Las Cruces

Time to explore again. First it was our usual trip to SC with a stop at the pool for our exercise routine. The pool we usually use was closed for maintenance so we used the larger and warmer, which is great if you are going to sit and soak. However, if you are going to do aerobic exercise, you want the water temperature to be cooler. So this pool was not the perfect choice. After exercise, it was a buritto at a drive-up stand and a jaunt into downtown. I found the local barbershop and R found a place to do likewise next Saturday. She was waiting in the truck for me when I returned with less hair. After spending time sitting in the truck making a few cell phone calls on to catch up on the news from home, who is sick, how are the kids, etc. it was time to head east.

Several of our visitors have been from Las Cruces, so we decided to go there. Good choice! It is about an hour east of Deming on I-10. Deming is an hour from Silver down Hwy 180. Because we got a late start, we didn’t get to LC until about 4:30. As we drove into the area, I saw a sign directing us to Mesilla ( meh SEE ah). It is a Spanish village that dates back to the 1600’s. Around the central square are a series of shops and at the top of the square stands the Catholic Church. Out from the square for several blocks are adobe home and buildings which makes the area very quaint. Arriving there when we did prevented us from doing any exploring and very little shopping, but we did manage to purchase a couple of small Yapotec rugs for the trailer. The colors and patterns should add some fun to the living area. As you can see Peaches likes this one.

With the closing of the shops, it was time to drive around and find out more about LC. The data on the city gives the population at 100,000 and it feels like a nice place to live. It has all the things a city can provide; shopping (although the nearest Costco is in El Paso), a university ( New Mexico State) , reasonable housing (from reading a “Homes for Sale” brochure), and pretty good weather. It’s warm and maybe even a little hot in the summer, but with the low humidity it cools down at night. Winters are fairly mild also with snow being extremely rare. The elevation at 3800 is quite a bit lower than Silver.

So, after driving around for 45 minutes, we ended up registering at a Sleep Inn which is just west of NMSU on University Ave. right off I-25. The east side of LC appears to be the newer area of town with shopping mall and more upscale housing in that area. All in all the city, upon first impressions, has a nice feel to it.

After rising, walking the dogs, partaking of the provided breakfast, and checking and sending some emails, we headed east on University, over the freeway and a mile plus to the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum which is operated by the state of New Mexico. It sits on a piece of property about the size of a fairground that was probably totally out by itself when it was built about 13 years ago. Now residential Las Cruces has snuggled up to it on three sides. The museum is an all day project or, better yet, multiple visit project. After four hours we had visited about half of the exhibits but it was time to head back west in order to arrive home before it got too late. We had a great time and will go back again. Check another blog entry to learn more about a subject we learned about at the museum; dowsing, and colcha.