Silver City and Pinos Altos, New Mexico

'Still camped out in City of the Rocks, we took the morning off on Wednesday so we could sit around and just enjoy the scenery and the cool morning air. This is turning out to be one of our favorite places. The more we explore the park and admire the care and planning that has gone into it, the more we appreciate it.

After lunch we took off for a quick tour of Silver City, about 30 miles northwest of us. It's a nice size town, a good place to pick up a few groceries and a couple of sewing items. We stopped at Aunt Judy's Attic quilt shop first. She didn't have what I needed, but graciously drew a map showing me how to get to the other quilt shop in the old part of town. The Western Stationers/Thunder Creek Quilt Shop had exactly what I needed, and lot of other great craft and gift wares too. The shop is at the end of the historic downtown part of town, on Bullard Street. The street is lined with well cared for historic buildings, most occupied by galleries, gift shops and restaurants. .  . a great place to spend some time exploring.

Next stop, Pinos Altos, an old time gold and copper mining town, a bit higher up in the mountains. Though they do welcome tourists, the town is not at all gussied up with artificial or trendy decor. The old buildings are original and the town really is an authentic experience. We hear the infamous Judge Roy Bean had an establishment here for awhile, as a merchant and purveyor of liquor (what a surprise!) We'll have to track that location down on the next visit.

We stopped at the Buckhorn Saloon hoping for a cold one. I mean, what Texan can resist stopping in a saloon with a name like that! It wasn't open, and no hours were posted, so we wandered over to the ice cream parlor/gift store and browsed around a bit. A nice little lady who was sipping a tall  root beer told us the saloon would be open in half an hour, so we thought we'd wait.

There was another gift shop and museum across the street that looked like fun and a good use of a half hour. We did a bit of shopping (good prices!) had a great time visiting with the proprietor. His family has owned the building, which was originally a school house, since 1860. They never lived in it but did have it rented out. It's now filled with a nice selection of Native American jewelry, blankets, pottery, mineral samples, and other treasures. And the little museum at the back is great fun to explore. Under a bit of dust are some unique items from the old days of mining, a retired wagon or two, and wonderful collections of arrowheads and pottery that have undoubtedly been in the family for many years.

Our shopping spree complete, we saw the saloon had opened up so went in. The little lady from the ice cream parlor was already deeply engaged with her friends in a game of cribbage at one end of the bar. She was sipping from a glass of something clear, and I'm quite sure it wasn't gin, as she had just proclaimed that she hated gin as it was the cause of the fall of the British Empire!?

That pronouncement elicited  murmurs from the other cribbage players (no telling whether of agreement or confusion) and then the subject changed to the barkeep and his young  son, who was enjoying a cold soda at one of the tables. "Oh, he has a job now!" said one of the cribbage players. "Are you charging him rent yet?"

What parent could resist joining in on a conversation like that?

'Seems Dad isn't charging him rent but is thinking about charging for all the hot water he uses! The barkeep and his son had been living in Mexico until just recently, the father teaching English classes. We didn't quite get to how they ended up in Pinos Altos, but heard great stories about his time in Mexico.

The Opera House

When our drinks were finished we asked if we might see the interior of the Opera House, which is attached to the saloon, and he graciously opened up and turned on the lights for us, not only in the theater but in the main dining areas of the saloon.

What a gorgeous establishment!
The owner has done a magnificent job of bring back the Victorian style of decor and yet maintaining a comfortable, somewhat rustic feel.
The dining rooms are filled with photos of the town in its heyday, important people, the mines, and other interesting historic scenes. Each of the opera boxes, high up in the theater, has a collection of photos of the small mining towns (mostly ghost towns now) surrounding Pinos Altos.

We've heard the dinners in the saloon are excellent, but unfortunately we didn't time things right this time to find out for ourselves. The Opera House has a regular schedule of performances, so a return visit is definitely in the plans!

Interior of the theater

Additional pics of the day are here.

Check out the Boondocking post on Pino Altos for the details of their experiences there. They were lucky in their timing and met the owner of the Opera House.

Thursday: we're scheduled for a long drive. We'll be spending the night at the Escapees park in Casa Grande, then moving on. No time for fun for a couple of days I'm afraid!
UPDATE - arrived at RoVers Roost at 2:30 - it's 110 degrees. It's so hot we had to put the awning up to shade the refrigerator side of the rig, and it's so windy that when the awning gets hit with a gust the whole ship shakes. It's no wonder that most of the permanent residents of the park have departed for cooler climes!