The Great SouthWest Passage aka Chronicles of Las Cruces: Part 6 – “These are a few of my favorite things…”

(My pix, desert sunset)

Mrsfabp and I love to explore. We did it a great deal when we were younger, taking drives to visit new areas, see the sights, taste the food, shop the shops and just drink in the culture and ambience of the area. When we made the first major move of our lives, from NYC to the great north woods of Massachusetts, that is exactly what we did – camping, motelling, checking out various areas to live.

So this trip to Las Cruces was that same sort of thing. Sure, we are older but we are also wiser. On this trip we saw lots of things, met lots of people and really reveled in the area. What follows is a list of some of my favorite things from the 10 day adventure…

Wine – Heart of the Desert “Viva la Roja”, a varietal blend, so far unattainable in Massachusetts.

Beer – Had several micro brews while here, High Desert Brewing Company was excellent but it could have been the green chile cheeseburgers and green chile cheese fries too.

Nachos – the first big test of a Mexican restaurant, the best by far were from Carlos & Mickey's Mexican Restaurant. We got the shredded beef and chicken which was piled high on a plate with cheese galore. I must admit that we did not have a bad order of nachos along the way. El Comedor in Mesilla was excellent too.

Green chile cheeseburgers – This is a quest in New Mexico and our friends brought us to two places where we had them – The High Desert Brewing Company, which was excellent, and Guacamole's Bar and Grille which was very good, boosted by the atmosphere of dining in an adobe walled patio.

Mountain view from our friends patio – we went to their house, a classic real adobe and sat on their patio among the pecan trees, looking dreamingly at the mountains. Good company, good beer and great enchiladas surely helped.

Roadrunners – I really wanted to see one and we lucked out with two, fast little suckers, but worth the effort.

Desert smells – we went into the desert twice to see the sunset and were pleasantly surprised at the smells. There is mesquite and creosote bush which adds some exotic flavor to the smells. We hear it is wonderful after a rain but all we saw was virga.

Tall cacti – each foot of height they say is equal to about 100 years of age so the 18 footer by the Las Cruces Art Museum = 180 years old.

Chips the size of Frisbees – served with bean salsa at Carlos & Mickey's; OUTSTANDING.

Route 70 bypass rd around Alamogordo – I was disappointed in this town (see later episode on this very subject) but the best of it is the bypass road around it. Not a good sign Alamogordans.

10 day vacations without any rain – that may be a first.

Beating the snow out of town twice – See episode 1 of this saga. We win, twice!

Watching mrsfabp speak Spanish – this too will be the subject of a future episode. Surfice it to say I didn’t realize I was married to Sonia Sotomayor.

Seeing hawks all over the desert – I love birds and saw several species of hawks hovering in the dessert, searching for lunch. Them, not us…

Driving 80 mph with the window open, in February!– Making the White Sands Range run almost daily, it is a freeing experience. ‘nuf said!

LC Public Library – good library is important to any move we make and this one passed the test. Easy to get to, great parking, nice collection and plenty of computers. A-OK!

Coas Used Book Store – after a good library, a good bookstore is paramount. Coas meets this challenge.

Sonic – in the great fast food wasteland, Sonic is a step above. I wish they were in the northeast

Writing names in the sand – Yes, mrsfabp did it. Yes we have pictures. No I did not try to write names in the snow in Ruidoso, if you know what I mean...

LC Farmers Market – This will be a regular Saturday experience for us. It was fun and everyone says hello there.

Mesilla Plaza – photographers dream, I will spend a lot of time there.

White Sands Monument - it is like you are on a different planet. On the T Fab P scale of visual awesomeness, nature mode, it ranks only behind the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Sorry Niagara Falls, you slip a notch.

Pizza at Zeffiro’s - When we moved from NYC to Massachusetts, we had to give up certain foods – bagels, pizza and hard rolls come to mind. In NM we found a great pizza place that makes nice brick oven rounds of fame. Thank you, thank you, thank you.