Sightseeing through southern New Mexico

Friday, September 23 (Day 7) — This was one of those rare days when we had nothing specific planned, and as we have found on other trips, sometimes those days turn out to be the best of the vacation because you have no expectations about what you end up doing. OK, perhaps it's not entirely accurate to say we had no plans. Actually, we had planned to visit the Whole Enchilada Festival in Las Cruces today. Roni had read about it online and saw that it started Friday, which would fit in excellently with our travel plans as we were on our way to White Sands National Monument for a hot air balloon festival on Saturday. Only problem with this plan was that the enchilada fest didn't begin until tonight, and it was only a few musical performances to kick off the actual show, which is Saturday and Sunday only. We are staying in Alamogordo tonight, about 60 miles up the road from Las Cruces. The only way we'll see the enchiladas is if we head down there after the hot air balloons tomorrow. Sigh. It could still happen, but something tells me it probably won't, given how early we're going to have to roll out of bed tomorrow.

But I digress. Today was totally about creating entertainment out of what we found around us, and I think we did a fairly decent job. We got to sleep in a bit this morning because we had nowhere we had to be and because the Best Western Mesilla Inn doesn't do continental breakfasts. I never thought I would be thankful to not have a free continental breakfast. At least this forced us to scout out other dining options. We performed the daily miracle of cramming all the gear into the back of the car and headed off to explore Las Cruces and its neighbor to the south, Mesilla. Roni left it to me to choose the destination, so we drove to the historic Plaza de Mesilla a couple of miles down from the hotel. The plaza is located in a touristy business district and features a gazebo in a parklike setting surrounded by gift shops, restaurants and a church. The plaza's claim to fame, other than the fact it once was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage, is that it is the site of a former county courthouse where the notorious outlaw Billy The Kid was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. You can still visit the courthouse, although it is now a gift shop with some cheesy Kid souvenirs and an arcade machine with the outlaw's likeness telling his tale or somesuch. It's not all that impressive. But the same can't be said for the Mesilla area in general, which is an artistic blend of adobe-style buildings, and narrow, cobblestone-lined streets. The plaza is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, most of which are also built in the adobe style. People's yards are filled with cacti and artworks. It's a beautiful area, and according to the real estate guide I peeked at in the Dairy Queen yesterday, most of these places go for less than $200,000. A few up to about $290,000. If it weren't for the fact there's nothing else around here for miles and it's in the middle of the desert with its triple-digit temperatures, it might not be a bad place to live.

We looked around the plaza for a few minutes before deciding that we needed to take care of breakfast. We were holding out for a café or hole-in-the-wall restaurant. All we found was a coffee bar with a few packaged snack foods. That was fine to tide Ben over. We then returned to browsing the gift shops where I loaded up on six-for-a-buck postcards and Ben filled a small grab bag of polished stones to add to his collection. Just as we were about to give up on the idea of finding an open restaurant near the plaza, at last we happened upon the La Posta de Mesilla and wandered our way inside. The entrance to the restaurant was lined with gift shops. There were tanks of piranhas and cages of parrots inside the lobby. Some swanky tropical rhythm was playing from the speakers in the ceiling. I felt sure we had stumbled onto someplace where the cheapest entree would be $20. But delightfully the menu was reasonably priced, and it was loaded with authentic Mexican and Southwestern cuisine: Huevos rancheros, chimichangas, flautas... my mouth was watering. I ordered the chile rellenos and wasn't disappointed for a second. It was simply the best chile rellenos recipe I've ever tasted. The garnishes were great, and everything complemented everything else on the plate. Ben ordered nachos that came on a platter so large he couldn't get through more than half of it. We were glad we'd decided to go in and order when we did, because by the time we had finished the place was filling up with lunch crowds.

From the plaza we drove east on the main road in search of a chile farm Roni had read about in one of the tourist maps. We got all the way to the eastern edge of the city before realizing the street numbers were ascending and we needed to be back downtown. So I turned around and we cruised back the way we had just come. I was checking the street numbers when I could find them, just to make sure we were still pointed in the right direction. It was as I was doing this that a car pulled into the street behind me and came right up on my bumper. It was then we noticed the flashing red and blue lights and heard the quick burst of a siren. Busted! But what had I done? I pulled over to the shoulder and was momentarily approached by a stern-faced police officer who checked my license and informed me that I had just been clocked at 45 mph in a 35 mph zone. To make matters worse, I had continued at that speed through a school zone without attempting to slow down. And to top it off, my car had California plates. I knew what he had to be thinking. My heart sank. He asked me where I was heading and I very humbly explained that we were on vacation and had just come from the Plaza de Mesilla and were searching for a chile farm and I hadn't realized the error of my ways. He told me he was letting me off with a warning and that I should pay better attention. I guess I should have, because I never saw a posted speed limit, nor did I see the school zone until I was out of it. I made a point of driving five miles under the limit until I was out of Las Cruces, ignore the fact that all the locals were trying to move me out of the way. Probably saw the California plates and figured "road hazard." Frankly, at times on this trip I've felt exactly that way.

We found the chile stand right after my traffic stop. Roni joked that maybe I should have asked the cop for directions. I don't think that would have aided my case any. Maybe he took pity because he realizes how important tourist dollars are to his town's economy. I think we dropped more than $100 around the Mesilla, not to mention the bucks we spent on a hotel room last night with the usurious lodging taxes. Or maybe he was amused that someone would actually admit to searching for a chile farm. Whatever the reason he let me go, he was after another motorist a minute or two later. I've been stopped just twice for moving violations in the almost quarter century I've been behind the wheel and have never received a ticket. Curiously, both of those stops came out of state; the other was in Ashland, Ore., 14 years ago.

The chile shop was interesting but not worth spending money at. We got back on I-10 and followed it west until we reached a cliff just outside of town where upon sat a giant sculpture of a roadrunner we had seen a couple days earlier on our way to El Paso. Turns out the sculpture is part of a rest area — an "award-winning" rest area, according to the signs posted there — and is just one of several things for weary travelers to see while stretching their legs. The site commands a spectacular view of Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley all the way north to the Organ Mountains. There are several covered picnic tables in enclosures shaped like Indian cliff dwellings. I walked out to where the bird sculpture sat, mindful of the snake warning signs, and got some close-up shots of the artwork. It is 20-by-40 feet, constructed from scrap materials such as old car parts, computer components and tennis shoes. Lots of tennis shoes. From a distance it looks quite realistic. There is a long involved story behind how it got to where it is now, but for the past five years it has marked the western entrance to the city.

Our sightseeing in Las Cruces about done, we began the trek north on Highway 70 for Alamogordo. We got slowed for construction work just before the Rio Grande, which turned out to be a good thing because it left me with enough time to hit the turnoff for a small wayside called La Llorona Park. The park puts you right on the north bank of the Rio Grande with a walking trail that takes you under Highway 70 and brings you to a playground on the other side. Ben instantly fell in love with the play area. We sat out on the benches there for a few minutes while Ben played, but it was really too hot to remain there long. There seems to be no relief from the heat wave in these parts. I dipped my fingers in the river before we left — sort of like a baptism. I just felt compelled to do it. Such a contrast to see this mighty river with its grassy, green banks and clean waters here in New Mexico whereas we had just seen it as a pitiful shadow of itself in El Paso.

We picked up some water for the road at a Chevron station and then made the 50-minute drive into Alamogordo. To get there you have to cross the Organ Mountains. When you come out on the other side you are in the White Sands Missile Range. There are some museums along this route, but mostly it is just a hot, flat drive through the desert prairie. We passed the entrance to White Sands National Monument, but because we will be going there first thing tomorrow for the hot air balloon launch, we didn't stop to visit today.

We checked into the Hampton Inn at Alamogordo and hooked up the laptop so Roni could reserve our hotel rooms in Santa Fe and Flagstaff, Ariz., for the next three nights. We have been seeing reports on the news about how Texans fleeing Hurricane Rita are heading as far as New Mexico. The storm was expected to make landfall tonight around Port Arthur, Texas. We'll see what happened to Houston and Galveston in the morning. We were able to book our rooms with no problems, so I think the impact on the northern end of New Mexico is likely pretty minimal.

We went swimming in the hotel's indoor heated pool. My third swim session in as many days and I think I'm getting waterlogged. Then we went out to eat at the Golden Corral buffet just across the street from us. The food was great, but I tried not to overstuff. Ben ate like he'd never seen food before, and of course he couldn't finish it all. I think he's trying to seize the moment because we don't eat out often when we're at home — certainly not buffet style.

It's 11:15 and off to bed now for all of us. Gotta wake up at 5 a.m. for the drive to White Sands.