We flew all last night and arrive back in Burlington at 9:30. Our friend Juba had left our car for us so getting home was a snap. The cool moist air Was an amazing contrast to the last couple of days in Arizona.

We got the dogs out for a walk in the woods soon as we got home. The lush green Evermont was so different in the last 11 days of desert

It was a really great vacation. We did about 1640 miles went from Phoenix to Cavecreek to Lamry Lake To Santa Fe to sunburned back to Santa Fe to Gila Hot Springs then to Tucson and back to Phoenix. We saw beautiful geology, stars, wildlife, friends, freaks, and at least twice our weight and red and green hot sauce.

I got back to work As soon as we got home… It was kind of hard digging back through all that email. As always a mixture of good and not so good news about work.… It felt nice to be busy… But I noticed just how peaceful and relaxed I Felt after the vacation… Hopefully I can make that last until tomorrow.

Tonight we went up to Deb’s for Mexican food feast. It was another great way to prolong our vacation

OK… Now to sleep in our own bed.

More tomorrow

Night all, night Sam

-me

We woke about 6 and chris was already up. He gave us a tour of his amazing gardens.. he raises all sorts of succulents ts..and recycles every bit of water in the house to keep them growing. Their gardens , like their house, are so pleasing and welcoming..

We got to meet their resident tortoise as well

Diane and I went for a short hot run.. it was in the high 70s already.. (it was 112 by the time we dropped the car in phoenix)

Then we had a nice slow breakfast with chris and wendy.. it is so nice to spend time with them

We then packed up, said goodbye and headed north

x

The road to phoenix was long and hot.. diane read to us again which made it fun.our first destination was the musical instrument museum. Its a must see !

Its the worlds largest collection of musical instruments from all over the world…. they give you headsets so that you hear the instruments as you approach the display.. we spent. 2 hours there.. but could have spent much longer

e

Aroudd 4 we left the museum and headed back to boho to return our trusty stevie..

We had such a great time with tht van.. it was comfortable and convenient .. we loved the entire trip.

Brett and dave at noho were so great to work with.. we highly recommend renting from them.. you should too ! It was such a great experience !

Now at the airport and waiting for our midnight flight.. and its only 110 degrees !

What a great trip !

Nite all, nite sam

-me

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

We woke early on Monday… And packed up our stuff. Washed her clothes, clean the camper and is soon as Max and Becky took off from work we said goodbye and headed down the road. First stop was truth or consequences New Mexico.

One stop was the very strange And underwhelming “spaceport” It’s the public face of the nearby commercial spaceport

We had a quick yummy mexican lunch then headed south

We took the Geronimo trail over from truth or consequences over to the gila river area.. beautiful and scary road.. its of views with sheet drops on one side or the other

At the end of that long road was the most wonderful campsite.. gila hotsprings campsite., a beautiful and quiet place on a small river surrounded by huge sandstone cliffs. It also had three hot spring pools with wonderful 104 degree water that came out of a nearby spring, the owners allen and carla were super nice as was their dog renee. after soaking in the hot pool we fell asleep looking at the stars

<pictures go here >

No cell phones there so this post is late..

Nite all, nite sam

-me