Silver City, NM

Monday morning we left Mission RV Park in El Paso and went to get our rig and car washed.  We found a place in town that washed them both for $52 and did a nice job.  It is great to have a shiny motorhome again, even though we will pick up dirt on the road. Before long we were in New Mexico.  We stopped at a lovely rest stop with a mountain view.  And a sign to beware of rattlesnakes.  Rattlesnakes become pretty inactive below 60 degrees, and today was 55 so I wasn’t too worried.

We started seeing interesting mountains and mesas along the way, with grasslands in the valleys.  

After a three hour drive we arrived in Silver City, NM.  Bob and I unhooked the car and hooked up the utilities.  Our campground is next to hiking trails and it is so quiet and pretty here.  Here is the view from the back of our site.

This morning Bob and I ran some errands, and after lunch we went into town.  What a great downtown they have, with an herb shop, yoga shops, an antiques mall, fiber arts and fine arts galleries, a food co-op, tons of little restaurants and loads of places to explore. 

We started out in the Visitors Center where this lovely mural is painted.

We went to the Silver City Museum and learned about the town's history.  The museum is housed in a beautiful brick Victorian home that dates to the late 1800's.

Silver City back then was full of gunslingers, gamblers, prostitutes, and miners.  There are a lot of the original buildings left today, which makes you feel like you have stepped back in time.

I love this town.  Reasons?

1)  There are mountains all around, and evergreen trees.  It seems like a long time since we have seen trees (actually, Temple, TX had lots of them, but not so much where we have been driving the last few days.)  

2)  The town has a University (Western NM,) which gives it a great vibe.

3) There is a nice yarn shop in town called Yada Yada that I heard about on Ravelry. Bob and I stopped in this morning and the shop owner, Kristen, was so nice.  Even though she had closed the shop for maintenance she still let us in and I bought some warp yarn. 

4)  About 45 miles out of town is the Gila Cave Dweller site. Cave Dwellers!! How cool is that??

5)  The climate in Silver City is very temperate.  It is typical to have blue skies and temperatures in the 50's with no wind in the winter.  We had long sleeved shirts on and didn't feel the cold at all. Silver City gets sunshine 360 days a year.  Can you believe it??? The warmest month is June, with temps in the 80's to low 90's, with no humidity. July starts the rainy season, and temperatures drop a little with showers almost every day but it is pleasant.  This lasts into the fall.

6)  They sell beer and wine in CVS. Next to canes and crutches. Somehow that doesn't seem right, though.

One thing that we have noticed is that, because of the altitude (we are over a mile above sea level here) we are a little short of breath just walking around.  Food cooks more slowly, because water boils at a lower temperature. And things filled with air, like my inflatable lumbar pillow and our tires have more pressure in them.  I have heard of Sleep Number beds exploding as folks drive into the higher altitudes.  Good thing we don't have one of those!

We are taking our car in to be looked at tomorrow morning at 7:00, as it is making ominous sounds when we brake.  It looks like we will be here at least until Thursday, maybe longer.  It depends on the car.