City of Rocks State Park, NM

May 4th, 2010.

Lows were in the 40’s but we woke to a bright sun. It slowly warmed to the low 80’s. It was a beautiful breezy day without a cloud in the sky.

Maggie was putting weight back on her left leg so she seems to be recovering. Yesterday she went lame after playing with a puppy next door.

After getting Maggie and Rico settled and turning on the air conditioner, we drove Joyce’s car out to the The City of Rocks, State Park. 

City of Rocks State Park was established in May 1952. The park encompasses a one- square- mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southeastern New Mexico at the elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a truly geologic monument formed by large sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen here today

We did the 3.25 mile hike around the park starting at the botanical garden and ending at the visitor center.  

I guess we did the hike backwards. However, when we initially arrived at the park the visitor center was closed, but reopened prior to the end of our hike. 

We spoke with the park volunteer in the visitor center whom told us about some of the wild life which includes javelinas, coyote, bobcats, kangaroo rats, snakes and birds.

There is both primitive camping for $10 and camping with electric and water for $14.  There were a number of electric sites still available.

However, the best sites were the primitive sites which were right up against the rocks.

All in all, it was a nice hike in the desert around the rocks, and we enjoyed our visit. Although its very remote, If we are ever back in the area, we would consider camping here for a few days. 

On the way back home we stopped for groceries and then relaxed the rest of the day.

April 3, 2010.

It was another chilly night but the morning sun soon warmed us up. We stayed home and took care of some domestic chores i.e., laundry. 

Maggie and Rico played with the 4 mos. old cattle dog next door.  They raced around the rig and Maggie did her boxer burns.  However, about an hour later, Maggie was holding up her left rear leg and limping around.  She has done this before when she over exerts herself. Its possible she has a problem with her knee. We are keeping are fingers crossed that it resolves itself.

I took this opportunity to check out the dirt trail behind our rig.  The ground here is like a clay mixture that is hard as a rock when its dry. It was a nice trail but jarring! 

The trail was about 4 miles down the valley which meant the return was 4 miles up hill! 

It was a nice ride. I could sure feel the 6000 ft. of altitude here in Silver City as I chugged up the hill.

The rest of the day was uneventful and we had a quiet evening. Maggie continued to limp and favor her leg all day and we made her rest.

End of the Tour and Freaky Weather

May 2, 2010.

It was in the 30’s overnight but we were warm with our electric ceramic heater.  Even though we’ve had cold nights, I haven’t felt the need to run the furnace unless we have pro-longed subfreezing temperatures and I need to heat the basement tanks.

We took Maggie and Rico for a long walk and then contemplated our plans for the day. The weather stayed overcast and cold reaching 57 degrees by late morning before sliding back down to the 40’s.

We had heard on the radio that a bus was providing rides to Pinos Altos the summit of the final stage of the Tour of The Gila Road Race. So we drove to the Ace Hardware to look for the bus, but it never came and we didn’t see any groups of vehicles that may have been parked for the bus.  Anyway, it was already past noon so we drove our truck up to the summit at over 7000 ft., but it was obvious the race was over as we passed team cars and cyclists going the opposite direction back towards Silver City.

The weather was getting worse so we headed back home not bothering to stop at the town of Pinos Altos.  It was cold and windy and threatening rain.

Back home we got some small hail.

The hail soon turned to rain and then it began to snow! 

It snowed for almost two hours, however it didn’t stick. 

Instead it made everything rather muddy!

We stayed home the rest of the day and soon called it a night.

Tour Of The Gila

May 1, 2010.

Temperatures overnight were in the high 20’s. We slept in a bit, persuaded by the cool temps. However, the bright sunlight was encouraging me to get out of bed!

We took Maggie and Rico for a long walk on the trail behind our rig. We never made it to the end of the trail before turning back. Neither Maggie or Rico have much endurance and before long their tongues were hanging. When we got back it had warmed to the mid 50’s and the sun was shining on our patio area. We sat outside for awhile before getting ready to go out.

We drove to the historic downtown section of Silver City to watch the criterium stage of the Tour of The Gila.

We got there just after 10:00. The schedule included crits all day for different classes of riders.

We came across a few window displays depicting cycling and dedicated to Lance Armstrong.

The pro race with the 7 time Tour De France winner was not scheduled till around 3:00 p.m. Of course we didn't know that till after we got there and saw the race schedule.

We walked along the crit course noting the steep hills. Each lap of the crit was a mile.

The Historic Downtown district provides a beautiful backdrop for the races.

We checked out the local bike shops and small shops along the race route.

We soon built up an appetite from walking and watching all these athletes racing around. We decided to try out one of the many Mexican restaurants.

The food was fantastic and we left completely satisfied. We watched some more of the race and then decided it was time to go. It actually felt like it was getting cooler as the sun was hiding behind the thickening clouds.

We stopped to wash the car at a carwash before heading home to Valley Rose RV Park. Back home I worked on the yesterday’s blog entry and before long we were both taking a nap!

The rest of the evening was uneventful. We enjoyed the races but are undecided about trying to get to the finish line tomorrow to watch the race finale.