LAS CRUCES, NM 9-22-2017 PART II

Somebody turned 70 years old today and it wasn’t me!  Birthday Boy wanted to travel out to White Sands.  We have been there before but it is a phenomenon that it is worth seeing again.  And again.

Birthday Boy

It looks like snow and it is blinding white.  But it isn’t snow, it is gypsum, that chalky stuff in drywall.  And it isn’t cold outside, it is actually hot in the sun!  They sell saucers in the gift shop and you can go sledding on the white hills.    Or you can stop at one of the picnic areas and have a cold brew.  This is how Birthday Boy wanted to spend his day.  Who am I to argue?

Yay!  I'm SEVENTY!

I can do this!

Birthday Boy!

Lindy and a saucer can do it, too!

Is this beautiful or what?!

White stuff up my shorts!  Oh yikes!  Does it itch?!

Have a beer at a shaded picnic table!

La Posta is a very old establishment and there were many of these a few hundred years ago.  They were built originally as “rest stops” for the King as he traveled about his kingdom and some of them also acted as mail drops.  The one in Mesilla, a small historic district in Las Cruces, has been a restaurant for decades.  They specialize in Spanish and Mexican food and in the lobby there are aquariums with colorful fish and cages where parrots entertain clientele.  The parrots imitated Rob’s chatter and laughter and danced when we sang rock and roll to them.  It was really funny.

C'mon, Polly!  "Rock and roll is here to stay!"

One of the aquariums at La Posta

On Saturday, we went to the center of town and walked many blocks where the farmers’ market is set up under shady canopies.  The artisans display their crops of vegetables (including pecans!) and many different kinds of art including photography, jewelry, basket making, music and the making of soaps, honey and oils.  There were vegetables that I didn’t recognize like different kinds of squash and maybe beans, and some I did recognize but I don’t know how to cook.  Rob was very happy to find that a chef had brought a wood fired pizza oven to the affair!  Naturally, he had to order one of these, what else?!  There was even a cattle man who was hawking his beef, pork and lamb.  “We would like two grass-fed rib eyes, please.”  “Oh no!  I am fresh out of rib eyes.”  “That’s OK.  We’ll have a bunch of lamb chops.”  “Gosh, I am sold out of lamb chops.”  “That’s OK, then.  How about a pound of hamburger?”  Well, bingo, we acquired a pound of hamburger right off the hoof, the best we could do and as lean as can be.  (I hope it wasn’t a chunk of Bessie.)

This is our fifth night in Las Cruces and I will feel sad to leave in the morning.  We will enjoy one last night on the cliff overlooking the city lights sitting under the twinkling stars.  Next stop:  Tucson.