Today we planned a day-trip to Cloudcroft, about an hour and a half east of Las Cruces. After going up and over the mountains to the east of Cruces, we were down in the valley and quickly into the White Sands Missle Range.
The range still shuts down once or twice a week for an hour or two for missile tests. Fortunately, we missed that part. We did, however, get stopped at yet another border patrol checkpoint, where they just waved us through.
We had visited White Sands National Monument before, but it was worth a quick stop for facilities, a new pin for my collection, and fabulous photos.
After passing through (unremarkable) Alamogordo, we visited a winery we'd met the day before. Not only did Heart of the Desert have great wines (including a pistachio rose!), their large pistachio grove out back (the oldest and largest in NM) produces a huge crop of nuts. I forgot our notes on which wines we liked, so we were obliged to taste again.....darn. :-) Also found a fabulous new chile shirt.
Next we headed up the road to Cloudcroft. A sign at the beginning of the drive warned that we would gain 4,315 feet in 16 miles. Wow. The above photo is just outside the one tunnel. Look closely and you'll see White Sands in the background.
A nice drive up with many scenic vistas. The village is quite small, and we quickly found the best place in town to eat lunch....Rebecca's at The Lodge.
The Lodge was originally built in the late 1800s and rebuilt after a fire in 1909. The railroad owned the lodge; they had a line up here to transport timber. Rebecca's boasts fabulous views and terrific food. My blue corn chile rellenos with red chile hominy was delicious! Poor Bruce though...the altitude (about 9,000 feet) was really tearing him up.
We wanted to take advantage of the many surrounding hiking trails, but lightning moved in, and neither one of us wanted to be hiking on a mountain in lightning. So we headed back to Las Cruces.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip, and I hope you have enjoyed the travelogue. My favorite part is the bounty we're bringing back to share with friends:
- Roswell Alien Amber Ale
- >12 bottles of wine
- Chiles (yes more)
- Chile powder
- Hatch sweet onions
- Pistachios
- Cookies
The drive back is long and warrants an entry only the first time through, so I'll see you again soon with a post on a different topic.
No comments:
Post a Comment