Summer 2014 Road Trip Day 3

Upon waking, the kids immediately headed for the river to swim (morning bath?). The two girls from next door (10 and 4 years old) came wandering out to see what all the noise was, and the whole bunch of them fell in nicely and played together.

Like I said, finding this campground was a great mistake, but a mistake, nonetheless. We had planned to stay within walking distance of the cliff dwellings, but without cell service or GPS, I had no way of knowing where we were or how close they were. So I gathered all 6 kids together, and we set out on foot to see what adventures we could drum up.

We made it about a mile when we came upon a lovely swimming hole occupied by friendly natives, and so we stopped to play.

While the kids played, I talked with the man sitting on the bank. He said he was the grandfather of the two boys playing in the river, and he brought them up from Deming for the weekend. They were his only two grand children, and likely would be, as he had only one son. He kind of rambled on, and I was glad because he had something important to say. He said something like, “My life is good, but there is a lot of sorrow in a good life. You know, I had two sons, and one died, and it was a good life, but I was so sad, and now I only have one. My wife got sick and I watched her die of cancer, and things were really hard. I was so sad. And you know, sometimes when you find a new wife, she doesn’t take your kids and grand kids on as her own, she rejects them, but my wife I married after watching my first wife die, she took care of my first grandson after he was born, like he was her own flesh and blood. That’s when you know life is really good. So it’s been hard, but it’s a good life I’ve lived.” Some other folks came to that little spot, and the grandfather shook hands with the man. They started to talk about mining copper and “molly” (molybdenum), and they both found they were truck drivers for the same mine. They talked about the effort to save the “Kneeling Nun” (http://southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/Grant/KneelingNunlegends.html) from destruction, and about their success in that effort. They were such interesting people!

I also discovered that we were not close enough to the cliff dwellings to walk, so we headed back, piled into the van, and made it to the cliff dwellings with a few hours to spare.

We had just made it to the top of the cliffs when. The cliff keepers apologetically told us that a lightning storm was brewing, and we needed to get out of there as fast as we could. So down we went, trying to be cheerful, dragging The Lion, who was NOT trying to be anything but terribly grumpy, and we made it back to the van just as the first rain drops fell.

By the time we got back to the camp site, hail was coming down hard, lightning and thunder were close, and the river was rising. It was a lot of excitement for one day, and I was really happy when the camp neighbors offered us spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. We ate dinner while the rain stopped, and I realized that I had not heard the kids in a while…like a creepy long time…and when I found them, it was at a secret, forrest den they had created, with an unlit camp fire…they were casting spells and catching frogs…I was told I was to stay away…my children have become wild, mythical creatures in just a day without civilization. I guess I’m okay with that.

And now, as I sit in my bed in the van, it is freezing cold once again. I’m buying another blanket tomorrow when we head out.