On my way from Fossil Rim to meet up with my WIN group I stayed overnight along the Texas-New Mexico border at:
Here is my campsite in the Guadalupe Mountains.
Here is another landmark for early travelers--another El Capitan.
Once a stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail Route these remains
are all that is left of a once thriving important part of history.
I know this is too small to read but you can see the route the mail wagons took.
The first stop on the WIN New Mexico State Parks summer tour was
here at Pancho Villa SP in Columbus, NM. Three miles from the
Mexico border.
We have wondered why a state park was named after such a bad guy
as Pancho Villa. ??
The rail depot in Columbus has been refurbished as a museum.
Our guide, Ned Barr gave us a great description of the raid on Columbus
and the many artifacts in the museum.
Columbus was also the site of the First Aerodivision of the US Army.
This consisted of 8 "Jenny" biplanes. They were used for search, but
were highly unstable and after 6 of the 8 crashed the remaining 2 were sold as scrap.
Footnote: my father, Edgar T. White learned to fly in a Jenny in 1927.
Of course we made the trip across the border for lunch in Palomas, MX
at the Pink Store.
On March 28 we moved to Leasburg Dam State Park just north of
Las Cruces, NM. We made a day trip to Old Mesilla and this
is the Catholic Church that sits at the north end of the plaza.
On April 4 we moved to Alamogordo, NM. so that we could tour the Trinity Site on April 5.
This monument is Ground Zero for the test of the atomic bomb, July 16, 1945, and the site is only
open to the public one day each year. Thousands of folks were in a car caravan and escorted
to, and from the site.
Here I am at the exact spot--ground zero--which is where I want
to be if a real one is dropped on the US--ground zero.
Photo on display at the site.
This was a day that changed the world.
Back in Alamogordo we toured the small zoo. The Director told us
this is the smallest zoo in the US to be accredited by the AZA,
the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The cougar was watching from the cool of the den.
The American Bald Eagle.
Took me lots of photos to get this River Otter in the frame--they
are soooo quick--and fun to watch.
This is a small group of WINs on the New Mexico tour.
We took the miniature train ride. The engineer was sure to tell us
this was NOT a "toy" train, but a real train in miniature.
Inside were literally thousands of toy trains. I'm sure my brother, Richard would know
all about these. Even though we were all novice train buffs we enjoyed the visit.
This is just one layout of several in the building. All built by volunteers.
We visited a local pistachio farm--one of only two in
New Mexico. Here I'm standing next to the
World's largest pistachio.
We then toured the pistachio orchards. The owner is showing
us a male tree which is needed for every 10-15 female trees.
About 15 miles east of Alamogordo the road over the Sacramento Mountains
rises to offer beautiful views. In the very background the white strip is
White Sands Missile Range.
Here the present day bridge described in the photo below.
In the town of Cloudcroft is the beautiful Lodge.
We went into the lodge and I was attacked by the resident bear.
Safely back we took a trip to the White Sands National Monument,
the world's largest gypsum dune field at 275 square miles. The
monument is surrounded by White Sands Missile Range.
We played on the dunes, enjoyed lunch and after an uphill climb
I decided to roll down the dune.
Also we toured the Space History Museum and IMAX in Alamogordo.
But darn, that was the day I forgot my camera.
Now we are leaving Alamogordo and going northeast to Ruidoso, then
Roswell and south to Carlsbad. Stay tuned for more new adventures.
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