Las Cruces, NM

2019-03-20 – Airstream Caravans Travel – Day 8 – Las Cruces to Carlsbad, NM

We headed east today; the destination is Carlsbad, NM, in the far southwest corner of the State. The mountains east of Las Cruces have one section with these amazing crags…

Just over the mountain we stopped at White Sands Missile Range. This is where all the testing of missiles and rockets has been done since WWII. We started at the museum… They have lots of exhibits, like you would expect. The history of the area was interesting, as was the story of how the US Government temporarily “borrowed” the land (3,200 square miles – almost three times the area of Rhode Island…) from the owners during WWII; after the war they didn’t give it back, buying it via eminent domain. The owners were not pleased…

This is a Red-Tailed Hawk (stuffed) on exhibit…

This is a Red-Tailed Hawk (wood) in my living room, hand-carved by my father about 30 years ago…

Across from the museum is a small building containing a restored V-2 missile…

The Germans developed the V-2 as a terrorizing weapon during WWII and used it against England. They spent more on these weapons than the US spent on the Manhattan Project. After the war the US brought back all the V-2 rockets and various rocket parts to the US (mainly so the Russians couldn’t get them). They sent it all here, filling 300 railroad cars. The US also brought back all the German rocket scientists they could. The V-2 formed the basis of the early days of space research, setting the stage for our manned and unmanned voyages into space. This rocket in this building was used for research many times and has now been restored…

In the missile yard are MANY rockets of all sizes and shapes…

Amazingly, rockets are a lot like trees – seen one, seen them all…

So we rolled out east again. Soon we entered the Lincoln National Forest and ascended over 4,600 feet to a summit of 8,600 feet… In this photo we are looking back west towards the white sands…

Tunnels are always fun…

Once we descended the mountain we were in a desolate plain that went on for miles and miles. As is our custom, we stopped to stretch our legs and to keep our Apple watches happy…

We checked into the KOA about 20 miles north of the city of Carlsbad. The trees in the park are full of noisy birds…

The park was basic but good. They even prepared BBQ dinners on-site and delivered them to the Villa at the appointed hour.

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

And, as is our custom, we present the some of the McAnoy children (and one neighbor…)

March 26, 2019 0

2019-03-19 – Airstream Caravans Travel – Day 7 – Mesilla and Las Cruces, NM

Another easy day. We did some chores around the Villa, then at 10:15 we walked the 1/3 mile to the Las Cruces Railroad Museum.

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It was a simple, low key, and fun place. Lots of history, from when the first train came to town in 1881 until the last train stopped here in 1988. Also we learned the interesting story about how Las Cruces won the Railroaid stop over the much bigger (then) town of Mesilla… It seems the railroad wrote to both towns asking about the possibility of locating the train station in their town. Las Cruces boosters got on board, secretly bought up all the land they could, then offered the railroad the land for everything they needed. Mesilla never responded, and seemed surprised when the railroad went to Las Cruces. Today Mesilla is a tiny suburb, absorbed into the city limits of Las Cruces, which became a major crossroads in Southern New Mexico. So, now: Have you ever heard of Mesilla?

Adjacent to the railroad station/museum is a caboose:

The caboose was put in service in the 1890s, and retired in 1960. In 1969 a local Las Cruces family purchased it for $50 as one of 300 cabooses offered for sale. They cleaned it up, added a kitchen and a shower, and lived in it while they were building their ranch house just outside of town. It stayed in the family until 2010 when it was donated to the Railroad Museum… And here it sits…

We walked back to the Villa, then we drove to Mesilla. Remember Mesilla? They have a very nice original town plaza surrounded by shoppes and restaurants. The town church is relatively new, replacing the original church built in 1852.

One of the shoppes is in the old courthouse where Billy the Kid was tried and convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging…

Of course, while en route to his hanging Billy the Kid escaped, killing his two guards. After running for two months, he was finally shot to death in Fort Sumner, NM, by Pat Garrett. (Fun fact: In my early days as an architect, I worked in an office with another architect who claimed he was a descendant of Pat Garrett…)

The plaza and surrounding shoppes are nice…

The above building claims to be the oldest brick building in New Mexico, built in 1860 from bricks manufactured on site… The building didn’t have an auspicious start – one by one the first three owners were murdered right here…

We decided on Josephine’s Cafe for lunch… lighter fare than generally available around here… And EXCELLENT Sangria!

After lunch we fueled up the truck and returned to the Villa. More chores were done and a leisurely evening ensured…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

March 24, 2019 0

2019-03-18 – Airstream Caravans Travel – Day 6 – Hatch and Las Cruces, NM

Another leisurely day… We drove about 35 miles north of here to visit the town of Hatch, NM… of chili fame.

The town takes its famous Hatch chili seriously, as evidenced by the names of the local businesses…

We strolled the town, looked into all the shoppes, and finally settled on the Valley Cafe for lunch. Very spicy and flavorful, but not up to our standards for Mexican food… Maybe we’re spoiled…

We returned to the Villa and had a leisurely evening…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

March 23, 2019 0

2019-03-17 – Airstream Caravans Travel – Day 5 – Las Cruces and Alamogordo, NM

This Sunday morning we started walking at 7:30 am in 35 degree temperatures. There is a nice United Methodist church about 1/2 mile from here. However we wonder at the wisdom of holding a church service at 8:00 am… It was a beautiful church, but only 50 people were in attendance. I was reassured that their later two services were better attended… ( a total of about 300+ people each Sunday…)

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While walking back to the Villa we passed the Railroad Museum. We may need to return here in a day or two…

We packed a lunch and pointed the truck towards Alamogordo… The road to Alamogordo is named the “Bataan March Memorial Highway”. White Sands Missile range was closed today while they do an re-enactment of the Bataan Death March – without the disease, torture, bugs, humidity, starvation, and death… This is an annual event since 2002. Hundreds of people (maybe thousands) were walking along the highway and on the roads in the missile range…

We continued on to Alamogordo, to the New Mexico Space History Museum, which includes the International Hall of Fame, along with a Planetarium…

We walked around the outdoor exhibits…

This is a memorial for the astronauts who died in the Apollo 1 fire and the two Space Shuttle crashes…

They also have here the grave site of HAM, the first space chimp, who flew into space in 1961, and died in 1983…

Inside were four floors of exhibits of space exploration: early astronomers, rockets, the cold war space race, all the manned space missions, and on and on… Some of it was esoteric technology and other exhibits were current events for us… Lots of hands-on exhibits for kids, too.

Also outside was an acceleration/deceleration track, where various devices were tested for both going fast and stopping from going fast. I’m no mathematician (they said there would be no math in retirement…), but one rocket used on the track accelerated from 0 to mach 1.3 in 4.2 seconds. I think that is even faster than a Tesla…

From the hill at the museum we could see the White Sands National Monument… It isn’t really clear in the photo, but these white sand dunes extend for 275 miles…

White Sands National Monument was our next destination for the day… There are 150,000 acres of, well, white sand…

I dressed as the invisible pedestrian. You can almost see me in this photo…

We returned to the Villa, had lovely happy hours and dinner…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

March 21, 2019 0

2019-03-16 – Airstream Caravans Travel – Day 4 – Las Cruces, NM

We rolled out of the Queen Mine RV Park at about 9:30. Today we are heading to Las Cruces, NM. We are traveling in southeast Arizona in some of the most remote areas we have ever seen…

Some of the mountains are still covered in snow… There is also “snow” or the slushy remnants of hail, alongside the road…

We stopped at a monument commemorating the surrender of Geronimo, the Apache chief, to the US Army in 1886. He was the last Apache chief to surrender…