Good Ol' New Mexico
This summer's Grand Adventure has taken me far and wide, but in all of this time I have found myself spending the most time in New Mexico. Spending 3-weeks in various mountain towns of New Mexico. This is partially due to the fact that my aunt and uncle live in Alamogordo, so there was added incentive, but it is equally due to my love of this place and my desire to live on a mountain. Coming from Minnesota this environment is drastically different from anything that I grew up with. In Minnesota we have deep woods, lakes, and fields of corn... arriving in New Mexico I am finding that there is an impressive amount of environmental diversity. The desert landscapes that are historically pictured in your mind's eye when you envision New Mexico are accurate of some regions, however, they are not indicative of the state as a whole. My trip took me through Texas and into NE New Mexico. Driving through you are going to see cast desert/arid landscapes suited with massive windmill farms, which I find fascinating. I find myself enjoying vastness in terms of magnitude and I think that windmills are exciting as they are means of naturally occurring energy sources for the world. Driving through the NE my first stop was in Tiejeres. I love this town! Stationed on a farm I was on the outskirts of Tiejeres and up on a mountain! Driving in the town of Moriarty welcomes you as you close in on Tiejeres. This town is spread out and reaches a mountain range. It is such an inspirational drive as you have this beautiful mountain range within view the entire time and you know Tiejeres sits on that mountain. Your goal is forever insight. Time spent in Tiejeres was a blast.
(Tiejers sunset)
Right up the road you have Albuquerque with all of it's big city life. When I went to town I looked through some authentic Native American shops, check out some of the art scene (which it is known for), I saw a movie in the park, and went to a dinosaur museum. That is one thing that you are going to find about New Mexico... they have the most odd on-goings in this state! Smokey the Bear was born here, Roswell is the "birthplace" of UFOs, dinosaur fossils are bountiful (as are the museums that follow), they state is on a fault line so there are loads of seismology research labs, due to the vast desert land there are military bases and missile launchings all across New Mexico, there is so much going on in this state. Anyways, in New Mexico they have a couple of big cities and the rest of the state is smaller towns all spread out. I find that it is similar to a SD, ND, WY, MO in terms of population demographics. Wide open spaces with intermittent city populations. Spending a week in Tiejeres I found that I could see the stars more purely than ever before. Living in the mountain you are at a height advantage and there is limited light pollution. Every sunrise and sunset on a mountain is something to behold and never grow accustomed to. You will be captivated every time! Above you the stars shine brighter than ever before and on the horizon you can see the lights of Moriarty. What a visual, because city lights can be beautiful too. Once my time farming in Tiejeres was over I headed down to Alamogordo. This is a town at the base of a mountain range. My aunt and uncle live in the mountains up out of town. Driving up I found that there are mountain communities in each "canyon". Driving up switch backs I made it to my aunts. Again... the VIEW!
(High Rolls Region outside of Alamogordo- Aunt/Uncle's view)
Being up in the mountain gives you an escape from that NM heat. Dry heat is an incredible improvement from Minnesota humidity, but you are facing a different kind of sun in NM. It will beat down on you like never before. So the mountain life was perfect. The sky is so clear up there that I got to see Saturn's rings and Venus in the same night with my uncles telescope. Got put to work as I was in charge of refilling the elk, bird, turkey, and hummingbird feeders every morning. Wildlife is plentiful up in the mountains and you are guaranteed to be greeted by some type of creature every morning out on the deck. Life in Alamogordo is the perfect small town life with amenities. Getting to watch their town baseball team, the Pupfish win a big game at the base of the mountains was a real treat. Eating authentic mexican food, going to the theater, visiting the oldest zoo in the state! There are lots of things to keep you occupied in town.
(Pupfish Game)
Beyond town there is a great park to visit called White Sands National Monument. Going there you are exposed to the mountain ranges while sitting in the whitest and purest sand around. You feel like you are sitting on a Caribbean beach, the only difference is that you are gazing upon the strength of the mountains rather than the ocean.
(White Sands)
One of the ranges one the outskirts of town is home to the HARDEST hike of my life: Dog Canyon Trail. While facing the NM sun you hike up a canyon for 5 miles to get an amazing view...before having to hike back down another 5. It is a 10 mile test of your will power but the endorphins you experience after taking that hike down are well worth it.
(4 mile point at Dog Canyon Trail)
You can also head into Lincoln to visit the Billy the Kid museums and stand where he broke out of the Lincoln Jail, killing two guards in the process. While in Alamogordo you can also visit Cloudcroft which is a really neat town higher in the mountains. Pine trees and cool breezes. One trend I found while in Alamogordo was that there is a large gambling population, so we ended up going to a couple casinos while I was in town. Roads through thick woods to Mountain of the Gods Casino giving you views of wild horses and elk the entire way. We even visited Santa Fe as we headed out to Buffalo Thunder Casino.
(Buffalo Thunder)
Santa Fe is a really unique place in that the city managers and designers decided to keep the traditional New Mexico feel within the city. There are height limitations for every commercial and residential structure in Santa Fe. So you will not see any skyscrapers in the business center or ginormous apartment complexes. Instead, you are going to see buildings that resemble the old adobe buildings. Traditional NM lives on in Santa Fe. The city itself stretches out far and wide because of this, but it is a fun place to be. Of all the mountain systems that I saw I believe that the mountains feeding into Santa Fe are the most beautiful, in terms of city-mountain-inter-weaving. I did not explore Santa Fe that much as I was just driving through but I was told that it has an incredible art scene. Although, I did take a day to hike in Bandelier to see the ancient ruins of the Ancestral Pueblo Peoples which was incredible. They had such an extensive society that was built into the mountains itself.
(Ancestral Pueblo People Ruins)
Another stop in the area was spent hiking in Tree Tops National Monument where you can navigate the narrows of a box canyon. That was quite the experience as well.
(Hiking in the Canyon Trail at Treetops)
From there I also spent time at the alien museums of Roswell and tried to find as many alien sculptures as I could in town. All of the information there hurts my brain. There is a government cover up of some sort going on in Roswell as there was a structure that crashed on a ranch in town. Aliens??? Government top secret testing gone wrong?? Decide for yourself! I am nearly done with my NM portion of the trip as I head out to the Grand Canyon to camp at the end of the week, but I will find my way back to this place one day.
My New Mexico trip was spent cutting through the middle of the state, spending a large amount of time in mountain towns, with the occasional trek into the big cities. I saw landscapes ranging from mountain ranges peppered with pines, to arid desert landscapes, to sand dunes, and urban concrete jungles. New Mexico has a lot more to offer than what meets the eye.
If I were to further my stay in New Mexico:
-I would spend a night in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque. They are within driving range of each other and I did not get the full NM city experience.
-I would head to Las Cruces and spend some time there, maybe even head into Juarez in Mexico for some tacos!
-I would investigate eastern New Mexico a bit more. Not really sure what is out there.
-While in Roswell I would also look into the bottomless lakes there.
-I would buy myself a cowboy hat.
-Visit White Sands on a full moon. They open the park up on full moons so everyone can admire the sand reflecting the moon's light.
Here are some pictures:
Overlook heading up to my aunt/uncle's house.
View from my aunt/uncles
Roswell Alien Museum
Treetops
Dog Canyon Trail
Ancestral Pueblo People Ruins
(Tiejers sunset)
Right up the road you have Albuquerque with all of it's big city life. When I went to town I looked through some authentic Native American shops, check out some of the art scene (which it is known for), I saw a movie in the park, and went to a dinosaur museum. That is one thing that you are going to find about New Mexico... they have the most odd on-goings in this state! Smokey the Bear was born here, Roswell is the "birthplace" of UFOs, dinosaur fossils are bountiful (as are the museums that follow), they state is on a fault line so there are loads of seismology research labs, due to the vast desert land there are military bases and missile launchings all across New Mexico, there is so much going on in this state. Anyways, in New Mexico they have a couple of big cities and the rest of the state is smaller towns all spread out. I find that it is similar to a SD, ND, WY, MO in terms of population demographics. Wide open spaces with intermittent city populations. Spending a week in Tiejeres I found that I could see the stars more purely than ever before. Living in the mountain you are at a height advantage and there is limited light pollution. Every sunrise and sunset on a mountain is something to behold and never grow accustomed to. You will be captivated every time! Above you the stars shine brighter than ever before and on the horizon you can see the lights of Moriarty. What a visual, because city lights can be beautiful too. Once my time farming in Tiejeres was over I headed down to Alamogordo. This is a town at the base of a mountain range. My aunt and uncle live in the mountains up out of town. Driving up I found that there are mountain communities in each "canyon". Driving up switch backs I made it to my aunts. Again... the VIEW!
(High Rolls Region outside of Alamogordo- Aunt/Uncle's view)
Being up in the mountain gives you an escape from that NM heat. Dry heat is an incredible improvement from Minnesota humidity, but you are facing a different kind of sun in NM. It will beat down on you like never before. So the mountain life was perfect. The sky is so clear up there that I got to see Saturn's rings and Venus in the same night with my uncles telescope. Got put to work as I was in charge of refilling the elk, bird, turkey, and hummingbird feeders every morning. Wildlife is plentiful up in the mountains and you are guaranteed to be greeted by some type of creature every morning out on the deck. Life in Alamogordo is the perfect small town life with amenities. Getting to watch their town baseball team, the Pupfish win a big game at the base of the mountains was a real treat. Eating authentic mexican food, going to the theater, visiting the oldest zoo in the state! There are lots of things to keep you occupied in town.
(Pupfish Game)
Beyond town there is a great park to visit called White Sands National Monument. Going there you are exposed to the mountain ranges while sitting in the whitest and purest sand around. You feel like you are sitting on a Caribbean beach, the only difference is that you are gazing upon the strength of the mountains rather than the ocean.
(White Sands)
One of the ranges one the outskirts of town is home to the HARDEST hike of my life: Dog Canyon Trail. While facing the NM sun you hike up a canyon for 5 miles to get an amazing view...before having to hike back down another 5. It is a 10 mile test of your will power but the endorphins you experience after taking that hike down are well worth it.
(4 mile point at Dog Canyon Trail)
You can also head into Lincoln to visit the Billy the Kid museums and stand where he broke out of the Lincoln Jail, killing two guards in the process. While in Alamogordo you can also visit Cloudcroft which is a really neat town higher in the mountains. Pine trees and cool breezes. One trend I found while in Alamogordo was that there is a large gambling population, so we ended up going to a couple casinos while I was in town. Roads through thick woods to Mountain of the Gods Casino giving you views of wild horses and elk the entire way. We even visited Santa Fe as we headed out to Buffalo Thunder Casino.
(Buffalo Thunder)
Santa Fe is a really unique place in that the city managers and designers decided to keep the traditional New Mexico feel within the city. There are height limitations for every commercial and residential structure in Santa Fe. So you will not see any skyscrapers in the business center or ginormous apartment complexes. Instead, you are going to see buildings that resemble the old adobe buildings. Traditional NM lives on in Santa Fe. The city itself stretches out far and wide because of this, but it is a fun place to be. Of all the mountain systems that I saw I believe that the mountains feeding into Santa Fe are the most beautiful, in terms of city-mountain-inter-weaving. I did not explore Santa Fe that much as I was just driving through but I was told that it has an incredible art scene. Although, I did take a day to hike in Bandelier to see the ancient ruins of the Ancestral Pueblo Peoples which was incredible. They had such an extensive society that was built into the mountains itself.
(Ancestral Pueblo People Ruins)
Another stop in the area was spent hiking in Tree Tops National Monument where you can navigate the narrows of a box canyon. That was quite the experience as well.
(Hiking in the Canyon Trail at Treetops)
From there I also spent time at the alien museums of Roswell and tried to find as many alien sculptures as I could in town. All of the information there hurts my brain. There is a government cover up of some sort going on in Roswell as there was a structure that crashed on a ranch in town. Aliens??? Government top secret testing gone wrong?? Decide for yourself! I am nearly done with my NM portion of the trip as I head out to the Grand Canyon to camp at the end of the week, but I will find my way back to this place one day.
My New Mexico trip was spent cutting through the middle of the state, spending a large amount of time in mountain towns, with the occasional trek into the big cities. I saw landscapes ranging from mountain ranges peppered with pines, to arid desert landscapes, to sand dunes, and urban concrete jungles. New Mexico has a lot more to offer than what meets the eye.
If I were to further my stay in New Mexico:
-I would spend a night in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque. They are within driving range of each other and I did not get the full NM city experience.
-I would head to Las Cruces and spend some time there, maybe even head into Juarez in Mexico for some tacos!
-I would investigate eastern New Mexico a bit more. Not really sure what is out there.
-While in Roswell I would also look into the bottomless lakes there.
-I would buy myself a cowboy hat.
-Visit White Sands on a full moon. They open the park up on full moons so everyone can admire the sand reflecting the moon's light.
Here are some pictures:
Overlook heading up to my aunt/uncle's house.
View from my aunt/uncles
Roswell Alien Museum
Treetops
Dog Canyon Trail
Ancestral Pueblo People Ruins
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