Cruisin' to Las Cruces

"Red or Green?" 

    We said farewell to Val and drove out of Tucson on the I-10. The saguaros disappeared almost immediately, and near the New Mexico border we crossed the Continental Divide at 4585 feet. The temperature was 24 celcius, rising to 28 by the end of the day. The land became incredibly flat, with distant outcroppings of hills and mountains rising like islands out of the desert. 

    We stopped near the Chiricahua Monument and reflected on the lives of the Apache leaders Cochise and Geronimo. Cochise held off the U.S. feds for 14 years and virtually dictated the terms of his surrender and Treaty to them, with the help of his only white friend, Tom Jefford, who owned a stagecoach company and interceded with the Governor. The place we stopped was the Texas Canyon, in Cochise County. I took photos of the amazing sea of rounded sandstone boulders. 

    By suppertime we'd arrived at Las Cruces, named for The Crosses which marked the graves of many settlers killed during the Apache raids (raids which were entirely justified, if you explore how the settlers, prospectors, whiskey-sellers and land-grabbers trampled roughshod over the land and Treaty rights of the Apaches, with what seemed like total impunity. They needed an RCMP detachment out there.) 

    We took our host Danny Wade out to supper and had a traditional New Mexico combination plate meal - several of the southern items, graced with "green". The State Question, according to Deborah's guidebook, is "Red or Green?". Sure enough, that's what the waitress asked us, and this region is known for its green chili, so that's what we had on our meal. 

    Mind you, the State Motto is a Latin phrase that translates as, "It grows as it goes", which leads one to expect that the State Question should be "What the heck does the State Motto mean?" 

    Danny lives in a fifth wheel trailer out behind the World Gym. He makes a living as a medical transcriptionist, a trade he can practice from anywhere with an internet connection; he was a critical care nurse until his ankylosing spondylitis put an end to that line of work and his hospital employer paid for cross-training for him to begin this new career. 

    He is also a keen cyclist, and we are his first CS guests; he's been a host to about sixteen long distance travelling cyclists up until now through the website Warmshowers.org.  He made up his bed for us in the fifth wheel trailer, and slept outside overnight - a real gentleman.  

    After dinner we went out to see downtown Las Cruces, where the art galleries were having their Friday night open houses and a mariachi band was playing on the sidewalk, dressed to the nines. The guitar player had an enormous guitar with a very short neck; I'd love to try one out myself. 

    We went to the neighbouring town of Old Mesilla, where Billy the Kid was arrested and sentenced to be hung. They took him to Lincoln to hang him, but he killed his two guards and escaped. He was on the lam for three months until Sheriff Pat Garrett ambushed and shot him. 

    Mesilla is an absolutely charming town of old adobe mud-and-straw homes, some with really lovely architectural design, and we saw fresh adobe bricks neatly stacked up in a yard ready for a construction project. There was going to be a candlelight procession in the town square after the Good Friday mass in the church on the square, but we decided we couldn't stay out that late. 

    My photos are here.

Next leg: San Antonio...Remember the Alamo?