LAS CRUCES, NM 9-21-2017 PART I

First, we are at about 4,400 feet elevation so we can sleep with all the windows open.  Second, this is the place to pick up lots of pecans for the Christmas season.  Third, dinner at La Posta.  We love it here.  Our longest stay so far, five nights!

Our favorite KOA on the cliff

We are camped at our favorite, quiet KOA way up high on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the city, which is framed by mountains on the horizon.  During the day, bunnies, squirrels, roadrunners and hummingbirds are busy, busy, busy.  In the evening, after el sol dips behind the horizon, the city lights illuminate and sparkle like glitter and a bazillion stars twinkle over head.  It is like sitting on the branch of a God-size Christmas tree.  It is tranquilizing and hypnotic.

View of the city framed by
the Organ Peak Mountains

Five years ago, we stopped here for a few very hot August days because they have a swimming pool.  Unfortunately, the pool was closed for renovation.  At that point, the government stepped in.  “You can’t do this, you can’t do that, we can’t grandfather you.”  Then, the inspectors were “too busy” and couldn’t keep their appointments to stamp things off.  This went on all summer.  Unanswered phone calls.  Canceled appointments.  The sign on the gate to the pool said, “Please help us.  Call the Governor.”  That was all I needed.  Call the governor, indeed.  Leave a message and they’ll hit “delete.”  I’ll WRITE to the governor (who, by the way, was conservative Susannah Martinez).  She wrote back!  She said she would help and I should hear something from someone “in the near future.”  I wrote back to her.  “Not only did I not hear from anyone in the near future, I didn’t even hear from anyone in the FAR future.  A small business is trying to make a living and feed a family and they have had no income for an entire season thanks to government red tape.”  Then, heads rolled.  The Governor got the parties involved off of their government asses and the pool was once again open for business.  The elated KOA owners, Chris and Tony, sent me a tin of pecans and offered me a free night if I were ever back in town.  I sent Governor Susannah a thank you note (she is still the governor, by the way).  Five years later, we are closing the loop on the last day of the summer season!

Victory lap for Lindy!  Yay, the
citizens won one!

As you may recall, Col. Edward Hatch was the commander of the 9^th Regiment, the Buffalo Soldiers, at Fort Stockton.  The town of Hatch, NM is named for him.  We drove there today to investigate the haps.  Mostly, they specialize in every kind of pepper imaginable.  Red, yellow, green, mild to hotter than hell!  Nothing has changed and you can’t get a beer or a margarita anywhere in Hatch, fyi.  Along the 25 miles of road were endless pecan orchards and they are often flooded.  The trees look like they are growing in lakes.  (I didn’t see any alligators.) 

So far, no alligators in the
pecan orchards.... 

The government, once again not one to keep its nose out of things, has begun regulating water in NM.  The pecan farmers are allowed so many acre-feet of water per month.  They flood the trees when they can and the thirsty trees drink it quickly.  Harvest season is late in the fall but I will try to get my hands on a few pounds of pecans at the farmer’s market while we are in pecan country.

Poor Bessie... she doesn't know how painfully
fatal it would be if she DIDN'T get milked!

Admittedly, we are getting a little museum’d out but it was suggested that we visit the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.  Successful farming and ranching in this area involved the building of Elephant Butte Dam.  It took 4 years to build during the FDR days and created an enormous reservoir on the Rio Grande.  The museum is interactive in many ways and you can visit a lot of livestock.  Rob and I were there in time to watch the stockman milk Bessie using the most modern equipment.  Bessie was cool because she got treats while all of this was going on.  I think she felt sheepish. 

You think BESSIE feels sheepish!

There are a lot of interesting exhibits on the animal farm and it was fun!  (Speaking of animals, the larger roadrunner by a few inches is here up on the cliff.)

Las Cruces roadrunner