Our drive from El Paso today covered more sweeping panoramas
of desert, as we crossed into New Mexico.
We stopped at the visitor center just over the state line to find out
more about a historic spot called Mesilla, just south of Las Cruces (they
pronounce it ‘loss croosis’, we learned).
We’d heard that it was worth a visit, so we got directions and decided to
have a look.
On the I-10 we passed several feed lots where thousands of
beef cattle awaited their fate. Huge
shelters nearby held great stacks of hay bales, and we detected a distinct farm
odour for several miles. Pecans are another going concern in this part of the
world. We passed quite a few orchards
with orderly rows of leafless trees. At
the gas station when we fueled up, I couldn’t resist picking up a mini-pecan
pie for tonight’s dessert in support of this worthy industry.
It was shortly before lunch when we turned off the
Interstate toward Mesilla. We found the historic town site and I was delighted
to see the old adobe dwellings we’d encountered on our last trip through New
Mexico in 2011. The historic town plaza
had a church at the north end, and small cafés and boutiques around it. The church wasn’t open for a peek but we
spotted a charming café called Josefina’s next to it, and I stopped to snap a
photo of its rustic adobe-and-wood doorway.
A friendly lady remarked on the famous doorway we’d chosen
to photograph as she headed for her car.
Curious, we went over to hear more, and a lovely conversation ensued. Our new friend’s name was Carol, and she’s
been here for 30-plus years. She told us
there had been a drop in tourism here since she ran a small business on the
plaza. She also talked about changes in
the climate and wildlife – it is far drier than it used to be and all the
mammals are gone except the javelinas (a kind of wild hog). It was great to
hear a local perspective on an area we know little about.
Josefina’s, we also learned, is a very good restaurant and
inn, and it was built around 1850. At the other corner of the plaza is the
building in which Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang. It used to be the capitol building of Arizona
and New Mexico, and then the local courthouse.
Now it’s a souvenir shop with an animated figure of Billy who talks to
you when you pass by.
A few miles past Las Cruces, we reached a point where
highway 26 joins the I-10 from Albequerque. From there till we reach Tucson in
the coming days, we will be retracing our previous journey in 2011. I thought that yucca plant looked familiar.
1 comment:
As we watch snow swirling in our backyard, and the detritus and snow from the street piled high in our driveway by the plow, we are heartened by your posts of wind and dust and warmth. It is great to know that some of us are still warm - namely, you two. From the cold climes of the north, please enjoy!
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