Las Cruces
Campground
Hacienda RV Resort
Hot tub. Two fenced dog parks. Nice showers and bathrooms. It was a very transient park so there weren't any organized activities or activity director. We stayed here in November of 2021 and then again in October of 2023.
Things to see
McGinn's Pistachio Land
We drove to Alamogordo from Las Cruces for just one thing, the largest pistachio in the world! We took the guided tram tour of the farm. They grow a few varieties of grapes for their own wine, too. We bought some flavored pistachios (some are HOT) and, of course, had some pistachio ice cream.
Old Mesilla Plaza
The La Posta restaurant, besides being a great place to eat, was a heavily fortified mail station when the building was first erected in the 1800s. The walls, in places, are several feet thick to protect against attacks. Good area for shopping in quant little shops.
Recycled Roadrunner Sculpture
A roadside attraction at an official rest stop. See how many recycled pieces of stuff you can find in the pics!
Truth Or Consequences
There are probably plenty of other things to see in town, but we only had time to stop at the TorC Brewery. We had a flight of beers and decided to go home with a couple crowlers of their green chile flavored beer. The taste was subtle and quite nice.
US-Mexico Border Wall
The border wall/fence can be seen from highway 375. It splits El Paso, TX and Juarez, Mexico.
White Sands Missile Range Museum
The museum is on an active base so you will have to have a real-id and they conduct a background check (only takes a few minutes). There was a lot of great information and a lot to see.
White Sands National Park
Sled down the white sands! Ok, so it isn't snow for us native northerners, but it sure looks like it. We went to the park a couple of times just because it is so neat to walk around and let Polly get some good "zoomies".
Hiking
Dripping Springs Trail
The trail is really a one lane gravel road. However, it is very cool to see the remnants of the resort/ sanatorium at the end of the trail. The spring was minimal so there was no waterfall when we were there. Small fee or national park pass is required. No dogs allowed.
La Llorona Trail
Good trail to get in an easy run. It parallels the Rio Grande river; however, there was very little water at the time we were there. Dogs allowed.
Pine Tree Trail
Great hike with gradual incline so it wasn't too strenuous. It is very close to the White Sands Missile Range so we could hear lots of explosions! There is a nice little campground at the trailhead that we would love to stay in someday when we get a smaller rig. The road to this trailhead is limited to trailers less than 23" long. Dogs allowed.
Slot Canyon
Easy hike to experience a cool slot canyon. You can traverse the entire path; however, the interesting parts are to the canyon and back the same way. The second half of the trail is poorly marked and we got off track several times. Luckily, we have a subscription to AllTrails Pro and were able to use the offline download feature to follow the trail. Dogs allowed.
Drone flight over Slot Canyon
Drone circle above us on a mesa
Biking
Dona Ana Trail System
We rode our mountain bikes at "A" Mountain and the Dona Ana trail system.
Sierra Vista Trail
Mark met up again with Bobby (see Stories), who lives in El Paso. Had a great day riding this trail. It is generally uphill one way and downhill the other, but there are some deep crevasses that can tax your thighs and lungs.
Motorcycling
Emory Pass
We rode to Emory Pass via Hatch. So many chiles! It is a very beautiful view from Emory Pass.
Food and Drink
Bosque Brewing
After attending the Special Olympics basketball tournament with Bobby, Kim, Scott, Susan, and Roland. What a thrill to see all these athletes having such a great time. Roland is such a neat guy, so friendly. We got together here after the tournament with all of them.
Chilitos
A typical Tuesday outing, we enjoyed Chilitos. We just had to have something with green chiles in it! Pretty good food and margaritas.
La Posta De Mesilla
Located in the Mesilla Plaza, this place has wonderful margaritas and mexican food. The salsa they bring you with the chips is so good.
Thai Delight
We enjoyed Thai food even before going to Thailand this past February. As soon as we saw this place in the area, we just had to go. Great curry dishes! The coconut-flavored iced tea was fantastic!
To make a long story short ...
When a Swan met a Duck
Yes, his last name is "Duck", Robert Duck to be exact, and, believe it or not, he puts on demonstrations of racing mallard ducks. He is currently staying in our same campground and I met him when we were both out walking our dogs.
His "second career", as he put it, is a business he and his wife started in 1999. They travel around the country, from event to event, putting on duck races. He even told me that a lady won one of the races and, lo and behold, her last name as "Mallard"! How crazy is that?
Here is an article I found about him.
For more information, visit www.racingducks.com
Remember Bobby?
At our previous stop, Terlungua, TX, we met Bobby and his friends. They had all gone to high school in El Paso, TX and all of them, except for Bobby, had moved to other places - none too far away, though. Well, Bobby still lives in El Paso and here we are in Las Cruces, NM, just a few miles from him. He gave us a call and asked if we wanted to do a nice motorcycle route (see that story above). Turns out, he is a wealth of information about this entire region. Also, turns out, he was once on the very top of the mountain biking scene, a very accomplished rider and racer. Once we had decided to trade in (actually, donate) our street bikes for mountain bikes, Bobby was the first to invite us to ride the trails in the Dona Ana mountains.
Despite Bobby's efforts to help me find a gig at a local brewery or winery, I totally struck out due to far-in-advance booking. That has been a recurring theme, as I try to find places to play as we travel, not knowing who has live music as we plan months in advance where we will be.
Barb jokes that it seems Bobby and I are long-lost twins. We are very similar in height, weight, and fitness. Although she will argue with me, Bobby is so much nicer and more thoughtful than I am. What a truly wonderful human. Bobby.
The couple on the tandem bike
When we stopped at Emory Pass to take in the view, this couple pulled up on a tandem bike. They were riding cross country. They carried a tent and various other supplies, sleeping in campgrounds as they went. The scariest part of watching them leave was knowing their bike only had those rim-squeezing brakes, not disc brakes. The rim-style brakes can really overheat if used too heavily and they were about to head down from Emory Pass. Yikes.
Have you seen that movie "Gremlins"?
As you've read above, we drove to the White Sands National Park a couple times. Along the way, on Highway 70, there is a border patrol stop. As we lined up with all the other vehicles that slowed down for the agent, he was motioning most through without the drivers having to actually stop. As we eased up to the agent, I had lowered my window as well as the rear seat window so Polly could look out. The agent motioned for us to stop.
"Hey, do you remember that movie from the 80s called 'Gremlins'? Your dog looks just like that!"
And, with that, we all laughed and the agent bid us farewell. I can imagine it is a pretty boring job, standing there for hours, motioning cars through. Polly was his highlight of the day!
Another Bobby and Scott get-together
If you remember, Bobby lives in El Paso and Scott lives in Albuquerque. We had originally met them, and three of their other guy friends, in Terlingua TX a few years back. We've been able to meet up with them separately, based on where we happened to be. Well, as luck would have it, we were able to meet up with both of them AND their wonderful spouses! We had met Scott's Susan but have never met Bobby's Kim.
Scott's wife Susan's brother, Roland, was participating in the Special Olympics basketball tournament in Las Cruces and we all met up there. It was so heart-warming to see the smiles on the faces of these athletes. I must say, there were some courts where I would NOT have wanted to play even in my best years. Holy cow, they were good. Roland's class of competition was so much fun to watch. Roland is such a nice guy to talk to.
We were able to get together at Bosque Brewing (see above for review) and enjoy chatting. We also got together with Scott, Susan, and Roland to hike the Soledad trail (see above). It is so much fun to meet up again with these families. Such good people.