Dec 29th - Silver City & Deming

This morning we (Kathy) drove up to Silver City and we looked around. It was an interesting place to spend some time and have lunch. The scenery was great on the drive up and back. I'm still a little prejudiced, I LOVE TN. It might be pretty out here but so far I haven't seen anything that is prettier than the Smokies.

My brother had suggested that we explore further to the north, and we would have done so but I was feeling puny. We spent quite a bit of time at the museum in Silver City and then walked down to main street and walked up and down it. It was near 60 degrees with bright sunshine, no jacket required. Below is the snow still left on one of the side streets. We had intended on going up to see the Gila cliff dwellings but they are closed because it is muddy.

One of the interesting facts about Silver City is that the original main street is now the "Ditch." See below. This was originally Main St., but during the night of July 21, 1895, a heavy wall of water rushed through the downtown business district, leaving a trail of destruction. A ditch 55 feet (17 m) lower than the original street level was created in what was once known as Main Street. Businesses on Main Street began using their back doors on Bullard Street as main entrances and eventually, were permanently used as the new front entrances. To this day, the incorrect odd/even addressing conventions on the east side of Bullard Street are a reminder that the buildings were addressed on Main Street originally, not Bullard Street. Main Street now ends near the back of the Silver City Police Station, where the Big Ditch Park begins. (from wiki)

 The shadows you see in the photo below are cast by a pedestrian bridge across the Ditch.

 I took the photo below from the scenic overlook for the Santa Rita copper mine. Indians were the first to mine copper here. The Spanish started mining the area  in 1803. Open pit mining started in 1910. The mine runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is over a mile across and over 1,600 feet deep. I don't think we were even close to being able to see the bottom. There are two specks on the road down the far side of the mine, they are the HUGE dump trucks that haul material out of the mine. They are loaded by an electric shovel that has an 80 ton capacity. The trucks must have a capacity of well over 200 tons.

As you drive down the highway you can see LARGE reclaimed areas that have been terraced and seeded. They look like a massive earthen dam.

When we got back to Deming I was feeling more perky and we decided to go to the museum. We weren't expecting much and were we shocked. It is a FANTASTIC place. I can't begin to describe all the things we saw. Dolls, Indian pottery, an actual chuck wagon, amazing rocks, and much, much more. We had to leave because of closing time. We didn't even get to the upstairs. We are going back to check out the upstairs in the morning. It is free, donations optional, and staffed by volunteers.

When we got back to the campground I had to put on my mechanic hat. Earlier I had checked the oil in the motorhome and found out that Speedco, the place where I had the oil changed Tuesday, overfilled the crankcase. I drained out a little over 2 quarts to get it down to the correct level. As soon as I send this post I am going to Speedco's web site and let them know that I am not pleased with their work. The good news is that the campground manager loaned me an oil drain pan. Now all I have to do is take the used oil somewhere (Walmart) and dispose of it in the morning. (Getting under the motorhome and getting the drain plug out was a little challenging for this old fat guy <grin>)

Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.