Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences, and the Road to the Ranch

Missile Park

Monday morning I headed out early and as I was driving to Las Cruces I saw signs for White Sands Missile Range. It seemed so clandestine that I wanted to drive by and see what was going on and it turns out they have a visitor center. You have to park outside the main gates, show your ID, carry around a visitor pass and walk to the museum but it is worth it.

Missile Park

Outside they have a missile park that you can walk around and learn about the history of the program. By the time I finished touring that, the museum was open so I headed inside to learn more about the Range. The most interesting part to me was the section on the Cold War. I can't even imagine what it was like to live in that time period and the amount of propaganda materials they had were amazing.

A vital resource in the 50s

The other thing I realized was that, despite the fact that there is an extensive amount of learning to be had, the Missile Range is still active to this day so one can only imagine the things they are working on deep in those mountains.

Organ Mountains

The Missile Range sits at the base of the Organ Mountains and they are spectacular. I managed to get a few pictures on the side of the road but I was petrified that my camera would be confiscated if I was caught so I headed out.

Organ Mountains

The last time I had been through Las Cruces I only had time to breeze through on my way to Carlsbad so this time I thought I would take in the local culture. I was rewarded grandly at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum. It's an amazing composite of the old and new and has both indoor and outdoor exhibits.

Living exhibits

You could literally spend a week in there seeing everything and it only costs $5! I always love to go to history museums across the country and see how similar and different each area is in terms of their heritage.

Brand Quilt

It's interactive!

 I cruised by Mesilla, a quaint little village on my way out of town and decided to stay off the highway and cruise up along the Rio Grande.

Mesilla

I passed a lot of chile farms along the way.

The scenic route

As I approached Truth or Consquence, my turnoff for the Ranch I saw many signs for their numerous hot springs and despite it being over 90 degrees I couldn't resist and headed to Riverbend Hotsprings. It was so worth it. Their public pools were closed for cleaning so I got a private pool that overlooked the Rio Grande. It was utterly relaxing.

Riverbend Hot Springs

It was finally time to head towards Geronimo Trail. I took my time driving down the beautiful roads and stopping numerous times along the way to really take in the scenery, which I hadn't done the last time I had driven it.

Cuchillo

Heading into the hills

Heading off the beaten path

Crossing the divide

Storm clearing out over Wall Lake

Elk roadblock

My home for the week

 Finally I arrived at Geronimo Trail on the heels of a hailstorm and was welcomed with open arms by Meris. It had been 4 years since I had last been to Geronimo Trail and it was like I had never left.