Kit and Carol on the Road

Tuesday we spent a delightful day exploring old town Silver City. We started at the town's historical museum where we learned about "The big ditch". In the late 1890's there was a lot of flooding in the area due to location, excessive rainfall, and the removal of trees on nearby hills. The Big flood literally came roaring down Main Street wiping out homes and businesses and leaving behind a deep channel where the street once was. It was not rebuilt but Bullard Street slightly uphill became the new Main Street and is indeed where the galleries and restaurants are found today. The Big Ditch has a nice walkway and now a prime tourist attraction for the town. The strange thing is that after nearly a century, flooding still continues and summer monsoons send water cascading down the streets. Which is why many of the curbs are 12-18 inches above the street.

The town is in the process of filling empty spaces with murals and mosaics. The photos below were from the mural along the big ditch but we found others in out of the way places--many still incomplete. We had a good conversation with a realtor doing a big remodel of an old building. And the young woman behind the desk at the museum was our waitress for dinner that night. Most of the shops are galleries and many were closed when we were there.


Carol Harma--from my iPad

Another "National" for our life list. The ruins are only 45 miles from Silver City but a 2 plus hour drive. Hwy 15 is a very windy road up(and down) through forest land. We got to the Visitor Center in time for a picnic lunch and then walked up to the cliff dwellings. The trail was only 1 mile round trip but with 606 steps. I actually made this trip with my bad knee and all. We've seen similar ruins before so it was the challenge of the hike. On the way back we took another route--longer but less curvy. Almost dinner time when we got back. Then the challenge of finding a place to eat in a town where most everything seems to be closed on Monday.

Carol Harma--from my iPad

We decided to leave Tucson and have a little adventure. It's been a long while since we've visited a place in the south west where we have never been before. Eric (son-in-law) recommended Silver City. We found a nice VRBO quite close to town. It's about a 4 hour drive from Tucson, mostly on interstate 10. So we arrived Sunday afternoon. Not time to do much but settle in; but we did have dinner in a nice brew pub in town--

Carol Harma--from my iPad