New Mexico

Some New Things, Some Old Things

After enjoying our quick trip across Arizona, our stay in Albuquerque and Ruidoso, we headed Southeast to visit more of New Mexico, Steve's birth State, excited to see some of the places that his parents lived while his Dad worked on the space program in Alamogordo and White Sands. I had never been to New Mexico and a bucket list item for me was to see White Sands National Park. For Steve this was a much anticipated trip to visit Las Cruces (his birthplace), see the Organ Mountains, and to reminisce on some family history.

 White Sands National Park

After crossing over the Sacramento Mountains, and beginning the descent into the Tularosa Basin and the town of Alamogordo, the White Sands of the National Park glimmer just below the San Andreas Mountain range at the far western horizon. Wow! It looked like a white ocean off in the distance, more vast than I could have imagined! 

 

The visitor center at this National Park has a great video which helped us understand how the sand is traveling, how the plants and animals that live here survive in the harsh conditions and how the wind and water coming down from the San Andreas Mountains are turning Gypsum rock into the most fine, soft, white sand you could ever imagine!

 

 

 

Leaving the visitor center we began our 8 mile drive along Dunes Drive where our first stop was the Interdune Boardwalk, about three miles into the dunes. Here there are still plants dotting the landscape. The parking lot is covered by the wind-driven sands. Steve had to help another vehicle get out of the deeper sand that the driver had accidentally driven into. 

Beyond the Interdune Boardwalk the roadway becomes sand, blending into the dunes on either side and the landscape becomes whiter and whiter, as the plants no longer grow here.The winds are constantly shaping the dunes and creating patterns in the sand, occasionally showing the tracks of the people and animals that have passed by. The sand is so fine that it is very difficult to walk on, each step sinking into the shifting sands. The texture of the sand is like a fine powder...so soft!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

 

Located on the east side of the Organ Mountains a steep six mile narrow road leads from the highway up to the Aguirre Springs Campground, nestled below the peaks and with stunning views of the jagged mountain range and out over the valley floor. 

 

 

A trail adjacent to our campsite led up into the mountainside, giving us even more spectacular views with a few wildflowers dotting the trail. We only traveled about a mile of this 5.5 mile loop trail before returning the way we came, because there was a lot of elevation gain ahead and we hiked late in the day and wanted to be back off the trail before it got too dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Las Cruces

At the foot of the west side of the Organ mountain lies the city of Las Cruces. We traveled through a lot of old neighborhoods to get this view of the Mountain range. Below is a painting which hung in Steve's home throughout his childhood and now hangs in ours, a cherished memento from the time that Steve's Family lived here!

The city where Steve was born holds only a few memories because he was about 2 years old when his family moved 40 miles east to Alamagoro, NM.

Of course we had to go to the historic Mexican restaurant, La Posta de Mesilla, for lunch. Yum! This building is right next to a courthouse that is famous for the trial of the outlaw, Billy the Kid. Steve tried to imagine what his life would have been like had his family stayed in Las Cruces while he grew up there. Of course he would never had met me, or the many friends we have in Orange County, CA! It's funny how the Lord uses our past to shape our future. Steve's family moved to Orange County California, where Steve loved to play in the Orange Groves and pick oranges and sell them. I told him if he had grown up in Las Cruces he would have had Pecan orchards to play in!

Besides Billy the Kid Lore and Legend, this area of New Mexico holds a lot of History of the Space Race, (Space Murals Museum held tons of donated artifacts and a great timeline of the Space Race Era up to current times), Military Defense sites, as well as lots of Pecan orchards! We had a great day of driving around to see the town and discussing Steve's family memories from this area. But I'm glad that Steve's Family came to Orange County!