Las Cruces, NM

Not nearly as far today, only about 170 miles. We were up on Central time zone time since we didn't know exactly where the time zone change was. But we knew we would go to bed on the Mountain time zone.

I made the comment that we should get the heck out of Dodge, so we didn't battle the wind all day. We left the campground at 10 AM Central or 9 AM Mountain, and started Southwest. But as we climbed toward Apache pass, the winds picked up. We reached 7600 feet at the highest point. Not high by Colorado standards but quite a climb into 40mph winds.

And pick up the winds did. Part of the time I could barely go 45, and even then the truck would be in second gear and the engine would be over 3K in rpm. So easy does it was the order of the day. Were not in any hurry, and we did gain the hour, and we were in Las Cruces by 2 PM mountain time.

I didn't like the looks of the commercial camp grounds here in town, so we are on the West edge of the city in the KOA. It is more expensive, but with the wind blowing 30 to 50 and dirt flying so that the air is a dust haze, this place became a refuge so to speak.

We sat in the trailer for the rest of the afternoon, only looking out and taking the dog for her potty walks, and so forth.

As the wind dyed down after sunset, we went to the little town of Mesilla that is West of the interstate. We found a authentic Mexican restaurant that we like two years ago, when we were here and had to go back.

La Posta is in an adobe building that has 18 inch thick walls. The roof is made of corrugated metal over the old tree branches that go across the Adobe. It is more than just authentic, it is historic. It has been repaired over the years, but is a cantina from the 19th century.

Mesilla was a Mexican village (pueblo) before it became part of the United States. The streets are all named Calle de what ever. They are so narrow that cars must only go one way, and are mostly parked in vacant lots.

Billy the Kid was tried and hung in a corner saloon, that also doubled as the territorial court house for New Mexico and Arizona. The history drips out of this place. There are no street lights to speak of, so after dark pictures were not to be had.

We will more than likely go West again tomorrow, but we have not set a goal. It almost three hundred miles to Tucson, and if the wind is still as strong, we won't make it that far.