We left Tucson last Thursday and drove along the I-10 highway to Las Cruces, NM. We had never driven along a road that warned about high winds so often. Our friend, Helen Tuefferd, in Las Cruces had warned us that the highway is sometimes closed because of the dust blowing across I-10 causing zero visibility. The drive took about 4 hours (at just above the posted 75mph speed limit!). We were about an hour out of Las Cruces when I realized that we had not accounted for the one hour time difference between AZ and NM (AZ doesn't participate in Daylight Savings Time). I hurridly called Helen to tell her we would be an hour late for lunch! We arrived to a warm greeting from Helen and her dog, Anjou. After lunch, Helen took us for a drive around the city and surrounding area. We visitede the Fort Selden State Monument which includes a museum and the ruins of a 19th cetury fort. The area is one where lots of pecans are grown. The groves of pecan trees offer a symmetry which reminded us of the olive groves of Spain. On Friday morning, we went to the White Sands National Monument which is about an hour northeast of las Cruces. This is a 275 sq mi area of powdery gypsum sand. It is truly a sight to behold. The road through the area must be frequently plowed to remain passable as the wind sweeps the sand across.
For us easterners, all that sand indicates a large body of water nearby I even climbed to the top of the dune...but no seashore in New Mexico! An interesting fact of life in the Las Cruces area is that there are several border patrol checkpoints on the roads leading north out of the city. The sad fact of the matter is that if the guard looks into your vehicle and sees all caucasian faces, you are waved on your way without having to show any identification. One asked if we were US citizens. At another checkoint the guard simply looked out the door of his station and waved us through.

In the afternoon, we went to one of the historic districts of Las Cruces. It is an old plaza with shops all around. Buzz and I remarked upon its similarity to the plazas we had seen in small towns in Puerto Rico. We browsed the shops, bought a few trinkets, and took Helen to dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, La Posta, the oldest and most famous in the historic Mesquite district of the city.

On Saturday morning, Helen took us to the farmers/craft market downtown. They have the market two days a week year round. There was the usual complement of fresh foods, baked goods, and handmade items. the most unusual things we saw were hats which the vendor had woven out of plastic bags. She could identify the stores they came from...Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart...which just proves once again that there is something for everyone.

We left Helen's cozy home late in the morning and headed north through the town of Truth or Consequences and then getting off the main road to visit the ghost town of Chloride, Pop 11. The people who settled it came for silver mining in the late 1800s. Once the silver was depleted, most people left. It is now becoming a bit of a tourist draw with a museum, an art gallery run by an artists co-op, some ruins, and a great picnic area. About 8 miles in, the pavement ended and we found ourselves on red earth. About 1/2 mile in on the red earth, we found ourselves on red slimy mud. Even Buzz the invincible agreed the sensible thing to was turn around and go the long way!

The prize for going the long way around was the unexpected sight of Lake Abiquiu (AH-bee-que). The artist Georgia O'Keefe painted here, and there is a museum and in that feature her work. We had our picnic on a perch above the lake. We drove as far as Espanola and found a place to stay. On Monday we drove to Taos and took a tour of the Taos Pueblo. The Taos people have a long history in the area, and try to continue their traditions on the pueblo. They are very aware of the importance of nature in their lives. The pueblo and surrounding area is so clean that the residents can drink the water from the river without having to treat our boil it in any way. They are a courageous people having survived waves of Spanish and American attempts at extinguishing their culture and religion.

Tuesday took us from Espanola to Los Alamos where we visited the Los Alamos County Historical Museum and the Bradbury Science Museum. Both were very worthwhille. The Historical Museum relates the early history of the area, the US Government seizure of the land for a "special project" and an eery story of the people who came to "the town that didn't exist" to work on the Manhattan Project in 1942. The science museum is very hands on and offers the visitor a view into the atomic project. It also offers a section of the museum for groups who either agree or disagree with the use of nuclear armaments and nuclear power to display their positions.

From Los Alamos, it was on to Santa Fe and an afternoon of rest. Today we visited three of the many museums in Santa Fe. The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian built in the shape of an eight-sided Navajo hogan, houses both permanent and visiting collections of the art of Native Americans. The main floor collection at the moment is a series of collages by Arthur Amiotte. The exhibit is a history of Amiotte's family and tribe, and their relationship with the white man. Many of the collages have handwritten sayings on them. Amiotte wrote of the tribes decision to fight with the Americans in WWl (and I paraphrase) We didn't want to fight anymore, but maybe the white man is afraid that if the Kaiser wins he will put them on reservations and we don't want them on our reservations.

From the Wheelwright, we went to the Museum of International Folk Art which houses, among other things, a portion of the collection of Alexander Girard. Girard was an architect and designer and compulsive collector of folk art. There are over 130,000 objects in the entire museum, and about 106,000 of them are in the Girard Gallery which he oversay in minute detail from construction to pant colors to the layout of each display. No photos are allowed, and you have to see it to believe it. We took a break for lunch..a picnic on the plaza between two museums...and headed for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. As in the Folk Art museum, we took a tour with a docent who very ably interpreted the displays. I was particularly drawn to the beautifully dyed and woven blankets and rugs. Of course, the pottery wasn't too shabby either!

A brief drive to the center of town brought us to the Plaza area. The aftenoon was sunny and breezy, and we strolled around looking at the shops filled with jewellery (saw a diamond ring for $150,000.00...the band looked small so I didn't try it on), leather goods and the ubiquitous tee shirt as well as the interesting architcture. The city has strict rules about construction, and even the parking garage is built in the pueblo adobe style.

Back to the hotel, I printed out our boarding passes for the flight home tomorrow, packed up the suitcases, and took a little nap. Tonight we went to dinner at a fish place - yes, fish in New Mexico - to celebrate my 61st birthday, and now we are just relaxing for the evening. Tomorrow morning we head for Albuquerque. We have a four hour layover in chicago, and our friend Randy Shepherd who lives in Chicago now is going to met us at the airport for dinner.

These two weeks have been an opportunity for us to just be together most of the time, and we have found that after amost 39 years of marriage we still enjoy each other's company.

And, finally, for those of you for whom this wll have meaning, the most important purchase of the trip was a replacement for the original rooster mug!!!

Watch for the next trip...who knows where or when.