Mine ( not yours)

 2/12- City of Rocks New Mexico 

   We pretty much used up this day. We started in Tombstone as we tried to visit the Boot Hill cemetery. Wouldn’t you know it costs money to get in. I don’t think most of the permanent residents paid the $6 fee. As it wasn’t open yet we decided to spend our money elsewhere. 

    On we drove to Bisbee Arizona. Now this is a bizarre little town. It is built right on the side of a steep canyon. It was primarily a mining town so almost everyone who lived here worked in the mines. Houses are literally carved out of the hillside. We tried walking around and got lost in the maze of narrow streets and walkways. There are stairways going every direction. 

    The main focus of the town is the mines which we found had a tour. We had to put our hard hats on and wore a lantern as we sat on this little train. Down into the mine we went with the tour guide driving us through the narrow passage. It was a great tour and we went about a thousand feet into the mine. This was a copper mine but you could still see tons of other crystals and ores in the rock sides. Well maybe not tons but they pulled out 300+ kinds of gems and ore from this mine. It is no longer active ( except for the tours) as it closed when the price of copper dropped in 1975. 

    Driving down the road about a mile we came to a huge open pit mine. The open pit mines gathered lesser grade ores than the dug mines. This closed about the same time and left a huge hole in both the ground and the economy of the area. 

    Next it was 90 miles through the desert. I’m getting more amazed all the time at how the desert changes right in front of your eyes. The desert here was all creosote and mesquite and then it changed to just some other prickly bush but there was grass between the bushes. Then in NM it changed to just plain dirt with very little living in it. As we gained more altitude the junipers and cedars became the primary residents. The sky here is so big when you are on the valley floor with these big mountains surrounding you. 

    That’s another thing I’m coming to grips with is the number of mountain ranges there are. There are these steep rugged mountains everywhere you turn. You go through these winding passes to get over them and there on the horizon is another range. It’s just like trying to get to the Pacific in CA, there always seems to be another mountain to go over. 

    We did cross over the continental divide again today so all the water we see now is headed for the Atlantic. 

    We finally settled for the night at this amazing campground called City of Rocks. In a way it like Joshua Tree in that there are all these big smooth rocks all jumbled together. The campsites are all in amongst the rocks. The neat thing about this place is it pops up out of desert that is flat as can be for 10 miles around. I had heard about this place before and the rumors are all true. 

    It was pretty cold today with highs only in the fifties and it was very windy. We saw quite a few dust storms out on the plain and we’re glad none came near us. Hopefully it will all calm down soon.