Red Tail RV Trips

END OF THE JOURNEY!

Well the time has come. We left Silver City and headed west towards home. Beautiful clear day, cool temps and no wind all makes for easy driving. First time in over 10 years we have driven thru Tucson with NO construction on the freeway! Arrived home mid-afternoon and started the ritual of unpacking from our traveling condo and getting back into our home. After living in an area of 320 square feet and going to an area of 2100 square feet adjustment is required. We can actually move from room to room and not bump into each other.

This has been another great summer. We drove 7,768 miles thru 16 states and flew to 1. We were gone a total of 129 days and spent 96 nights in a campground. Our coach consumed 1261 gallons of fuel and another 270 for the tow car.

As a recap, on this trip we saw Lake Powell rising 12 inches a day from the Colorado snow melt. The trip to Crater Lake thru banks of snow over 15' high, 4th of July at Coos Bay and then the wonderful quilt show in the picturesque town of Sisters. Leaving the coach and flying to Juneau, building a deck in the drizzling rain and watching the whales. Enjoying the kids and grandkids emensely. Seeing the old haunts of Crescent Bar on the Columbia river then the wonders of Yellowstone. The relaxing hot springs of Thermopolis and the great plains of Nebraska. Stopping by relatives in Iowa and dining at the Ox Yoke Inn in Amana. The 50 year reunion at COE and my how my class mates have aged. Off to Omaha and our annual pilot convention and the nice award I received. Into Missouri and the grand neice triplets. Over to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta, mostly rained and blown out this year. Down to Silver City for new scenery and then home.

This will be the last entry for some time, until we travel again. No use boring you with local, mundane items like taking the trash out and watching the sun rises and sun sets on our lake.

So till the next time, drive or fly safe, and keep in touch with your friends.

SCROLL DOWN, THERE ARE 18 PICTURES OF THE CAT WALK AND THE OPEN PIT MINE.

First picture is at the viewpoint along the highway of the open pit Santa Rita copper mine. It is not as deep as Salt Lake City, but it wraps around the mountain in the back ground.

Well what a day! We had heard about the Cat Walk at Glenwood NM so decided to take a drive up there, som 65 miles. Stopping at Alma for some home cooking at the Alma Cafe we fueled our bodies for the hiking we would do.

The Cat Walk is in the Whitewater Canyon, Whitewater Creek just east of Glenwood. In the late 1800's this area was abound with silver and lead mines and workers. They needed water badly. So they went up the Whitewater Creek and built a system to bring the water to the area. They drilled holes, attached metal rods and in some cases even spanned the canyon with steel girders to hold all the pipes. These pipes, some over a foot in diameter brought the needed water. When the mining craze subsided in the1920's the pipes were still in use.
It was decided the CCC would convert these brackets to hold a walk way for seeing the canyon.

As you can see from the pictures the canyon is very picturesque! The trail starts at 4200 feet and climbs to 5234 feet at the upper end. If you are so inclined there are two trails leaving from there, not maintained well, that will take you to the top of the mountain. The first part of the trail is paved and wheel chair accessible. Water was still running and many waterfalls and pools were there. The leaves had not yet started to turn, so all was green. The second half of the trail is primitive, no paving, sometimes steep steps and such. Along the trail you can see the holes drilled into the rock and the areas chiseled out to hold timbers or steel bars. All this was done above the spring flood level so they would not be washed out. At the top I am standing at the end of the trail. You can see the dark ceiling, caused by the smoke from the indians that once lived there.

This was a Sunday and the trail was very busy, lots of families taking in the beauty of the area.

This area was only in the local brochures, but should be on your list of places to visit. In general this part of New Mexico is most impressive.
The rolling hills, the Juniper trees, the Joshua trees and huge boulders dominate the scenery. Saw lots of deer, both white tail and mule.
It is also in the birding area of New Mexico. Several brochures tell you what to look for and where to