and we have already met some very nice people who regularly come to this base each winter.