Old Mesilla
Tuesday - 30 December 2003 - Las Cruces, New Mexico:
A fabulous day. We went to Texas, had some great Mexican food and visited a
brand-new The Wal-Mart Super Center. What could possibly be wrong with a day
like that? Actually, when we woke-up this morning (from a diesel engine roaring
away outside our window!) we realized that our water hose had frozen over night
and we would have to make do with the water in our tank. (Not to worry.) It was
so sunny - but SO COLD.
I spoke to our house sitter, who was driving around in the snow in DTs
truck! There was NO WAY she was going to tackle our snowy hill in
her VW Jetta! Seems we have 3-4 inches up there... so we are not actually
escaping the weather here with our frozen pipes, are we?
No, but we are following the flock of Ducks, heading south for the winter,
or a Bowl Game. We drove to El
Paso, Texas on New Mexico 28, which is an old historic road. First we
stopped in
Old
Mesilla - an old city and plaza we visited last November. Great
shopping and history. A few miles down Highway 28 from Old Mesilla is the
oldest family-owned pecan farm in the country - 4,000 acres of
Stahmann's
Pecans. I loved their shop last visit, have mail-ordered from
their website and have given their fabulous pecans as gifts. They simply
grow the best pecans in the world. New Mexico grows 90% of the pecans used
in the U.S. (Washington County, Oregon grows 90% of the hazelnuts - so we
are in good company.) If I am going to bake Pecan Sticky Buns - I will ONLY
use their pecans. The pecans are HUGE! Why mess around with other pecans???
DT had a pecan praline ice cream cone for breakfast and I had two pecan
shortbread cookies. That was just the start of a very bad day (diet-wise
only).
The drive into El Paso was very interesting - until we came into El
Paso. El Paso is a not a very appealing city. You can cross over the Rio Grande and visit Juarez, Mexico.
But, seriously, why bother? It looks the same on either side of the border.
We did locate a famed El Paso Mexican restaurant and had a very nice lunch
before heading over to the team hotel to pick up
our tickets for the game and alumni breakfast tomorrow. The Ducks are
hunkered down at the airport Marriott. We saw the posted schedule for the
team and it was quite interesting - the boys are on a tight leash! They did
go on a field trip to Mexico and a field trip to New Mexico, but the rest of
the time they were at media events, practices, team meals or sleeping. The
schedule even told them they COULD NOT order in-room movies the night before
the game. Lights out at 11 pm!!!
We drove back to Las Cruces over an old mountain pass. This evening we drove
the mile to the Old Mesilla Plaza and dined at
La Posta - one of the oldest restaurants/inns in New
Mexico... before it was even New Mexico! 150 years ago the Rio Grande River
ran through our camp ground and Old Mesilla was on the south side of the
river and in Mexico. When the river changed its path, Mesilla suddenly was
in America! La Posta was a stop for the old Butterfield Overland
Mail and the Wells Fargo stage coach, and has
served Billy the Kid, Pancho Villa and (for some unknown
reason) General Macarthur. They are famous for their chiles rellanos. I had
the vegetarian combo plate and it was fabulous - taco, enchilada and chiles
rellano. DT went for the straight chiles rellanos platter. We were served
by the lovely Anna - a New Mexico State coed. La Posta has a nice shop too
and I was able to purchase blue posole for a future meal.
So, we are in for the night. Our water hose has been put away - as it will
probably freeze again tonight. We are toasty-warm inside our Intrigue
watching other Pac-10 football bowl games. The Cougars didn't Coug-It (as
usual) at the last minute... things are not looking as well for the
Bruins... so I will close and get rested for our big day tomorrow. (Or, as
the refs said during the UCLA game... I am "ejecting myself" from this
website tonight.)
RV Park:
Hacienda RV Resort
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