New Blog - Las Cruces, NM!

Friday, May 15^th – We left Van Horn after our overnight, and drove to the Camping World in El Paso to get some supplies.  Earl got a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) for the RV as an extra precaution and we needed valve extenders for the 2 inside tires in the back, so he picked them up there and we went over to a big trucking/tire place to have them installed.  El Paso seemed like a huge city after Lajita and Van Horn, ha. 

We arrived at the KOS in Las Cruces, NM about 3:00.  Now we are TWO hours behind.  We commented a couple of times, these time changes are perfectly ok when it doesn’t matter when you get up or when you go to bed.  I do need to think though, as I suddenly realized the other night that Sheila and I were texting back and forth and I suddenly realized it was 11:30 in Port St. Lucie!  Lucky she is a night owl. 

Here are some photos of the KOA here.  I’m still getting used to just gravel sites with minimal landscaping.  They seem so barren, but what a view we have!  We’re high on a plateau overlooking the valley and it’s just exquisie, the jagged mountain peaks in the distance.  Photos don’t do it justice, and oh my, the lights of Las Cruces at night! This is the first time we’ve ever left our curtains wide open and shades up at night – we just had to enjoy this stunning vista of lights and mountains.   For our RVing friends, cost is $50 per night.

Saturday we set out to explore Las Cruses, waking up to a very chilly morning.  It was 49 degrees last night and a high of 73 today, very sunny but extremely windy!  25+ MPH winds most of the day, so I looked like something the cat drug in all day, but oh well….  Why I bothered to do anything to my hair this morning was a mystery.   Las Cruces has been voted as one of the top “dream towns to retire”.  Located in the Mesilla Valley, it is full of attractions and rich culture.  Known as the “City of the Crosses”, it was officially incorporated in 1912, becoming the 47^th state.

After setting out, with Earl’s ever present cup of coffee, we went downtown to Main St. to their well known  Farmer’s and Craft Market.  What a charming event!  Live music on several corners, and over 300 vendors displaying jewelry, photography, glasswork, ceramics and more, all handmade locally.  We picked up some delicious looking locally grown organic tomatoes. We were told this Farmer’s Market has been in existence for over 40 years.

The Mesilla Valley has a rich farming tradition, so after leaving Main St., we went over to see the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.  It tells the 3000 year old story of agriculture and rural life in New Mexico.  We saw cattle, burros and mules, along with a blacksmithing demonstration, where I snapped a few photos and immediately texted to our oldest son Jason, who does blacksmithing as a hobby and is a member of the local guild there in Knoxville, TN.  This museum is over 47 acres, and I felt like we walked most of it!  Numerous exhibits were fascinating and we enjoyed our self-led tour.

 We were getting hungry so we drove south to the Old Mesilla Village, with lots of interesting shops featuring arts and crafts both locally made and from all over Mexico and Central America.  Culture is really celebrated here, and we enjoyed eating at La Posta de Mesilla, famous for its Mexican food and steaks since 1939!  Built in the 1840’s the adobe compound included shops with gifts and the ever present chili products, clothing and jewelry.  This compound has been host to such personalities as Billy the Kid, Kit Carson, General Douglas MacArthur and Pancho Villa.  It was a roaring frontier town, and we did feel like we’d stepped back in time.  Any minute it seemed like a cowboy complete with chaps and spurs might come round the corner.  We found Mesilla fascinating – back in the 1800s it was the largest town between San Diego and San Antonio, and retains much of its old time feel. Just across from the restaurant, was the jail and courthouse where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang in 1881.  The town of Mesilla was as wild as the west ever was!

 Isn't this door awesome!

  When our friends, Eric and Beth Blamick in Eustis realized we were going to be in Las Cruces, Beth messaged me that her cousin lived here and that we must get in touch with them, so we were introduced by messaging back and forth, and what a delightful few hours we spent with them.  Dickey and Peggy drew us in like family, and took us all over their 1200 acre pecan operation.  Thousands of beautiful trees on an immaculately kept farm.  It is HUGE operation and they took us all over, even introducing us to their son, Cade and his wife, and Peggy’s brother and his family, who also were charming and welcoming.  We left with a bulging gallon size zip-loc baggie of fresh pecans!  Yummmm and we’ll be meeting them tomorrow for dinner.  We feel like we’ve made good friends in New Mexico.  Thanks Eric and Beth!

Now THIS is a man cave!  This is just one corner of Dickey's man cave - huge "barn" with sofas all around - they've had a lot of parties out there.

 Isn't the pecan farm beautiful?  So lush and green and well kept!

 

 Sunday, May 17^th – We awakened to a beautiful 62 degrees and sunny and clear.  Very little wind unlike yesterday!  That was crazy! We “double churched” it this morning.  First we listened to live streaming of The Cross in Mount Dora where our family is, and then we went over and listened to Pastor Dayne at Lake Haven in Eustis.  Gotta love technology that allows us to do this while we’re all the way across the country!  Around noon we set out exploring for the afternoon.  Our destination was White Sands National Monument, but we got sidetracked on the way when we came across the Military base at White Sands and we wanted to see more of it. White Sands Missile Range is a a United States Army Rocket Range of almost 3200 square miles! It’s the largest military installation in the U.S.  White Sands  is the site of the first atomic bomb test. Security was tight.  Car search, licenses taken and we had to wait while they did whatever they do…calling or checking, whatever, but we passed. Haha  There were restrictions as to where we could go, what photos we could take, what direction the photos were taken, etc.  I hope I passed all that, but they didn’t come confiscate any, so here are a few…. Very interesting. 

  

From the Military base, we drove on about 30 more miles to White Sands Nat’l Monument. This was AMAZING!  We took tons of photos so only posting a few here, but it was such a beautiful day.  If it had been hot, we likely would not have stayed near as long, but it was only about 73 and a nice breeze in a perfectly clear day.  It felt so strange as we walked over some of the area and climbed some of the dunes, you just felt certain when you got to the other side there was going to be the ocean!  As a kid growing up in NC, we used to go to Nags Head and we’d play on the sand dunes, and these were very much like that but whiter and more pristine, a sight to see for sure!  The Dunes are at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert where a mountain-ringed valley is, called the Tularosa Basin.  We were told it’s kind of like a huge bath tub with no drain.  If you are interested at all, you’d be fascinated by looking up more of the factual info on the dunes, and the story of how the dunes were formed from gypsum is truly fascinating.  It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world and well worth seeing!

The photo below was taken from the top of a dune we'd climbed up.  That's our car below.

Doesn't this boardwalk look like when you get to the end you should be at the beach?

This little girl was "buried" in the sand.  Isn't she cute?

On our way back, thinking we were finished for the day,  we saw a sign to Dripping Springs, so quickly found our way there.  Not much in the way of “springs” – I guess it wasn’t dripping today.  Haha But beautiful nonetheless, and miles of hiking trails.  We took off on a hike, not thinking too much about the entire way was just a gentle slope, but on the way back, felt like a major incline!  But we made it with photos to prove it!

 

After being told by our new friends about Caliche’s – the best ice cream in town, we headed over there and treated ourselves.  Next time I’d definitely share – it was huge.  I hated to throw half of it out but I did.  While waiting in the long line, about 8-10 bikers came up on Harleys.  You know that awesome rumbling sound they make!  They were all in leather vests saying Tribe of Judah, which I’ve read about, and a new group called Mellennial Messengers, which is a part of the same organization.  They minister primarily to outlaw bikers and we really enjoyed chatting with them.  Rough looking bunch, and once again, proving you can never judge a book by its cover.  They might scare me if I ran into them in a dark alley, but once you talk to them, how wonderful to see their hearts. 

One more thing - we were interested in the southwest architecture.  I would guess 75% of the homes here have the adobe style, no matter the size of the home.

And finally, one more interesting thing.  We passed over a bridge over the Rio Grande, and noticed it was bone dry!  We thought, wow, the drought must be really serious!  But then we were told they control the flow of water, and in about a month, they'll open the dam and hundreds of millions of gallons will flow again.  They were horseback riding and playing on the riverbed.

We’ve really enjoyed Las Cruces, but time to hit the road again – we’ll be leaving in the morning, headed to Arizona!  Until next time.