New Mexico: Heading Home

 From Feb/March 2022:

We had high but unrealistic expectations for Las Cruces.  It checked off a lot of boxes for us on paper.  In my travels, I've often found that hidden gems are frequently discovered without any expectations.

Boston Hill Open Space

 

That was the case for Silver City, New Mexico.  It wasn't exactly on the way home to Wisconsin.  It was out of the way, but something about this place in the high country called out to us, and we listened.  

We arrived too early to check into our hotel, so we spent some time hiking the Boston Hill Open Space, which overlooks the town.  It was the last day of February, but temperatures were moderate, especially compared to back home.  

Like Bisbee, Silver City is a historic mining town, as evidenced by all of the holes in the ground at the Boston Hill Open Space.  A little after noon, we were able to get into our pet-friendly hotel room.

 

During the afternoon, we checked out the downtown streets, having a tasty beer at the Little Toad Creek Brewery.  Later, we walked Big Ditch Park.  This area used to be Main Street before the floods of 1895 and 1903.

 

 

Eventually, walking northwest from downtown, we found ourselves at the small Western New Mexico University.  Unlike New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, this university seemed well-integrated into its host city.

 

The hotel desk clerk recommended the Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House in Pinos Altos for dinner.  Opened in the 1860's and at 7000' elevation, we had a leisurely meal at the Buckhorn, sitting in front of the wood-burning fireplace and soaking in the atmosphere.

 

Silver City was a very interesting town, and we would like to come back for a longer visit someday soon.

Hatch: Eclectic

 From February, 2022.

One day, we took a drive from Las Cruces north to Hatch, New Mexico.

Hatch is a bit of a tourist trap. We walked up and down the main two streets with Callie.  The small town is the self-proclaimed chile capital of the world.

 

 

Then we went to Sparky's for a chili cheeseburger and chili fries.  I also had a chili chocolate malt.

 

 

Weirdest malt ever

 

Other sights that make a fellow go hmm.

 

 

Hatch falls into that category of places where I'm glad I visited but probably won't feel compelled to return anytime soon. 

Las Cruces: Picacho Peak Trail via Box Canyon Loop

 From February 2022

This was a hike in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, which was about 20 minutes west of Las Cruces.

Exiting Hwy 70, we drove into a very exclusive subdivision.  Just beyond the fancy houses, there was a multi-purpose dirt road called  Picacho Mountain Loop. Soon after entering that heavily rutted road, we parked Julia's Subaru and walked the rest of the way to the trailhead. 

We hiked just over six miles, including the road walk in.  The views on top were amazing.  After reaching the bottom, we walked around part of the Box Canyon Loop and then back again.

From the bottom

 

 

From the top

Las Cruces, New Mexico: Retire Here? Intro

 From February 2022

Several years ago, Julia and I were researching places around the country where we might like to move after retirement.  I'm talking about internet research, using categories such as cost-of-living, colleges and universities, hiking trails, climate, political climate, taxes, etc.  Las Cruces checked off a number of the things that we liked--in theory.  However, there is no substitution for boots on the ground.

In 2019, I drove by myself through Las Cruces with the Scamp on the way home from a long trip out west.  Julia was not with me, electing to fly back from Las Vegas. She was still working.  Julia warned me not to visit Las Cruces without her, but I couldn't resist a drive-thru.  

Obviously, driving on Hwy 70 through Las Cruces and stopping for gas is not giving the city enough time for a fair evaluation.  However, my first impression was that Julia was not going to be visually impressed.  As in many other matters, she was not going to rely upon my first impression.  Las Cruces still checked off many important boxes.  Julia wanted to see it for herself.

When we spontaneously decided to take the trip out west in February, visiting the Las Cruces area and seeing what it had to offer was a high priority.  We knew that Las Cruces was brutally hot in the summer, so we figured that experiencing the city in February would be a perfect escape from our Wisconsin winter.  If we didn't like the city in February, we probably wouldn't like it in July.   We stayed ten days to give Las Cruces a fair chance.

The next few posts will go over what we liked and didn't like.

New Mexico: White Sands National Park

 

From February 2022

On one of our first days in Las Cruces, we drove out to White Sands National Park.   East of the city,  I noted the turn off for Aguirre Springs Campground where I stayed in 2018. 

As we approached the national park, we rose in elevation to the point that we were in the snow again.   There are a variety of "trails" at the national park.  We took the longest one at the end of the road, Alkali Flats, which was about 5 miles.

 

Basically, you walk through the sand using line of sight to the next visible marker.  The semi-frozen condition of the sand actually made it easier to walk uphill.  Where the sand thawed in the sun, it was one step forward, 1/2 step slide back.

 

In the middle of it all, Julia had to sit down and take in all of the wonder.

 

We hiked some some sand dunes a few years ago at a Jockey Ridge State Park in North Carolina, but White Sands was on an entirely different scale for size and beauty. 

 

New Mexico: Last Day in Albuquerque

On February 6th, we decided to walk along the river, starting with the Chris Chavez Trail which ran into the Rio Bravo Trail.  Then we continued on foot to Old Town.  The weather was warming up and the snow was pretty much gone by the end of the day.  We ate lunch at the Church Street Cafe. 

 

 

On the next day, we were on the road to Las Cruces.

Rock Carvings and Lunch

I was up early on February 4th, making coffee and toasting a couple of Hatch Chile bagels.

Julia was sleeping in, and Callie, who is not allowed in the bedroom at home, was taking full advantage of the vacation situation.

After breakfast, we headed to the Petroglyph National Monument.  One advantage to unseasonably cold weather was the lack of crowds; we had the trails to ourselves at the Volcanoes Day Use Area.

There were a scattering of folks on the man loop trail near the Visitors' Center, but not many.  

 

Dozens of petroglyphs were visible along the trail.  Our phone cameras didn't do them justice.

 

After hiking we stopped for lunch at Lava Rock Brewing Company.  I had a lava burger, which was an open-faced cheeseburger smothered with red chile with an egg and fried onion ring on top.  I was so hungry that I honestly don't recall the beer.

 

New Mexico: From Adobe Casita to Pole Barn

 From February 3, 2022

The thing about Airbnb is you never know quite what the experience is going to be.  We were delightfully surprised by our upgraded adobe casita  in Pojoaque.  But sometimes there are surprises in the other direction.

Our rental in the South Valley area of  Albuquerque was a DIY converted pole barn.   The bedroom was partitioned off from the rest of the barn.  A gas blower noisily blew hot air into the bedroom.  The result was that the bedroom was too hot, and the rest of the living space was too cold. The owner told us that the extreme cold weather was quite unusual, and we should have been there last week for the better weather.  A propane truck was arriving that day to make sure we had fuel for the furnace.  She was worried about running out.  

The main space was the rest of the pole barn.  It was huge but also cold.  A small space heater sent a small amount of heat to collect up in the rafters.  It did have a nice kitchen, where we had breakfast and most of our lunches.

We stayed there for four nights.  Thankfully, however, we had lots to explore, so the rental was mainly for sleeping. 

As soon as we got unpacked, we headed off for a walk along the Bosque Trail towards downtown.

Resilient Sandhill Cranes

 

After our long walk, we were ready for sustenance and stopped in for a stout at Rio Bravo Brewing Company's outdoor covered space. 

New Mexico: Santa Fe

 

From February 2022

Julia and I have been to Santa Fe before, but it was many years ago.

Normally, the drive from Pojoaque to Santa Fe is only about 20 minutes, but the roads were snow covered/slushy on the morning of our visit.  There didn't seem to be very much snow removal equipment working.  We took our time and eventually ended up parking close to the plaza.  Callie was with us, so there was no museum touring or anything of that nature  Santa Fe simply caught us unprepared  Quite a few places were closed. There was hardly anyone out on the streets.

 We managed to take a few pictures on the morning of February 3rd.

Santa Fe River

The river was interesting to me because this would be called a creek in Wisconsin.  Later in the week, we would learn that a river out here doesn't need any water flowing to be called a river. 

On the way back, we stopped to walk a paved trail running from the main drag in Pojoaque to the reservation school.  Conditions were wintry.

On the next day, we had reservations waiting for us at an airbnb outside Albuquerque. 

New Mexico: The Family Casita

From February 2022

When we woke the next morning after our long drive to New Mexico, the snow was already beginning to melt.  In the daylight, the grounds of our Airbnb were much more interesting than I expected. The casitas were originally built for a llama farm, which is no longer in operation.  Our host spent time as a little girl in the family casita. 

 

There was a loop trail around the property.

Inside the family casita, the living room was toasty from the fire and very comfortable.

Notice the big step into the kitchen behind Julia.