Return to Silver City

I am back in Silver City again. Things have slowed down significantly so they let a few of us go out yesterday on a familiarization tour. Last time I was down I was able to go to the Cliff Dwellings. Yesterday we visited the other side of the forest and checked out the old mining town of Mogollon and The Catwalk.
We went to Mogollon first. http://www.rozylowicz.com/retirement/mogollon/mogollon.html Mogollon is found at the end of a sketchy one lane road cut into the mountain. With the monsoons we have been having there was quite a few washed out areas on the road. It was definitely worth the drive. Tucked into the deep canyon was a neat old mining town. My favorite part was the replica Billy the Kidd Wanted Poster. http://www.nndb.com/people/113/000108786/ Last time I was down here I had to watch Young Guns, maybe I will need to watch Young Guns II this time to get the full experience.
Silver City was the hometown of Billy the Kid. http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/Grant/Silver_City/SilverCity.html
I hope I have time to get to the museum on one of my lunch breaks. It has hours that don’t always jive with my work schedule.
Our second destination is a place called The Catwalk. In the 1930’s the Civilian Conservation Corps built a hanging walkway trail following the path of an old pipeline (built in 1893) along the path the river has cut in Whitewater Canyon. The trail has since been updated and climbs 1.15 miles to the end of the path.
Along the trial you find huge boulders that have fallen and lodged themselves in peculiar arrangements. We thought it was a good idea to hustle back to the car when the first rain drops started to sprinkle. Locals know better than to even be in the area when rain is forecast. We found out that when it rains sometimes the large rocks are displaced and have accounted for some injuries. We were also told that there have been times when the rain falls upriver and tourist have been stranded in the canyon because the water level rises so quickly with the flash floods. We were safe and had an enjoyable hike, other than some shin splints from our hastened downhill assent.
I am ready to get back home, even though we will not be there very long before our next adventure to Ely…

August 2009

Well, we sure did do a lot in the past four weeks. When I returned from Silver City Katie had a welcome home fruit pizza waiting for me. It was delicious! It was so nice to be back home with her. Two weeks is a LONG time! I had a few days off and was right back to work.

The same week I came home was Katie’s finals week. She worked so hard this semester and it really paid off. She EARNED all A’s for the second semester in a row. Her final semester at BYU-I will begin in September. It will be so nice to have a break before she starts her grad program at ISU.

Katie’s birthday was on the 27th of July. I jumbled together a little surprise party for her at Porter Park. So many of our friends and family were able to make it. The biggest surprise was when her mom and dad showed up. She had no idea about the party, but really was not expecting to see her mom and dad. It was indeed a sacrifice for them to come all the way up on a Monday night. It was so nice that they made it a priority and were able to be there for Katie.

I could not believe that a year had gone by since we were married. What a great year it has been. There is only one character flaw that I have found with Katie, and that is her judgment in picking me to be with for eternity. I am so grateful to have her.

I took off work a couple hours early on our anniversary and we headed up to Island Park. I had rented a cabin for that night and gotten tickets for a dinner show at Macks Inn. I had also planned on doing some camping the next couple nights, but that was before I got the SNOW REPORT for that area! (and yes, it did snow.)
Katie was helping our friends (family in my book, I don’t care how far a stretch it is) Sheldon and Lori and their boys with their horses at the fair in Rigby. I called to tell her about the snow and that she would want to pack accordingly. When Lori’s parents found out we were going to be in Island Park they told us to just go use their cabin. We took them up on the offer and it was much appreciated because it was cold and wet.

We visited the Park and road mt. bikes at Warm River, went to mesa falls, and just enjoyed being with each other. It was kind of tough to come back and have to go to work.

We got home and started planning for our next weekend’s trip. My dad was able to draw an elk tag in the Salmon, area and was coming up to do some scouting of the area. We had a good time up there and were able to see some new country, and a lot more critters than we did in Yellowstone. We came back to Rexburg EARLY Tuesday morning so that I would have time to switch bags and catch a flight back to Silver City. That is right I am back in New Mexico. I was back up on the rotation and was able to pick up this assignment at the right time to be back to go to Ely for Blake’s blessing September 6.
I really didn’t want to leave again, but after I got the truck out of the shop and our two calibrations I had spent more than I made on the first trip. I am looking at it as blessing to have the opportunity to make some money instead of a hardship of having to chase after it.

Our lives will not slow down at all when I return. Off to Ely, GRE on the 9th, back to school on the 10th, BYU FOOTBALL, dad’s elk hunt, our deer hunt, bird season… I would say things might slow down in Jan. but it sounds like we will have a wedding to attend and I’m sure we will be out on the ice dragging fish out of the hole…

Sorry that this is so long. I will be surprised if anyone reads this novel, or if any of it actually makes any sense.