Old Mesilla | Hacienda RV Resort | Double Eagle

Tuesday - 19 November 2002: Las Cruces, New Mexico:

Snickers, cuddling his Monkey Man, on the road in Texas

We left Alpine, Texas, early and continued west on Highway 90. It is a deserted road, we rarely saw another car and when we did see another car or RV, they were anxious to wave at us - happy to see another traveler. The best thing about Highway 90 is there is no truck traffic! No giant semi passing us at 80 mph. We saw several small herds of Pronghorn Sheep. We also passed by a U.S. Customs surveillance radar balloon blimp. They are located in various geographical sites along the Mexican-American border. Looking for illegal visitors, I assume. We were stopped once by Border Patrol ourselves. He asked if everyone on board was a US citizen and then (smart ass) he asked if there were any Ducks on board.

Border Blimp

At 11 a.m., we came to the end of our peaceful drive and merged onto I-10 and entered the Mountain Time Zone. We passed through El Paso - home of UTEP, 700,000 people, and The Gateway to Juarez, Mexico - and continued on 25 more miles to beautiful Las Cruces, New Mexico. Frequent readers of this site will know we spent several weeks in New Mexico this spring. We are happy to be back. New Mexico is just lovely.

We are staying at what could be the perfect RV Park (if it weren't on the interstate) Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Hacienda RV Resort has large campsites and they are every-other in-out, which means you share the hook-up side with one neighbor and front door side with the other - the absolute perfect way to lay-out a RV Park. We have full-hook-ups, including a phone line, fabulous water pressure and a "Hydro-Therapy Pool" (we call it a hot tub). Heaven in Las Cruces.

Las Cruces, "The Crosses", gets its name from the unfortunate markers around the city - little white crosses left by settlers burying fellow immigrants killed by the Apache. The city has an interesting history - missionaries, Spanish, Mexican and US governed - until finally "purchased" by the US. The setting is quite lovely, with the beautiful Organ Mountains rising in the distance.  After setting up camp, we toured through Old Mesilla, less than one mile from our campground.. The history of this old city is tied to the famous outlaw, Billy the Kid, who was captured, tried and sentenced in the local jail.

San Albina Church


Old Mesilla Plaza

Most of the buildings are now shops and restaurants. A beautiful church, San Albina Catholic, is one end of the plaza and at the other stands the oldest brick building in New Mexico, built in 1863. Reading the history of this brick building, it seems every shop owner was robbed and killed, so I would not advise doing business here - though it is beautiful.

Oldest brick building in New Mexico

After our tour through Old Mesilla, we took a driving tour of New Mexico State University, which was all abuzz with the excitement of the No Doubt-Garbage concert tonight at the basketball arena. Five huge tour buses were parked outside, along with several radio station vans and hordes of anxious students/fans.

We had a lovely dinner at the Double Eagle, (in Old Mesilla) which sounds like a golf pro shop, but is actually the nicest restaurant in the area. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. First we had a drink in the Imperial Bar. The 30-foot hand-carved oak and walnut bar is framed with four Corinthian columns in gold leaf. There are two Lalique crystal lamps, which cascade up mirrors on either side of the bar and also two French Baccarat chandeliers hanging from the 18 carat gold ceilings! There are several painting of beautiful, naked, Rubenesque women on the velvet walls. While enjoying our cocktails, we chatted with a fellow-Oregonian RVer - from Tigard. We had dinner in the Maximilian Room - named after the Archduke of Austria, who was named Emperor of Mexico by Napoleon. (He was soon to be abandoned by Napoleon and shot by Mexican leader, Benito Juarez.) Three huge Baccarat crystal chandeliers hang from the ceilings, also painted in 18 carat gold. The room is dominated by a music balcony with 18 carat gold California Black Bear supports. There are also two fabulous stained glass transom windows - one is a lyre from Ireland and the other is of Lily Langtry. I had Mesquite Chicken with Mennonite cheese. DT had the sampler platter, chile rellano, enchilada, black beans - and also a 3 ounce steak -  meaning, of course, Snickers had the best doggie bag EVER!

RV Park: Hacienda RV Resort