A Trip to Las Cruces, NM

Las Cruces, NM

Wednesday, April 6 – Friday, April 8, 2016

After having my weekly blood test at the Cancer Center, Ron and I took off in the car for a trip south to Las Cruces, NM a 235 mile, 3-1/2 hour trip on I-25 through the desert of New Mexico and several interesting stops. 

Though we have traveled this road many, many times over the years we have been residents in New Mexico, there were several places we had never stopped to sightsee so took advantage of the fact that we did not have the RV and could easily get into a couple of places without the earthquake effect of dirt roads on the RV. 

RV friends of ours who were in TorC for the winter, mentioned they had stopped at the El Camino International Heritage Center just north of TorC.  While we had seen the sign for it many times, we usually did not have the time to stop.  We had also seen a sign for Fort Craig.  Having the time now, we first took  the 10 mile trip off I-25, five miles paved along the edge of the freeway on Highway 1 and 5 miles east on a smooth but dry, dusty road to Fort Craig.

Fort Craig’s (1854 -1885) early years before the Civil War were spent conducting campaigns against Native Americans who were a threat to travelers who traveled for 300 years on “The Royal Road” from Mexico City to Santa Fe.  In July of 1861, Fort Craig became the largest fort in the Southwest with over 2,000 soldiers and growing.  Most of the soldiers were Hispanic and served under Colonel Kit Carson. After several battles with the “Rebs” both in the area and in Glorieta, near Santa Fe, the Confederates retreated to Texas ending the push for Confederate military conquest in the west. Today there is little left of the fort but a few ruins, but it is worth the stop to learn more of the history in New Mexico and to understand how valuable the trail (1,600 miles) through the area was to the growth of the state and its culture before the railroad arrived.

 Getting back on the side road (Highway 1) with our now very dusty car, especially the back window which was now completely encased in dirt and unusable for seeing out of, we continued south to the El Camino Real Historic Trail Site.  As you turn off Highway 1 toward the Museum you see this state monument sitting atop a hill.  

The Museum itself sits in the middle of the old Royal Road and is also 4 miles east but this time on a paved road. Continuing from the Monument,  you arrive at this award winning building sitting in the Chihuahuan Desert which houses an exhibit giving the visitor a virtual journey of 3 centuries along the historic trail with remnants of hand hewn carts, tools, leather items and religious objects the accompanied the travelers along the way.  

The Museum is beautifully laid out and worth the stop. 

Leaving the Museum, we continued our trip to Las Cruces arriving late in the afternoon with our first stop at a car wash to get rid of most of the encased reddish brown dirt which was clinging to our car.  After checking in to the hotel, we headed out to the nearby Chili’s for a nice dinner. 

Thursday morning we were lazy and slept in having a late breakfast in town and then driving out into the countryside of Las Cruces taking in some housing areas.  We have considered Las Cruces as a possible place to settle later on as it is a nice college town, very senior citizen friendly, a bit warmer than Albuquerque in the winter and a much smaller community than Albuquerque.  

Driving on I-10 east of town, we came upon this statue of a roadrunner in the rest area.  Following is what we found out about it from the internet.  "a 20-foot roadrunner sculpture made from trash found at  the city dump. The bird was built from a variety of objects, including  sheet metal ,toys, computer and stereo parts, but its belly was made almost entirely from discarded white shoes."

We wandered around Old Mesilla doing a bit of shopping with Ron once again taking pictures of many of the interesting buildings and doorways on houses in this old part of town.  

Basilica of Saint Albino

A funky store

We spent the evening with local RV friends, Carol and Bob catching up, reminiscing as well as talking about mutual friends and our time spent together serving on the New Mexico Good Sam State Staff.  What great friends.  It was wonderful to see you both.   Stay healthy.

Friday morning we enjoyed breakfast in the hotel and left for home amid light rain which later cleared though the mountains ahead and east and west were very clouded.  What a great getaway before starting my radiation on Monday.