New Mexico is the oldest wine producing region in the United States. They started growing grapes in the seventeenth century because Franciscan fathers required wine for Mass. There are 19 wineries here, and some of them make really good wine. We stopped at Casa Rodena first, a small boutique winery 10 minutes from downtown Albequerque. Its a gorgeous winery with a well landscaped lawn set up where you can sip wine next to the vines that it came from. They grow Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Viogner, and Cab Franc, and buy Cab Sauvignon from Colorado. The wines were great, such a nice surprise to find. Next we went to Gruet, a well known winery owned by a French winemaker from Champagne. They are famous for their sparkling wines, made with the traditional champagne method. Their vineyards are actually in Truth or Consequences, hence the picture of some vines in front of the trailers. Those are only for show in front of the tasting room. We stopped in Old Town Albequerque for some lunch, which was not very impressive, other than the Alamo style buildings. After we drove a couple hours to Truth or Consequences, a town that borders the Rio Grande and Turtleback Mountain and sits over a dozen or so natural hot springs. It's an artist town, and the owner of the Riverbend has used his artistic ability to design the most beautiful space around the hot springs there. There are 5 pools, starting at over 100 degrees and cascading down into the next pool which gets cooler as it does, and then draining into the Rio Grande. We watched the sunset while soaking, got out for a quick dinner, and then soaked until they closed at 10pm. The mineral content of the water is really high, and the locals believe soaking in the hot springs has a healing effect on your body. We felt amazing and had to agree.