Saturday, September 24, 2011

Day 19 and 20 - Mesilla, Az, even more colorful than 4th Ave in Tucson!





All photos Mesilla, New Mexico

We rested a bit this morning, then left on the 4 1/2 hour drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  About an hour south of Tucson, the landscape change dramatically.  We found ourselves driving through huge fields of rocks and boulders.  Very interesting.  This landscape covered a span of just a few miles.  Las Cruces' two most important crops are pecans and cotton.  We saw huge groves of pecan trees, some of them flooded which is a common practice in growing pecans.  Some of the cotton fields had ripened and it was fun to see the white tufts on the thigh high plants.

Now a small, historic town, Mesilla was once the largest town in the southern part of New Mexico Territory.  Its official beginning was around 1848.  It became a major stage stop.  The original building where stagecoaches stopped has survived and is now a restaurant and gift shop.  It always makes a stop more memorable when you meet someone from the area.   Bill met Don Rogelio (see photo above) at the farmers' market on the Mesilla square.  Don has a very large chile operation.  He provides salsa to several cities.  He gave Bill a jar of his mild sausa that his brother-in-law calls sausa for wimps.  The bunches of chilies you see hanging outside the front door of so many houses are called ristras.  We bought a bunch from Don.  We also bought a jar of hot sauce.  I am anxious to try Don's red beer.  It consists of salt, pepper, lime juice, hot sauce and beer.  The historic buildings in Mesilla have been restored and now house nice shops.  The entire town is on the National Historic Registry.

Signing off for another day, Bill and Marsha, wishing we knew more Spanish


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