Day 14 Silver City, NM. . .Southern Tier 2008

I actually slept until 7 am today and loved it! The Comfort Inn provided a good breakfast of waffles, whole wheat bread for toast, hard cooked eggs, coffee, etc. As sag driver yesterday, Phyllis was able to spend phone time lining up a driver to take some of us on a day trip to the Gila National Forest and cave dwellings. Bryan showed up in his Pathfinder at 9:45 for Phyllis, Judy, Mary and me. Our first stop was Albertson's for a picnic lunch which we enjoyed much later in the day. Then, it was off on a windy mountain road for an almost 2 hour drive to the cave dwellings. These are cave homes built into the face of the mountain about 1200 AD. We were fortunate to have the personal attention of a national park service volunteer who took us from room to room explaining what archeologist believe the various caves and rooms within the caves were used for. They date the dwellings by the pine timbers which were used to make different levels and shelves. In various places one can still see the original pine timbers. As you can imagine the caves are up quite high. Since I have a real fear of heights I didn't know what part of this excursion I would be able to enjoy. At one point we were to walk along a rather narrow passage and I just couldn't do it. I sat down, though, and surveyed the situation for a few minutes while my friends went on. I could still hear the guide. I decided that the path was wide enough and not too long and as long as I didn't look out (to see how high we were) and touched the wall on my left, I could make it. So, this is what I did. I was so pleased to conquer that terrifying moment because the remainder of the cave tour was really interesting. The walk down was along an even more narrow passage, so the guide suggested that I walk back with her along the route that we took to get there. I considered that God's grace for allowing me to be part of the tour but not having to continue down the narrow return route. . . We found Bryan napping but he'd also been able to take care of some personal business. We then found a picnic table for our sandwiches, chips and water. Then we were off to find the warm springs to bask in for a short time. Jean had told me about this bonus and we found someone who told how to get there. (My friend Jean did the Southern Tier last year). Bryan didn't even know about this particular location. There was a changing trailer for switching to bathing suits and then it was into the hot springs. There really were hot, too. Each one of us eased ourselves in very slowly. For one thing, my right leg was a litle sunburned and that hurt. Since Bryan used to be an athletic trainer, we each took advantage of his ability to give a shoulder massage. He really hit the spot where each of us had a little shoulder pain. It was difficult to leave but by now it was about four oclock and we really needed to face the long drive back to town. You can imagine how glad we were to have a driver, especially one who was accustomed to the roads. I think we're ordering a pizza for dinner tonight and will hit the sack early. The day trip, though, will remain a highlight of this journey.