Silver City, NM

Yesterday we drove into town. Forty miles, how long can that take? Well, how about an hour and a half? The road is a paved highway, New Mexico #15, but it resembles the path a snake would take through a briar patch. When you drive north out of SC (Silver City) you start to climb and pass through Pinos Altos, which is an old mining town (future exploring trip) and then, still climbing, into the forest. You leave private land and enter the Gila National Forest and for about 15 miles wind left and right, up and down on this paved, 1 ½ lane road (with no center of edge lines) as you travel generally northward at a blistering pace of 15-20 mph. Your eyes are ever watching for oncoming vehicles, especially on the curves, (some being 180 degrees), not to mention, water running across the road, and animals. On the way home last night, we saw a total of 5 deer in three locations, a herd of 12 elk, and numerous squirrels and rabbits.

About halfway on the trip home Hwy 35 intersects Hwy 15. From there to the monument the road becomes a road normal width and striping. But it also becomes more vertical as it traverses over a pass of 7440 ft. In 14 miles the roads rises from 6000 ft to 7400 ft and back down to 6000. My stomach was in my throat on that first trip with a 12000 pound fifth wheel hooked to my pickup. We were advised to bring our trailer here by way of Hwy 35 to avoid the narrow part of Hwy 15. I’m glad we did. Yesterday, I stopped and talked to couple in a 38ft motorhome at the intersection of Hwy 15 & 35. They had just come on 15 with that rig and were checking the map. I was amazed that they were able to come that way and still be able to smile so I told them about the rest of the trip. A piece of cake after what they had driven.

The trip each way, took us about 80 minutes which I think is good considering it was our first trip and I was not trying to push it, although I would not want to have been in the back seat. SC is worth the trip. It has all the necessities, three grocery stores, auto parts, car dealers, etc. plus a quant old town downtown. We were happy to find a gym/rehabilitation center that had a pool that has some scheduled water aerobics classes plus free swim times so we can do water exercises when we go to town.

The town owes its history to mining; gold copper and some other metal which you will have to guess. We have yet to visit Santa Fe or Taos, but I bet the feel would be the same. Driving down Bullard St, you see an occasional empty building, but mostly brightly colored shops, galleries and restaurants. In Yadda Yadda Yarn Shop we found several members of the local spinning group that meets there on the first Sat. of the month. When I mentioned that I had a wheel, I was invited to join them next month. One of the members told me that there several weavers in a storefront across the street. So, of course, we went to see and were welcomed there as well. I was told that there isn’t a weaving group, but instead the fiber arts council meets once a month at the college. One of the weavers had a scarf made with sock yarn which she is entering in a national contest. Upon examining it, I asked her about the way she “finished” it, meaning kept the weft from unraveling. She showed me an article in a weaving magazine that showed one method. I will have to Google it because I am not satisfied with the way my scarves are “ending” right now.

After a short trip through some of the residential areas of SC, we went to Albertson’s for supplies for next week. We wanted to leave town about 5ish to avoid driving that road in the dark. Shopping took a little longer than we anticipated, and we got back into the truck about 5:25, so it was nearly 7 and dark when we arrived back at the trailer. Lots of hoofed mammals were seen in the dusky light on our trip home. A long but good day.