OCT 23 - LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO

There were many pecan trees around the RV Park and you can see the green pods which crack open allowing the nuts falls to the ground. At this point you just need to pick them up and crack the nut to get the pecan out. Lana and I fought off squirrels this morning and each got a bag full. They are delicious.

We had a short 222 mile drive to Las Cruces and drove through desert passing huge groves of pecan trees. We climbed to 8,6500 ft through Lincoln National Forest in the Sacramento Mountains. It had many spruce trees and reminded us of BC.

After another desert basin, we went through a range of the San Andres Mountains and then had a great view of the White Sands which is 250 square miles of pure white gypsum sand. This area is also part of the US Missile Range but it looked pretty inactive today.
We had time to visit the nearby town of La Mesilla. It was once the capital of the Arizona Territory and was a stop for the Butterfield Stagecoach and Billy the Kid. This charming little village is much as it was a hundred years ago, with a main square dominated by a Catholic Church. While we visited the quaint little shops, a Mexican band played in the square. This 1850 building was once the courthouse in which Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang, but he got lucky and was able to escape.

Sign says: "This building is the original "La Posta". For more than a century and a half, these adobe walls have withstood the attack of elements and man; they have sheltered such personalities as Billy the Kid, Kit Carson, Douglas MacArthur, and Pancho Villa. Now Mesilla sleeps, but La Posta still offers its traditional hospitality to all."

Lana and I enjoyed the view from our campground of the sunset on the San Andres Mountain range that we had passed through earlier today. The town of Las Cruces, which is very spread out, sparkled with lights as darkness arrived. It looks very magical!