Las Cruces and New Mexico

After our leisurely travel, from Florida across the southern portion of our country, we actually made it to New Mexico, Las Cruces and our 2nd build. Arriving in Las Cruces in April was at the end of their building season, so while in Marianna we were starting from a slab, in Las Cruces we were finishing up two houses: putting in appliances, touch-up and trim painting, caulking, plumbing, tiling and those sorts of things. Some they subcontracted out to professionals like the plumbing, electrical and tiling, but we did the rest. While it was interesting to see both ends of the process, essentially none of my newly learned skills were transferable, but I had acquired and honed many of the necessary skills required for this work from working on our own house over the years, haha.

We were there for a month and for both two week sessions, there was only one other care-a-vanner. But they had a very dedicated group of local volunteers that were great to get to know and work with, so thankfully it wasn't just Martin, myself and one other person trying to finish up these houses. We also worked closely with the homeowner-to-be. Another single mom, she was a dental hygienist and I loved getting to know her (plus, she brought us food!)

The work wasn't as strenuous here, (lifting a paintbrush or a caulking gun is way easier than 2x4s, 8’ sheets of plywood or nail guns) so we were able to get in some hikes in the Organ mountains in the evenings and leave the weekends for explorations further abroad. We spent Easter weekend near Albuquerque and Easter itself at Kewa Pueblo (formerly known as the Santo Domingo Pueblo). First we attended mass in the mission church (we and the priest, who was from Nigeria, were the only non-indigenous people there) and then watched the traditional dancing in the plaza. The traditional dance in the spring is the corn dance, where they give thanks and praise for the reawakening and reemergence of life; plants (corn) from seeds and Christ as he “re-emerged” ie. rose from the dead.

It was an amazing cultural experience and we were welcomed into the pueblo, but out of respect to the peoples of the pueblo, they requested no pictures be taken of the dancing or even anywhere inside the pueblo. It truly broke my heart not to be able to capture some of the images we saw that day. They were stunning and meaningful: grandparents proudly watching children in full regalia, older siblings and cousins helping the younger ones with the steps, the men of the pueblo in a group singing in chorus the song that was danced to, the drum seamlessly being handed from one drummer to another without losing the beat, all the people of all generations of the pueblo engaging together in this celebration. I believe photos could be used to educate and bridge cultural divides but I would never disrespect another peoples choice and felt honored to have been able to witness it.

Another weekend we joined Ethan and Stephanie in the Santa Fe area which included a day trip to Bandolier National Monument near Los Alamos.

And yet another unique experience we encountered while here were dust storms. 3 or 4 days we received alerts on our phones about dust storm warnings! The warnings included things like staying indoors for the young and elderly (we had to ponder if that was us), anyone with breathing or lung conditions, close your windows, high wind advisory, visibility could decrease to 1-4’, don't drive, etc.They were pretty dire warnings. Each morning with a wind storm started out with bright blue, clear skies, but by 11:30 or so we'd start to get the alerts on our phones and the skies were this weird sort of ochre color and looked and felt very close. Instead of being able to see for a long distance you could just see a little ways, like a dense fog. Except the “fog” was full of dust which coated everything, inside and out and made my allergies out of control with sneezing and my eyes tearing. The locals considered them a nuisance and said they usually had them in the “winter”. It was an interesting experience, but personally speaking, I'll take a blizzard any day over a dust storm!

On to pics:

Construction was delayed the first week of the build while we waited for the floor tiling to be installed so we worked in the Restore. We mostly unpacked, cleaned and priced items. It turned out to be a bit of a scavenger hunt and we found some great treasures! Haha I tried to convince the staff they should have a monthly newsletter with “best item”, “most useful item”, a “what is it item”, etc. 😂 They rolled their eyes said they were too busy. (They were busy. The turnover of products was incredible.)

Here are some of my candidates:

a wonder bread wrapper, do they still make wonder bread???

a matching set of pheasant glasses

But the very best …

A Nicholas Cage pillowcase (be still my beating heart) ❤️‍🔥so you can dream about him every night 🤣

rt to lf. Pic of Laura, the homeowner, Philipe, the supervisor, our other care-a-vanner and us in front of Laura's home. She's planning on putting together a photo album of all the people who helped her build her new home … ❤️

Every day, on our way to the build site, we'd pass by this intersection that was just filled with blossoming prickly pear cactuses. They were gorgeous!

Red yucca planted at the same intersection.

And it was right across from the Whataburger! I've been trying to get a pic of a Whataburger for awhile now. I mean, the name just cracks me up.

Coronado campground in Bernalillo near Albuquerque where we stayed for Easter weekend.

A view from the campground

Coronado historic site, Bernalillo. White crowned sparrows

Ciudad Juárez, the Mexican city across from El Paso. I was fascinated by the colorful houses and buildings and the cross on the mountaintop. The pics were challenging though, because I had to take them while Martin was driving on a 4 lane highway with a posted speed limit of 75!

We went on several hikes in the Organ mountains. Following are some pics:

A harvard century plant in bloom! It was once believed that they only bloomed every hundred years, hence the name, but that's not actually true. They only bloom once, at the end of their lifespan, which is typically 10 to 30 years. Still pretty cool to see one in bloom though. Although, I must say, I've seen much prettier blossoms, so maybe it's ok that it only happens every 10-30 years… teehee

It is very tall, the blooms can reach 30’ high.

These old buildings were part of a guest house complex

Saw this guy one night, most likely an eastern collared lizzard

full moon over the mountains

sunset and clouds

Another day …

wildlife: mule deer grazing trailside

They have the biggest ears! (Which are an adaptation for temp control in the hot desert climate … but I think they're just really cute!)

a canyon towhee

We saw this bird one evening and after some research determined that it was a leucistic canyon towhee. It's like an albino, but not. An albino has no color and pink eyes while a leucistic bird has a genetic mutation preventing melanin from being deposited in its feathers, but has normal eye color. They are quite rare, appearing at a rate of approximately 1 in 30,000 birds.

The haze one night from the dust.

Another day, another hike. No dust today!

remains of a habitation, a watering trough

and cabin wall

evening windmill and crescent moon

(Notice how in the southwest the crescent is on the bottom of the moon while in VT it's on the side. I thought that was interesting.)

The flora of the desert mountains

These cactuses were high on the edge of one of the rocky craigs. An unexpected flash of brilliance in the neutral toned landscape.

Occotillos were in bloom while we were there. There was a large group of them with the mountains behind. One of the locals, who was a photographer, told me about this spot.

Another one of the locals, who also served on a search and rescue team, recommended a hike on the other side of Las Cruces to a slot canyon.

It reminded me of antelope canyon near Page, Arizona

Fascinating what water and sandstone can create.

Butte on the far side of the canyon

Martin on top of the butte

Looking out over the landscape,

Brilliant blue sky with great cloud formations

A close-up of the shrubby greenery. creosote bush in bloom

honey mesquite

We met Ethan and Stephanie in Santa Fe for a weekend and while Santa Fe only averages about 14” of rain a year. We managed to be there for some monsoon type rain, a thunderstorm and snow and it all happened in one day!

dark skies over the adobe buildings of Santa Fe