Winding down ...

With a just a little more than a week to go until we pack up and head for home, we're going to try to get a couple more day trips in before we leave.  

Couple weeks ago we drove north on a narrow state highway (I skip the interstates as much as possible), going thru Hatch -- the chile pepper capital of NM -- then on north to Truth or Consequences, then out into the boonies.  Took highway 52 from TorC on a long winding trip thru desert and mountains to the old ghost town of Chloride.  We passed thru lots of open range with cattle near or on the road.  We stopped in the little town of Winston just before we arrived at our ghost town destination, enjoying a snack break in the community center/park where it was so quiet you could hear the wind blowing thru the sycamores way down by the dry creek.  Got to Chloride in the middle of the afternoon.  Besides two couples from WI and IA, we were the only visitors that day.  Chloride has a very interesting past.  An old couple, the Edmund's' live here, own the center part of town, and keep the old buildings standing.  Visitors are allowed to go thru about three of them.  A very interesting and industrious couple!  I think this old town keeps them young.  I took lots of pictures that day!  Here's some that you might find interesting  ...

This log home was moved to this spot in Chloride from outside town and you can go inside where it's furnished to show you how people lived here during that period of time (late 1800's to 1920's).  

This is one of the old saloons and is now a gift shop.  To right is the museum, which used to be the general store/post office/undertakers/printers, etc.  In the 1970's when they bought the town, the Edmund's found the building closed with its inventory intact, as if the owners just walked away one day.  

Both of these pictures taken inside the Museum/general store.  It was awesome.

One of the old saloons. Right opposite this building, in the middle of the street (you drive on both sides of it), is the hanging tree.  Mr. Edmund said they haven't found any proof that anyone was actually hung here but if they got too rowdy they got dunked in the horse tank and tied to the tree overnight.  

Along the road to Chloride was this interesting mailbox with spur decor ...

This lovely little church is in the small town of Cuchillo, along highway 52 on the way to Chloride.  There's a small valley right here that is irrigated and farmed in long strips along the dry creek.

The guy who discover chloride silver at this location in the late 1800's was Henry Pye, and his cabin is there on the grounds, available as a vacation rental!  Doesn't that sound interesting!?  There are actually 11 residents who live in the settlement but the old ghost town part is owned by the Edmund's.

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Well, another day we took a another long drive out into the desert.  We took a little highway south out of LC and went all the way south and found highway 9, which goes along the border with Mexico.  Right after we turned onto highway 9 we saw our last electric line until we got to the town of Columbus NM!  It was a long, beautiful drive thru a remote part of our country.  I wish you could have been with us!  We could see the border fence most of the way (and several border patrol vehicles, too).  Took a break (top picture) in the middle of nowhere!  It was awesome.  So quiet too.  I can't describe the quiet.  Not much traffic for sure.  Finally we got to Columbus after about 90 minutes.  There's a border crossing south of town and that's what sustains the community.  The second picture is of an air park north of Columbus on highway 11.  It was sort of a long string of adobe homes with their own airplane hangars attached.  Never seen anything like it.  This old plane was their yard decor!

After we left Columbus we went north on 11 into Deming, got a frappe at McDonald's, then back toward "home" along highway 549, until we had to get back on the interstate to get into LC.  Right inside the city limits along the interstate at a rest park is this roadrunner sculpture.  Wow!  I loved it.  A true recycled work of art!  Look closely at all the "stuff" the artist worked in.  He sure used a lot of sneakers!  I loved finding the keyboard, crutches, skillets, fishing poles, tools Mardi Gras beads, car parts -- it was fun to just sit there and pick out all of the unique items used to make this really huge sculpture!  It was a great way to end the day.  Got home as the sun was setting ...
 

Well, I have a few more pictures and I'll put them on soonest.

God bless you all and have a wonderful week.  Say a little prayer for us as we wrap up our winter in Las Cruces NM!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thought I'd put a few pictures here and say a little about what we're doing.

Wendell has not been feeling well for several weeks now so we're not doing as much as I'd like.  He finally went to an urgent care place last week, but what they prescribed and suggested have done no good.  In fact, he is doing much worse just now.  He does have some good days but mostly not so good.  I'm feeling blue.  I wanted to go home at the end of January but he persisted in wanting to stay on, so here we stay ...

On the plus side, the weather here has been fantastic.  I have absolutely no complaints.  It's usually in the high 60's to low 70's with very low humidity (teens to low 20's) and sun, sun sun.  What's not to love?  If I'm out in the sun for long I have to have a hat on and short sleeves.  I haven't gotten W. out of his long sleeves except for one day.  I sit out in the sun on the patio in the afternoon and feel sleepy and sluggish, like an old dog.  I've not walked as much as I should and intend to begin again tomorrow.  I've been staying in with W. because I'm so worried about him, but I have to get out and walk for my knee's sake!

This house we're staying at is wonderful.  So nice, modern, clean, comfortable; everything we could have asked for inside.  I have no complaints about the house at all.  The neighborhood is another thing.  The population hereabout (Las Cruces & El Paso) is predominately Mexican-American, strong on the Mexican.  I've tried to strike up conversations two times with neighbors but they look at you and shrug their shoulders and say something in Spanglish and walk away.  Very disconcerting.  So I don't try any more; I just wave.  Multi-generational homes are very common in this neighborhood.  The young men like loud cars and loud music.  And they warm up their vehicles for long periods before they leave (in this climate? why?).  We've never slept later than about 6:30 a.m. during the week.  One home, catty-corner across from us, have 5 vehicles and they all leave in the morning ....... But like I say, we're the outsider here and this is their life.  Not ours.  I'm torn about how to review this place on Airbnb when we leave ... what would you do?  I feel it would have been nice if we'd been sort of forewarned before we came that we shouldn't expect quiet.  But we're doing okay.  We've both mellowed a lot in our old age ...  And they seem to sleep in on Saturdays and Sundays.  

Well, I'm spouted off enough about that.  Here's some pictures of what we've done that's been fun and interesting.

Visited the Sunday market in the Old Mesilla, the old town part of Las Cruces.

There were three walls of crosses in this shop in the Old Mesilla!  (Well, Las Cruces means ' the crosses'.)

I really loved these dream catchers and especially the fact that they had a crocheted center!  Gives me ideas!

The Catholic church on the north side of the plaza in the Old Mesilla.  Lovely!  Look at that sky!

A courtyard at LaPosta Restaurant.  This is one huge, wonderful restaurant!

Part of LaPosta restaurant in the Old Mesilla.

We went to the War Eagles Museum about 30 minutes south of us in Santa Teresa.  Great day!  Cars and planes!

On the way home from the War Eagles Museum, we stopped at the Rio Grande River in the Mesilla Valley.  There was a guy there playing fetch with his dog in the river bed.  Something we don't see along the White River in Indiana.  Very interesting!  Dry dry dry here ...

Well, I'd better sign off.  We took another couple day trips that I'll post pictures of here soon.  Off to bed with my latest book.  I have got a LOT of reading done here.  See -- there's always something good to say.  God is so good!

Have a great Valentine's Day y'all.