Today I drove 220.9 miles traveling from Artesia, New Mexico to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
I am spending the night at the Hampton Inn in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
I have a studio suite with one king bed.
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Hello, I had a really fun day today. I left my hotel in Artesia just after sunrise which is 7:00am. Weather was almost perfect today. Not a cloud in the sky as usual, but a little cooler and lighter winds. My day started with a 90 mile drive to my first stop. It was a very pretty drive heading west on U.S. Highway 82. During most of the drive I was in the Lincoln National Forest. Below is a sample of the beautiful scenery I enjoyed on the drive.  I could hear the cows mooing in the pasture. My first stop was at the Mexican Canyon Railroad Trestle Vista Observation Site. From 1899-1947, the steam engines of old used to climb the railroad line from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft and beyond. This site is one of the last standing large trestles along the route. If you look closely in the picture you can see a little bit of snow.  Six miles down the road you come to the Old Apple Barn which was built in 1941 and is a carefully restored apple processing barn from the WW2 era. Now a thriving vintage emporium with a bistro, Fudge Factory, vintage sodas and Pie Bakery. It is a destination with hundreds of vintage styled items from days gone by. Unfortunately I got there before 10:00 and was not able to go inside.  Only two more miles down the road, still in the Lincoln National Forest, you come to the Tunnel Vista Observation Site. This was a really outstanding view.  Next it was about a thirty mile drive to Alamogordo where I filled the car with gas at a Texaco station. It was $3.74 per gallon. From there it was only a sixteen mile drive to White Sands National Park. The first thing I did at the park was the Interdune Boardwalk.  The elevated boardwalk leads you through the fragile interdune area to a scenic view of the dunefield and the Sacramento mountains.  I enjoyed my visit to this park a lot more than I thought I would. I have a goal to visit every national park in the United States. And this was a chance to knock another one off the list. But the park was so unique and oddly beautiful. After the boardwalk I did the Loop Drive. The pavement ends and you drive out onto the sand. The drive was probably about two or three miles long. Below is a picture of my car from the drive.  Next it was a forty mile drive to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. This was a five mile drive off U.S. Highway 70 just east of Las Cruces. It was quite a cow path for those five miles and not another living soul out there but me. It was a great view though and well worth the trip.  The Organ Mountains are a steep, angular mountain range with rocky spires that jut majestically above the Chihuahuan Desert floor to an elevation of 9,000 feet. This picturesque area of rocky peaks, narrow canyons, and open woodlands ranges from Chihuahuan Desert habitat to ponderosa pine in the highest elevations. Located adjacent to and on the east side of Las Cruces.  Congress established the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument May 21, 2014 to protect prehistoric, historic, geologic, and biologic resources. The monument, totaling 500,000 acres, includes the Organ Mountains, the Doña Ana Mountains, the Sierra de las Uvas Mountains, and the Greater Potrillo Mountains.  On a clear day, like today, the iconic spires are visible from 100+ miles in every direction. The Organ Needle is the high point in the complex, peaking at slightly under 9,000 feet. The elevation plummets 4,000 feet three miles west of the Needle, making the Organ Mountains one of the steepest mountain ranges in the western United States.  Next I made my way out to see another one of Dan's roadrunner friends. The massive bird is located at the rest area west of Las Cruces off I-10. The sculpture stands a whopping 20 feet tall and is composed of old shoes, cell phones, bike parts, and other recycled materials.  You get a nice scenic view of Las Cruces from out here. But you wouldn't know it from my lousy picture. I take two or three snaps of everything and then save only the best one. Well they all looked awful.  Next I made my way down in to Las Cruces. I visited the historic Old Mesilla Village. Mesilla ("Little Tableland") is the best-known and most visited historical community in Southern New Mexico. Below is Old Mesilla Plaza.  This was a beautiful and peaceful area. I went inside the Basilica San Albino Catholic Church.  Since I was now eight hours in to my day I was ready to call it a day. So I check into the Hampton Inn and concluded my activities for the day. El Paso is only 45 miles from here where I was two days ago. I drove a total of 460 miles over those two days to get here. You could say I took the scenic route. I got my dinner from a nearby Texas Roadhouse tonight.  Talk to you tomorrow. Tim |
Covers 220.9 miles from Artesia, New Mexico to Las Cruces, New Mexico. |
Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.
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