Silver City RV Park & Cabins

At times I enjoy a three day weekend rather than a week long vacation.  These brief weekends allow me time to refresh without the pressure of preparing to be gone for an entire week.  This weekend we took a three day trip to Silver City, New Mexico.  A university town of just over 10,000 folks located in some beautiful foothills that include the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the City of Rocks.  While our weekend did not allow us to see these sites, we were able to get some rest, enjoy nature and walk the historic downtown area of Silver City.

We choose to stay at Silver City RV Park and Cabins.  The park is downtown, an easy walk to the historic area where you can eat and browse the shops.  We were there on a Saturday so we could also visit the Farmer's Market.  The Market was small, but a great place for fresh meat and vegetables.  The campground was rather small and the sites a bit closer and narrower than I would prefer.  Backing into the site took a bit more skill than the novice RV driver.  The campground was clean and well kept.  The WiFi was unreliable, disappointed to me as I do like to stay connected.  The campground was not very big so evening walks were short and the neighborhood around the park did not look like a place to walk at night.  The best walk was the one we took on Saturday to the historic down town area.  The park is located in an area of the city surrounded by homes, so the views were not memorable.  For a short weekend trip to Silver City I would recommend the park, but if you were going to spend a week in the area and visit the Cliff Dwellings and the City of Rocks I would recommend a different RV park outside of the city in the surrounding areas.

The historic downtown was quaint.  Several of the older buildings had been converted to art shops to displace the work of local artists and native Americans.  Several restaurants were available along with a coffee shop.  It was a great location to spend a day walking and looking at the various shops. An interesting exhibit that we past on our walk to the downtown area was an 1870 replica log cabin donated to the city by Ron Howard and place at the site of Billy the Kid's homestead from his childhood.  Silver City was also home to Anita Scott Coleman an author and poet who lived between 1890 and 1960.  Her mother was a slave and her father a Buffalo Solider.  I often find wonderful nuggets of history located in these little cities throughout the west.  I look forward to visiting the area again when I have time to visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the City of Rocks.

Stayed:  August 11-13, 2016
Rating:  2.5 out of 5 (5 being Excellent)

Distant Drums RV Resort: Northern Arizonia

Distant Drums RV Resort:  Camp Verde, AZ

583 West Middle Verde Rd., Camp Verde, AZ, 86322

Stayed:  March 5-9, 2016

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

I was looking forward to my first RV trip and the trip did not disappoint me despite a sick dog and two sick humans.  Our destination was Northern Arizona for a quick trip to Sedona and the red rocks.

The location we decided to stay at was Distant Drums RV Resort.  We pulled into the campground late at night and was able to get our spot without any problems.  The park was clean and quiet. The park included several nice amenities.  The park had a laundry facility, which we got to use because our Yorkie got sick in the middle of the night and we needed to do laundry.  Near the laundry facility was a dog play area - a nice perk when you have dogs who might want to romp around rather than just leach walk.  The park include a makeshift store in the main office area - it was below average, but if you had an emergency and needed paper plates or something it would be a nice perk.  

Despite a sick dog who visited the emergency pet hospital nearby, we were able to do some sight seeing.  We drove over to Sedona and along the way were able to stop at pull off areas to get pictures of the Red Rocks.  The locations were well identified with signs so you would know what you were looking at.  Once in Sedona we took a Pink Jeep tour.  They offered several types of tours.  We took a mild tour - one we could have taken with our own jeep.  However, the guide was nice as he was able to explain the various geographic formations we saw.

Our last night at the campground we drove to Cottonwood, AZ and ate at Nic's Italian Steak and Crab House.    The meal was outstanding.  The steak was well prepared.  Prices were on the high end,  but a good value for the wonderful atmosphere and well prepared meal.  

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The Blood Moon

Tonight I got to see a rare occurrence - the Blood Red Moon (or Super Moon).  While I tried to take pictures of the total lunar eclipse, the camera did not capture the true beautify of the event.  I find that often the camera does a great job of capturing the images, but they are nothing like the memory I have of the image, place or event.  NASA information shared that the last lunar eclipse occurred in 1982. Previous eclipses occurred in 1910, 1928, 1946, and 1964.  NASA predicts the next eclipse to occur on October 8, 2033.  I have lived during three lunar eclipses. I was age 2 for the first one, age 20 for the second one, and age 53 for this one. If I live to see the next one, I will be 80.  

People often think that the Blood Moon is associated with the world ending.  Acts 2:20 states, "The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day."  Joel 2:31 states, "The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes."  Through out history - in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 people were probably thinking the same thing, "the world is going to end".  Is this moon a sign of the end of the world?  I don't know.  However, I do know that the Bible includes so much more about the end times that to take any one "sign" or event such as this and predict the "end" would be a bit premature.  I do think we are living in times that the Bible speaks about.  However, I believe each person needs to examine the Bible for themselves to determine if they believe we are living in the end times or not.  So, I just enjoyed watching the lunar eclipse from my back yard and reflected on my humanity and spirituality.