Fooling Around & Falling in Love. . .

. . . with New Mexico! And we're still on the south end--not even to what the tourbooks say are the "good" parts up north.  We've been dragging our feet a bit on this Road to Texas, as a result. . . reluctant to leave. Sure--our rose-colored glasses are no doubt obscuring the truth of actually living here, but the places we've seen and been so far feel good. And the people we've talked to seem content with their lives--and are more than willing to share. Check the map to see where I'm talking about. . . in the past 3 days we've been to Willcox, Deming, Silver City, and now I'm sitting in Truth or Consequences, taking advantage of the wi-fi cloud surrounding it. T or C (as the locals call it) is on record as the only town in the world named after a game show. We'll be checking out the famous Ralph Edwards Museum before we leave this afternoon.

Re-wind a bit:  Deming NM, we thought, was just a convenient stop along the R to TX. But a fine dinner at Si Senor, Fri evening, followed by a stroll around the historic district (while listening to the loudspeaker over at the high school stadium proclaim the graduates' names as they received their diplomas) persuaded us to stick around a little on Sat. (Many a rear window on various pick-ups and jeeps around town kept us mindful that the DHS Class of 2010 ROCKS!)

The highlight of our explorations on Sat was hands-down the Deming Luna Mimbres Musuem. Luna=the County.  Mimbres= the ancient natives who populated these parts quite successfully for a little longer than we new-comers have, until they went the mysterious way of the Hohokum and the Anasazi further north. The museum has an amazing collection of their beautiful pottery. Its delicate designs include the various birds, fish, and four-footed creatures that were obviously significant to them. Many of these pots were buried with their dead, which accounts for their remarkably well-preserved condition. I was puzzled by the holes in the bottom of many pots, until I learned that they were put there on purpose as part of the burial ritual. Your guess why is as good as mine. I could go on about the other exhibits there. . . including its braille copy of an old edition of Playboy. Suffice it to say this all-volunteer-staffed, free-admission place of discovery may be The Best Museum on the R to TX.   http://deminglunamimbresmuseum.com/   Well OK-- just one more observation: This territory was part of Mexico, of course, until the late 1840s (exact date of the Mex-American War escapes me). And, based on the displays about the town itself--incorporated in 1885-- I suspect many of the local Hispanic families have been here that long. Names like Flores, Baca, and Maynes figure significantly in Deming history, along with the Mergenthalluses and the Norehouses.

From Deming we drove to Silver City--home of the Western University of New Mexico. It's beautiful white-stuccoed/red tile-roofed campus spreads across a hill above town. (Note mosaic in the center of one of the plazas on campus.) After a make-shift picnic lunch in the city park, we moved on towards T or C. No one  warned us about the road ahead of us. . .  and what a delightful surprise it was. Some of the most astounding mountain scenery I've ever seen (and that's coming from a seasoned PNW chauvinist, when it comes to mountain beauty.) As we maneuvered our way over Emery Pass--around 32 miles of 2-lane hairpins and switchbacks--we quickly understood why our faithful Garmin (aka "Gretta") told us it would take 2+ hours to cover the 53 miles to T or C. We spent last night at the Elephant Butt--oops--I mean Elephant BUTTE Inn. A nice enough place on the shore of a major reservoir-- which we can thank, I guess, for how much greener Southern New Mex seems than Southern AZ. But the place was a mecca for the fishing and boating crowd. Guys in muscle tanktops, tatoo-covered arms, and too-short cut-offs abounded. (Not all of them are there to fish, apparently. One woman proudly announced to the rest of us in the bar last night that she doesn't fish--she "just drinks like one.") And the "free" wi-fi sucked.

Heading to Las Cruces next. And then perhaps on to Texas. . .  El Paso for starters. Meanwhile, HAPPY BIRTHDAYs to Amandalei, Janice Irene, Chuck, Bob and Dominic. . . all of you my dear fellow Geminis. Sorry we'll miss your party, Bob and Dom.