Southwestern New Mexico…

Southwestern New Mexico…

We left Gallup and crossed into Arizona, then back into New Mexico as we drove south through the

desert and then the Mogollon Mountains.  We passed through Silver City and found a place to stay in Deming, New Mexico.  There are a lot of interesting places to see in this area…White Sands State Park, Palomas Mexico, Pinos Altos (where Billy the Kid was born), Rockhound Park, the Gila Cliff Dwellings and City of Rocks to mention a few.  We’ve been in this area before and have seen many of these places but some are definitely worth a second look.



The City of Rocks is fairly close to Deming so we packed a picnic lunch and off we went.  Yes…there were rocks…huge rocks cropping up suddenly in the middle of the desert.  The rocks are formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago and then over time erosion creates the structures we see today.  Quite interesting and fun to climb around in.  The campground there is right in the middle of the rocks so some of the sites are quite private and would be fun to camp in.

 

 

 

There are lot of birds and of course I love to see the cactus and took plenty of pictures.  We hiked around the rock structures, had our picnic and headed home.

On the way, though, we saw a herd of antelope in the field by the road.  There must have been fifteen or more of them…so nice to know there is abundant wildlife in the area.


We drove down to Mexico and on the way saw one of the blimps they use for to watch the desert in hopes of catching illegal immigrants trying to cross the border.  When I was trying to immigrate I thought that going to Mexico and trying to sneak across the border to live in the US might have been easier but guess not ...I would have gotten caught by the blimp for sure!

Mexico was fun to visit.  It is only about half an hour from Deming and is surprisingly easy to get into…you simply walk across the border!  You don’t show a passport or talk to a border guard or anything…just walk across.  We wandered the town of Palomas for a while and visited The Pink Store.  We both enjoyed shopping in the store though we didn’t buy anything…I sure was tempted to get this chicken-birdhouse!

Lunch was really good…burritos, chimichangas, quesadias, rice and beans…mmmmm…and when is the last time you were served a Coca Cola Light in a glass bottle…a while back I bet.  Notice the mariachi band over Tom’s shoulder…they wandered the restaurant playing and singing.  Too bad there wasn’t a beach close by…It would have felt like the Mexico we are used to going to.  Definitely no beach in Palomas though…nothing but desert for miles and miles.

The drive home brought us past cotton fields and pepper farms…very interesting.  Notice the huge bales of cotton on the side of the field.

 

The Gila Cliff Dwellings are amazing!  So incredibly interesting.  The Gila National Moument is about 550 acres and contains the ruins of cliff dwellings built by the Mogllon people between 1275 and 1300 AD.  It is a fair climb up to the dwellings but well worth it. 

The dwellings are built right into the cave-like openings in the mountains.  I think there are five levels of dwellings but only one was open to us to explore.

The  first time we tried to see the cliff dwellings was about 15 years ago but we couldn’t actually make it there because the roads were flooded…it was pretty disappointing but seeing them this time made up for it. 

It is the US Thanksgiving tomorrow (Thursday) so I’m wishing all our American friends and relatives a very happy holiday!  You won’t find Tom or I in any black Thursday/Friday line-ups however…we have everything we need right here in our home on wheels. 

The memories we’re creating are what we are especially thankful for these days and we are happy we can share them with you!

 (this posting was really difficult to do because the internet at the RV park kept going off and on...sorry if it is a bit disorganized...hope you enjoy it!)