Day 3: Morenci then Home

By late Sunday afternoon, David and I headed toward Clifton and Morenci. I didn't take any pictures of Clifton but there was a side street that David drove down on. He wanted to show me the close buildings and the high curbs because he said that when they (being David and his brother) rode down that street with its looks and smells he felt like he was back on his mission in Brasil. It was interesting to see. Anyway, Morenci is a very boring place. I think it's great that the mine there is still going but there is hardly nothing to do. They have a library, a movie theater that only shows one movie at a time either at 2:30 or 7 (and it's cash only), a bowling ally, a Morenci Club, a motel with a restaurant and pool, a Bashas', a Radio Shack that looks like a general store, and two places to eat at. Lots of housing there but I don't know what people do all day. And the saddest part was this:

How can a town with lots of people not support a Dairy Queen? It boggles and saddens me.

This was the hallway to our hotel room. Made me feel like I was visiting someone in the crazy house. The room was nice, though. We got one with a microwave, stove, and fridge and bought food for dinner and breakfast to have in our room instead of going out. 

This is where we had lunch. It was really good. The only other place we saw to eat besides the hotel restaurant was a cafe and ice cream place.

Monday morning we started to head back home but first we took some pictures of the huge mines up there.

 He honked at us :)

 To get back to Alpine we drove up the 191. It used to be Highway 666 or "Highway to Hell". David, his brothers, sister, and friends go up and down this rode on street bikes as often as they can. It is a very winding rode and it took about 3 hours to get back to Alpine in a car. David says when they ride to Morenci and back on there bikes, it takes them about an hour and a half. It is a very pretty road but as you get closer to Alpine it is sad to see the damage that the Wallow Fire did. 

We stopped to see this huge tarantula crossing the road. EEK!

 Damage from the Wallow Fire.

 Now we are back in Alpine! David wanted to eat here since he hasn't been there yet. Really good food and they have a candy store and ice cream shop. It is right across the street from the 1st place we ate at on Sat.: Bear Wallow. We had made a full circle.

This trip was a lot of fun! I think the thing I enjoyed most was getting to see the places that David sees all the time since he rides there often. I ate a lot of really good food; glad we went on the cat walk! It was a really pretty drive and I wouldn't mind visiting some of those places again.

Day 2: Glenwood

By Saturday afternoon we were in Glenwood, New Mexico. There are two motels there and we chose the Lariat. It was behind the gas station. The bedroom was okay but the bathroom was small and scary cabin like. That night we ate at another place that David has been to, the Blue Frontier Cafe. I got a bean and cheese burrito but instead of refried beans it was pinto beans. Good, but I like refried beans better. In the morning we went to another place that David likes for breakfast. It is an older couple that run there house as a cafe. She only does breakfast, it's cash only, and very decent prices. The food was delicious!

Later that day we went to the Glenwood Cat Walk Trail: In the early 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) turned an old mining trail through a narrow canyon into a major recreational feature. Their efforts, the Catwalk on the Whitewater Trail, is a must-see if you are near Silver City or Glenwood, New Mexico.

 I have lots a pictures from that. It is a 2.25 mile hike into the canyon round trip with a creek. You can picnic there, swim in the creek , and some people fish. I enjoyed it very much! 

Our hotel.

This is the cafe.

 Here is the entrance to the catwalk.

 We never did see a bear...

 Made it halfway!

 We had made it! This is the last bridge you walk across. I took the picture as we started back down.

 Here we stopped to cool down in the creek. We didn't go swimming but did put our feet in. The water was freezing!!! You will also see some older men behind us. They were swimming and one of them decided to take of his shorts to put on swimming ones and I made the mistake of looking behind me has he did this. He was hidden behind the tree but when he bent down to put the shorts on I saw naked old man bum.

Here David is fetching his sunglasses. He went to this rock to look down into it and they fell off. What a silly dork :)

 Here are some pictures of  what this place used to look like. 

The trail was a lot of fun! Fun for children, too! I wouldn't mind doing it again with family. Anyway, after that we headed back into AZ and spent the night in Morenci...