Silver City, Deming and then Benson Once Again

We returned to our RV lot in Benson on October 19, after a visit to Deming, NM at the end of the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. We were in Deming for 5 days for the Escapees Chapter 21 rally which Don and I hosted. We managed to pull it off although we were both very tired from the 2 weeks in Albuquerque and getting up very early most days to launch balloons. At the end of the chapter rally, Don and I were telling each other not to schedule two events that we are hosting back to back in the future!

While in Deming, we drove to Silver City with Frank & Gloria King and visited the Silver City Museum. It is housed in the restored 1881 H.B. Ailman House, which is quite beautiful.

We went through and examined all of the exhibits, including climbing stairs to the second floor.

We even climbed the steeper, narrower stairs to the third floor!

Up there is a tower room or cupola, which served to help ventilate the house and provided lots of natural light for sewing or a greenhouse or just a peaceful retreat. From the outside, the cupola looks really tall!

Each of the four windows has a sign describing the view to the North, East, South and West.

The view to the north shows some of the buildings of the Western New Mexico University (originally the Territorial Normal School) and the two domed towers of the Catholic church.

Getting back down the stairs was almost as hard as climbing up them. I think people were a lot smaller in those days!

We drove around the historic district to see more interesting buildings, such as this apartment house.

Then we enjoyed a lunch of New Mexico style Mexican food, similar to what I ate while growing up in El Paso, TX.

Here are a few pics of folks enjoying food together at the rally. Luke & Judy Rinehimer were too busy eating to smile for the picture!

Ron and JerrieLea Hopf served as VCR’s (volunteer club representatives) for the rally.

Frank & Gloria King are always fun to be around.

Bill & Jan Mains sat next to their friends (and now ours too) John & Karen Knoll.

Oops! I caught Jean Holloway-Burkhardt with her eyes closed, sitting across from Myra Cox.

Ron & Alice Schulz have been active in the club for a long time; he’s Treasurer of the Chapter.

It was nice to get to know Dan and Pat Urso.

And to get to know better Don DeMent and Chapter Secretary Betty Dawson.

For excellent reports on other events we enjoyed during the rally, go to http://billandjanrvingtheusa.blogspot.com/ and look at entries beginning with one posted on October 16 entitled “Escapees Chapter 21.” Jan did a great job of reporting on our activities.

Don and I departed Deming on Saturday Oct. 19 and were happy to see the Arizona border after about 8 months of traveling other parts of the country.

About a week after the rally ended, Bill & Jan Mains met us for an early dinner at the Vail Steakhouse, about 25 miles west of Benson. They were attending another rally in Amado, about 35 miles southwest of there. We were just too tired for another rally so soon, so we opted out of this one and just enjoyed it through Jan’s blog.

Don & I have been busy with several things on our “To Do” list, including hanging the ristra we bought in Hatch, NM. It goes well with the Kokopelli’s.

Don trimmed the rosemary bush way back with the hedge trimmer he bought at the Boomers’ CARE auction almost a year ago. I raked and bagged the clippings (6 leaf bags full) and kept a few sprigs for the kitchen. The bush looks a little ragged on two sides, but it will grow and fill in.

The Little Green Man got staked down so he won’t blow over and he joined the Navy, giving up his American flag!

A little more yard cleanup and we were ready to relax!

Yesterday, we had a pleasant surprise. Larry & Carol Jennings decided to stop for a visit on their way back to Texas. It was great to see them and we enjoyed dinner at Pablo’s in Benson.

It’s nice to be back on our RV lot, with no stay limit or check-out time. Some of our traveling neighbors are back from their summer sojourns, but the neighborhood is fairly quiet. And we’re back to enjoying beautiful sunsets out to the west.