June 1, 2023 Silver City NM

 June 1, 2023

Woke up to 46 this morning, so made a nice hot breakfast of breakfast tacos with bacon and eggs.  I always pre-cook the bacon at home, so it isn't so messy on the road.  Greg notes that only 6 of the 23 sites here are occupied, which is encouraging.

We toy with the idea of spending another day here, but instead decide to head for our friend Anne's house in Silver City.  So we begin the long descent to Alamogordo. Several Runaway Truck ramps along the way.

We stop at White Sands for a short walk and breakfast at a nice covered outdoor picnic area.  Lots of little birds, and people gearing up for the dunes with saucers from the Visitors Center.

Have been texting with Anne, who advises us to get gas before Silver City because theirs is $3.87.  It is $3.12 in Las Cruces - just two hours away.  We decide to take a more scenic route to Silver City instead of more I-10 and desert landscape. We head north on I-25 to the town of Hatch.

Lots of pecan orchards along the way.  The Rio Grande River winds along parallel to the road and provides irrigation for the pecans.

And heres' Hatch!  A cute small town that is all about peppers!

We got the green chilis on the side😉

World famous for their chili peppers, we stop by Sparky's for a green chili cheeseburger. There is a line just nudging the outside door, but it moves quickly and we are soon seated amid the mishmash of signs, lights, statues and assorted paraphernalia that makes up their "decor".

A little bit of everything.

I especially liked this sign, which I had never seen before.  And, yes, they had no straws.

A little north of Hatch we branch off onto 152 which goes west through the Black Range which is part of the Gila National Forest.  We pass some very small, old, ex-mining towns, left over from the late 1800's silver rush.  Lots of switchbacks and curves and windy as well!  We stop at Emory Pass Vista (8300') for a break.

There is a plaque here honoring Aldo Leopold who was an early proponent of Wilderness Conservation  and helped establish this Gila Wilderness, one of the first.

 The Black Range is about 55 miles (88 km) long from north to south and up to 18 miles (29 km) wide. Very little is accessible and it is largely undeveloped. It was once home to America's indigenous people, but they were moved out during our regrettable Indian wars.

Next, we stop briefly at the Santa Rita Copper Mine - a huge ongoing operation.

Then on to Anne's house in Silver City. We've been here multiple times, so forgo the sightseeing and spend the rest of the day relaxing and catching up.  We met Anne 10 years ago as she traveled with our loosely-bound group to Alaska.  She has graciously moved her Pleasureway RV to allow us to connect to her 30amp connection.

We meet Ginger, her cute little cockapoo, who takes a little while to warm to these home invaders, but is soon enjoying our attention.

She's making this one for a friend who helps her with the house.

A talented quilter, we enjoy seeing some of her finished work and some works-in-progress.  And then get to our "traditional" game of Mexican Train dominos, with a pause for dinner.  Anne pops a spaghetti casserole in the oven and we put together a salad and other goodies.  Yum!  

Later, Anne and I savor chocolate cake with mint chocolate ice cream and catch up some more.  She is approaching 80 but still makes several trips a year in her RV and we enjoy hearing about the Oregon coast and other places she's been since we last saw her.

A good night's sleep.