Sort of like a halfway point

 I'm overnighting in Flagstaff this evening. But first, pictures from Gila. I stayed in the town of Gila Hot Springs, just a few miles down the mountain from Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. Per Alyssa's recommendation, I camped at the Wildwood Retreat and would highly recommend it to anyone heading that way: very clean, very nice facilities, reasonable prices, and unlimited soaking for campers! I soaked every morning as I watched the sunrise and every evening as I watched the sunset. Lovely.

 On one day I pedaled up to Gila Cliff Dwellings and poked around. It was a neat little place, the staff (almost all volunteers! wow!) was fun to chat with, and it was interesting to compare what I saw and heard and read to what I learned and observed at Montezuma Castle. These structures were somewhat contemporaneous, but were built by a different cultural group than the Castle.

 The next day I rejoined Amy (a Big Bend volunteer who I more or less caravanned with up to Gila Hot Springs), to go for a little seven mile hike. Along the trail I almost stepped on this good luck token: a gopher snake! (They keep rattlesnakes away, so they're good to have around.)

The Gila National Forest was lovely, and there seemed to be an endless supply of trailheads on the drive up to the town. I think it would be a good place to spend some more time. But now my mini-vacation at Gila Hot Springs is done and I'm on the road again. Tomorrow I pick up my trailer! I'm so excited - and so hoping that everything goes down without a hitch... except for the proper hitching that I'm supposed to have when I set it all up and start towing for the first time! If all goes well, the next time that I post it will be to tell you that I am safe and sound in Bodie and to show you pictures of my new, humble abode!

Until next time...