We woke at 5:30 am at gila hotsprings campsite and jumped in the hot spring.. it was beautiful and silent..

We made breakfast and headed the 4 miles down the road to the gila cliff dwelling. It was once listed as the least accessible national monument .. given it was the end of 2 very scary a tiny roads,

The cliff dwelling was built in the 1200’s by the mongolon people.. they only lived there for 25 years.. it was such a special place..

It was well worth the drive !

We stopped at the hot pools on the way back and met these three local women.. they had some great travel tips

As we left we found a .bens bells.. (https://bensbells.org). Bens bells are in honor of a Young kid who died. They recognize people who have done acts of kindness. .I put a samstone near the bell

Then a 35 long incredibly crazy and windy road out.. part of it was on the edge of an old volcano.. it fell pff on both sides !

We got to silver city and had a great mexican lunch

Then had a long and hot drive to tucson… with a few stopps. Diane kept us entertained by reading books about vermont history

We got to chris and wendys just before 5. Chris was my suite mate at MIt in the late 70s.. I hadnt seen chris or wendy since right after sam died.. in fact the trip I took to see them ladt was the forst trip I took after sam died…. they were so kind to me.I remembered crying all night when I was there.. in the same room we stayed last night

We headed out for a nice dimmer and a look around tucson.

We stayed up late talking about each others lives, kids, friends , families, work,

It was so great catching up with them ..

Nite all, nite sam

-me