The Land of Enchantment-New Mexico

March 25-28, 2020

After leaving Fort Stockton, TX, we traveled northwest to Las Cruces, New Mexico. We were only here three nights on our way to Arizona, but enjoyed our short stay here. I thought Texas was my new favorite state, but I decided while here that Texas and New Mexico were both my two new favorite states!

 We stayed at a campsite overlooking the Organ Mountains, named so because the mountains look like organ pipes. I believe the imagery is a bit of a stretch, but that’s okay…we still loved the hike and our quest for the waterfall somewhere in the area. We should have known any waterfall named Dripping Springs may be a bit underwhelming—and it did, in fact, live up to its humble namesake. 

We also drove to White Sands National Park. If you don't know about this park and the sands, you should look it up. It is 227 square miles of the softest, powdery white sand (actually gypsum crystals) you've ever felt. This dune field is the largest of its kind in the world. When we arrived at White Sands National Park, we found our internet search was somehow flawed, and the park was closed. As we turned around to go back to Las Cruces, we saw an area on the side of the road where the dunes were overflowing past the national park's boundary fence and right up next to the highway. We pulled over to climb on the dune and to peek over into the park. As we stood amazed at the top of the dune, Clay ran under the barbed wire fence and was in the park. We took pictures and, for a moment, we were making the very most of a disappointing quest. That is until we realized a State Trooper was at the bottom of the dune, telling us to come down and get away from the fence because we were setting off their alarm sensors. We told him we were taking pictures and feeling the sand. He said we could take our time, and even take some sand if we wanted, but then we needed to move on. It may also be noteworthy to mention White Sands National Park shares land with the White Sands Missile Range, and is where the United States Army does missile testing. This area is also where the first atomic bomb was tested during WWII. In retrospect, this officer was exceptionally nice to us. 😊

We planned to do some sightseeing in the nearby town of Mesilla. This town has a lot of history, but our time was short here because on this day, there was a windstorm more robust than the one in Terlingua, TX. As we walked around the main street in Mesilla, it occurred to us that if something broke loose off a building, we could be seriously hurt! We went home. We believe the winds were around 30-35 mph. To make sure we didn't experience further wind damage to our RV, we pulled the slide-outs in as far in as we could, leaving just enough space to walk around. We stayed in that boxed area the entire day until the winds subsided sometime during the night. That was a long day! 

I wish we could have stayed in New Mexico longer, but almost everything was closing here. We will continue our travels to Arizona for now—which happens to be Craig's favorite state! At this time, we are finding plenty to do and are enjoying our isolation. We hope you enjoy the photos from what we saw of New Mexico. 

Our campsite was a lovely spot looking over the city of Las Cruces and out to the Organ Mountains. Craig enjoying his Officially Retired mug.

The weather has really been on our side since we left Atlanta in February. We believe we have seen rain only a couple times since our departure and mild temperatures everywhere.

Clay standing in front of the Organ Mountains.

After our ascending hike to Dripping Springs, a couple of hikers sitting on a rock nearby started to chat with us. They said they were from a town an hour away and had just come out for a day hike. We told them we were from Atlanta, Georgia. They asked, (jokingly) “And you came all the way from Atlanta to see this waterfall?” Craig replied flatly, “Yes and now I can go back and tell everyone not to bother.” 😂

I loved this picture of the bird’s nest in this cactus.

I didn’t realize that New Mexico was full of adobe-style homes. The adobe is thick and is efficient in keeping homes cool in the sweltering summer and warm in the winter.

I also never thought about grass not being part of neighborhood landscaping. A load of rocks and …Wha-la! Instant yard!

Most homes are painted in some shade of the Southwestern color palate.

I like to call this one “When your house looks too much like your shrubbery.”

What an inviting resting spot!

Early spring in the southwest has provided opportunity to see lovely desert flowers in bloom. While out driving, we found acres of Mexican Gold Poppies that looked just like those in the old 1000-piece, mountain-scene puzzles we used to do back in the day.

Clay, the only living soul in White Sands National Park.

We’re pretty sure this is what alerted the State Trooper to investigate the possible trespasser situation. 🧐

Craig taking pictures of White Sands.

One of Craig’s pictures before the Trooper came to run us off.

Mesilla became a part of the United States in 1854 as part of the Gadsden Treaty, in which the US paid 10 million dollars for 29,000 square miles of Mexico that would later become parts of Arizona and New Mexico. The US wanted this land so they could complete a transcontinental railroad and to resolve conflicts that lingered with Mexico after the Mexican-American War.

This building in Mesilla is where William McCarty, aka Billy the Kid was tried, convicted of murder, and was sentenced to hang. Before he was hanged, he escaped from jail, killing two sheriff's deputies, and evading capture for more than two months.

Billy the Kid killed eight men before he was shot and killed at age 21.