| Become a Member | Add us to Your Favorites |
|
|
|
 |
|
IMAGES
From
Nostalgiaville |
NOTE: A Click of your Mouse on most of the pictures will enlarge them for better viewing
|
GILA NATIONAL MONUMENT, NEW MEXICO |
| We both take showers this morning. I
wash my hair. We really venture out today... high up in the sky... 7,744
feet above sea level to be exact, and deep into past civilization, the Gila
(pronounced Hila) Cave Dwellers.
We are heading out of town to the Gila National Monument, an ancient city of Indian Cliff Dwellers. When I hear the name, I think of Gila monster not Indians. We see fir trees, pine juniper, green stuff, and a little patch of snow on the side of the road... oh how wonderful. |
 |
 |
 |
We stop by an all purpose store about 4 miles from our destination and eat lunch, sample some more home-made ice cream, get gas for the Tracker, buy some books, and share some interesting conversation with the proprietors. |
| There are three places that I have seen so far in the United States that I think everyone should see: Niagara Falls, Carlsbad Caverns and Gila National Forest. |
 |
 |
 |
| We walk up a winding path through a magical canyon to reach our destination. Visual delights meet us at every turn. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
The Cave Dwellers lived high in the natural cliffs and built clay around the openings for windows and walls. |
|
We see Indian paintings on the walls in red and black just like we were taught in school. It's really, really real. |
 |
 |
 |
Someone didn't just make it up and put it in a book. There are black marks on the ceilings from the ancient fires used for heat. |
 |
 |
| There are large communal rooms and individual rooms. We can see the creek down below, hear the birds sing, and the wind blow through the trees. What a magnificent place. |
 |
 |
| No one knows why this civilization
ended. It is too pretty a place for the people to just leave. It really
would be interesting if some people wanted to go back in time and carry life
on here like they do at Williamsburg.
We stop at a view-point and we can see the mountains below us. We also hunt for crystals that some locals told us were near the view-point. We find them, but they don't look like Arkansas crystals. We also stop along a creek-bank (no water) and collect some interesting rocks. The colors are red, purple, gold, and orange and all shades in between. We also find flecks of fools' gold in some of the rocks... and yes we were fooled... but boy was it fun thinking we were finding real gold! |
| BEGINNING PAGE | STATES HOME PAGE |
|
|
| Become a Member | Add us to Your Favorites | E-Mail Us |
