Hi Everyone,
Well, I made it to Gila Cliff Dwellings on Saturday afternoon. Woo-hoo! I got moved into the dorm and then had dinner with the folks here. I didn't have all my supplies yet so they took me under their wing the first night. They are a real great bunch of people.
The trip down here was pretty cool. I left from my brother Fred's in Denver on Friday morning and drove to Las Cruces (667 miles), stayed overnight, then on Saturday drove to Deming, Silver City and then on to Gila Cliffs.
There was lots of stuff to see on I-25 between the New Mexico border and Las Cruces that I didn't take the time to visit on this trip but hope to see on future trips: Ancient volcanoes, Active Indian Pueblos, the Very Large Array radio telescope facility and White Sands National Monument to name a few. The scenery along the way is amazing and constantly changing. I tied to read ahead in my "Roadside Geology of New Mexico" book to have an idea what I was looking at. It would be great to have a co-pilot reading from the book along the way next time (hint, hint).
Today I drove back into Silver City (43 miles/two hours) and got things for meals and some cleaning supplies (I had plenty of snack stuff...thanks again :) I went with another "geezer" who was already planning a trip in on Monday. I want to be nice to him. He's the guy with the really cool computerized Celestron telescope. Last night he had it out and the whole gang was out there stargazing. The night sky here is awesome. Gila is a "dark sky" area. We had to put coats on.
The dorm is pretty basic but has all the necessities including 2 fridges, 2 stoves, 2 bathrooms, and 2 sets of washers and driers. There will be six of us living in it this summer. I'll give you more stuff on them later. There are other housing options near by for the other volunteers and "seasonal" workers. They are all very nice and very smart people here. As usual, I'm the dumbest kid in the smart class.
I start training on Tuesday which lasts through the week. I get trained on how to operate, open and close the Visitor Center, defensive driving (for Park vehicles), the Mogollon Indian interpretation stuff(including the cliff dwellings) and, most important of all, the Junior Ranger program.
I met a younger couple tonight who are finishing up their 3 months. They are from England and their names are Ollie and Harriet(no kidding). Harriet's maiden name was Harriet Potter! You can't make this stuff up.
There are a few forest fires going on at Gila right now. The closest is ten miles from the visitors center in the wilderness area. It was caused by lightning. There have been recent sightings of cougars and bear droppings on the nearby trails. They tell me that the Gray Wolves will come near the Visitors Center on occasion. Snakes are common but bites are rare and usually dry, they say. I didn't take much comfort from that.
I need to get you all some pictures of the facilities, the folks and the surrounding scenery. Lots of neat stuff here.
I'm still working on the blog. :(
Stay tuned.
Love,
Dave/David/Dad
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