No Gila Cliff Dwellings today

The plan was to stop at the Gila Cliff Dwellings and then camp at the Gila Cliff BLM land nearby. BUT the sign on the road to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument simply stated "Cliff Dwellings Closed". So we turned around. Finally found a lovely spot in a park for our picnic lunch. Then we stopped at a NM visitor center and found out that smoke from fires in AZ was the cause of the closure.

So.....we started heading north towards Mesa Verde. We stopped at a reststop with cement teepees on the way for a break and a snack. So far we have been eating pretty well and healthy. I should be keeping track of our meals but I can hardly keep up with where we are on what dates.

So this night since we had more time than we had planned (due to not seeing the Gila Cliff Dwellings), we drove further towards Mesa Verde so we would have less driving to do the next day. We ended up at Apache Creek Campground once again in national forest land.Read more