Go West Young Man (7)

     The journey continues, but now actually not quite in a westerly direction because the destination for the day is Roswell (space alians, etc.). But a couple of stops where made on the way. The first one at The Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, though not actually a required stop on the mission trail, there is some limited history available and a nice statue of Juan Diego. The link below is from research done by a member of the faculty of Marquette University.
http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/NativeGuide/NM/W-368.pdf

The Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mesilla NM

The statue of Juan Diego with the Tilma

    The church was not open, or at least we did not find any unlocked doors, so we continued our journey now generally in an direction of North East.
    The next stop was obviously White Sands National Monument, this spot of pure white "sand" covering 275 square miles (176,000 acres) or 710 square kilometers (71,225 hectares). While I was stationed at Oro Grande back in the early part of 1967 I wanted to go there but we were not permitted to leave our base since we were training on a top secret weapon, but one could read about it in then current issues of Popular Mechanic.
     What follows below are pictures from White Sands National Monument and some links with additional information.

White Sands National Monument Park Headquarters

Park headquarters.

Our trusted Subaru Forester in the middle of the White Sands

Norma, not at the beach, but in the desert of New Mexico

No beach anywhere close, but lots of whiete sand.
Trying to keep my stomach from protruding into the picture.

A sea of White Sand all around us.

Note the wind pattern in the sand.

The obligatory photo of the Yucca siting in the sand.

This link is from the National Park Service and has links to a wealth of information about the Monument.
http://www.nps.gov/whsa/siteindex.htm
Here is another link from the NPS http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm
A link to Wikipedia's information about the park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_National_Monument
Last but not least a link to some great photographs from White Sands.
https://www.google.com/search?q=White+Sands+photos&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS388US390&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Hl05T4b2EaLo2QXn74iUAg&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=540

    We now take leave of White Sands on begin a journey up through the Sacramento Mountains http://newmexico.org/learn/geology/sacramentos.php, having gone through Alamagordo, on our way to Cloudcroft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudcroft,_New_Mexico
     Our first stop on the way up was at San Augustin Pass, elevation 5,710 feet / 1,740 meters above sea level, in New Mexico and the Rocky Mountains this is on the level of ant hills.

At San Augustin Pass, elevation 5,710 feet / 1,740 meters above sea level.

Looking on some direction, but I do not remember which, from the San Augustin Pass.

     We arrived in Cloudcroft, an nice little town, but it appears that we were not happy with the photos from Cloudcroft, because none were saved, so here are some links to additional information and links to various photos; http://www.cloudcroft.net/photos-2/, http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g46989-Cloudcroft_New_Mexico.html, https://www.google.com/search?q=cloudcroft+new+mexico&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS388US390&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=NmY5T_zYMamg2AXPqpy9Bw&ved=0CGUQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=540


     It was time for something to eat and feeling a bit homesick for Texas we found a small restaurant named Texas Pit Bar B Q and here we ate. We walked around town for a bit and took photos. The weather is very pleasant, having come out of the desert below, and here it is only 79 degrees F (26 degrees F).
      Leaving Cloudcroft again we wind our way down the mountains, with beautiful vistas; valleys, canyons and lots and lots of pine trees. 
     Tired after a long day we arrive in Roswell at the La Quinta and check in for the night. We have now driven 1,149 miles / 1,850 km since we left home. More about Roswell and the alians in the next post about the journey West.

Go West Young Man (6)

     The lessons of life are always very educational, particularly when one has not taken the time to do the homework or study ahead of the "test", this became very apparent on this particular day.
     We began the day early, having the usual "free" Continental Breakfast consisting of hard boiled eggs (it is a good thing we were rather active on this trip or our cholesterol levels would have skyrocketed), coffee, orange juice, bagels sans lox but with cream cheese, waffles. Then off to Mass at 7 AM at Saint Pius X Catholic Church which we found close to the hotel the evening before. Being the skeptic of the day, and seeing the name of the church I was wondering it this was a church of the Society of Pius X, in other words, not in communion with the See of Peter. My skepticism was unfounded as in small letters on the marquis it stated "Diocese of El Paso". The presider at Mass was an Columban priest from Australia, who is current a parish priest across the river in Ciudad Juarez, in Mexico. It was rather interesting to hear the bilingual Mass being said in Spanish and English - both with an Australian accent.
    After Mass we had the intention of taking the tram up to the Franklin mountain trail, and this is where the part of doing the homework comes in. We get to the gate and see a sign that the tram is closed for the day, and we are not aware of any other way of getting up there. There are actually several other ways, but we didn't know that (homework or the lack thereof).
    It is an area that should be explored if the opportunity presents itself, but first do the homework. Here are some links to the Franklin Mountains park area and trail. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/franklin/
http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/N_Franklin_Mountain_2320.asp
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=BGS133-001
http://texastrails.org/traildetail.cfm?id=513
     As a result of this oversight on our part we decided to continue the journey rather than wait until tomorrow. We are still on the mission trail pursuit and so we pack up and leave El Paso heading west into New Mexico. But here is an important side note - somewhere along the way while looking at the map of New Mexico Norma notices the city of Roswell. Since she likes science fiction and stuff of that sort, all sorts of bells go off, "area 51", "aliens", "UFO's", and all of this in Roswell. Our itinerary is changed a bit to spend the night in Roswell so we can see all the strange things that are there. She is so lucky to have a husband that doesn't mind, even if he is not much into this kind of "stuff".
     We enter New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment" just after 10 AM (MST) and stop at the "Welcome Center" and pick up some information and take a few picks.

At the State of New Mexico Welcome Center just off of Highway 10

The State of New Mexico Welcome Center - note mesquite fence and old wagon in the back, as well as adobe building.

     Shortly after leaving the Welcome Center we turned off of Hwy 10 and onto NM hwy 28 toward the town of Mesilla. On the way there we drive through an area full of Pecan plantation, and come to a sign that states this is one of the largest pecan plantations in the world. We stopped and took some pictures driving through this tunnel of trees, but somehow I must have deleted them, because they are not in the file of the trip. The plantation is Stahlmann's somewhere between Las Cruces and Mesilla.  Here are some links to Mesilla.
http://www.oldmesilla.org/
http://www.oldmesilla.org/html/history_of_mesilla.html
http://www.oldmesilla.org/html/events_calendar.html
http://www.mesilla.com/
http://newmexico.org/explore/regions/southwest/mesilla.php
     Mesilla's claim to fame is a young man generally known as "Billy the Kid", and here are some links to information about the Kid.
http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/fact_vs_myth.htm
http://www.aboutbillythekid.com/
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWbonney.htm
     There were also some rather heavy "range wars" between various cattle baron factions.
      Here are some of our photos from Mesilla.

Just a street view

As said previously, I am fascinated by interesting gates and doors. This one to a private yard.

We are now in the "Wild West", the side walk.

This building housed the courtroom where Billy the Kid was sentenced.

A wanten poster of Billy the Kid.

Another street view.

Good looking really Western "flavor" building.

    Future posts will have the remainder of this interesting day.